get it back in control!!!

I find a cup of hot water helps my hunger pangs

It is all about control; of the mind and body. Knowing that you have the power to keep going on this journey and not sabotaging yourself. It is not easy at all. Control it the key. Hang in there! We can do this!

I'm not a pro, but I do teach nutrition classes at a high school level for articulation college credits. General theory and application knowledge are two different things, that's why I have personal goals I am working towards even though I have a degree in this area.

Having gone through this before
http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-tips/weight-loss-success-stories-22
thats me in 2001

And then after long hours of night time study at the computer for college classes, a new inactive job, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia (2006) and figuring out how to live and move with the pain, topped with a car accident in December and more healing, I reset my health goals. At this time I am close to the weight goal, but I am after a balanced lifestyle and need to keep a clear vision of my goals, which has nothing to do with showing my body on a beach no matter what I weigh or look like. I still like the skirt-ini's and I never tan with my pale to red complexion.

I believe the only way to achieve my long term health goal.... to move freely, eat abundantly, and breathe like this for 20 plus years .... is with tools like this to help me see each day what am doing and friends to encourage and to encourage me along the way.

This is what I have found works best for me...
BINGES..... snack somewhere or eat a bigger meal somewhere
Calories are energy.
I need to fuel my body regularly and frequently. If I am low on energy it is usually because I have depleted my energy stores or had poor habits. If I am ravenous/ binge hungry .. I look at what I am doing. Did I have a very low calorie day and my body is screaming for me to feed it or is it that time of the month when I am not satisfied ever and everything irritates me. If it is the later I make a decision.... no matter what I make the decision. Whatever I decide, I did decide and will record it. I like the "track record" this program gives me. I can see right now that I routinely do not get enough iron and calcium, but I do get enough fiber when I look at my nutritional record for the past 30 days.

I do keep veggies around to snack on in the fridge and usually eat them while preparing a meal. (bell pepper sticks, carrot sticks, celery, cuke slices.. sometimes I dip in dressing but usually my hands are to busy).

I do eat a snack whenever if I'm hungry and after some advice from a friend who sees a nutritionist I do try to make that snack include a protein food, like a glass of milk, an egg, a container of yogurt, string cheese, pudding .... maybe some fresh fruit. Lately I have been into mocha chocolate finer bars and tea. I find I usually do not need a morning snack, it is more before supper and maybe around the 8 pm hour.

I find I feel best when I really work on staying hydrated...To drink enough I have to really set a goal for this. I keep a 20 oz cup with a lid that I drink between breakfast and lunch. This summer I am fabulous about getting it filled twice. I strive for two of these throughout the evening too. AND I know there are haters of "fake sugar products", I am not one of them, but I like crystal light, carbonated flavored water, and tea both black and herbal. Sometimes having these makes it feel like a dessert. I use these as liquids to help me meet my goal... which at the end of the day is 10 cups of fluids. I don't count my am coffee or vegetable juice as fluids.

I recently discovered that a nutritional smoothie around 200 calories within an hour of exercise lasting 45-60 minutes will take away the desire to eat at 8 pm.

So , in order to get it in control, I track faithfully MAINLY to check how I feel and get a realistic idea of what has been eaten ... not because I need to stay as low under a number on MFP as I can, but so I can gain information about myself. Knowledge is power. I love the nutritional record statistic on this program.

If you think about managing your money the way one begins to manage health.... in order to get your financial affairs in control you need to track your spending habits and then begin to create a realistic budget. With in that budget one needs to allow for all kinds of expenditures. So whether the budget is about dollars or energy expenditure you cannot spend more than you earn (or you cannot eat more than you burn) without consequences that make tomorrow harder.

But constant saving without joy or feeling ravenous to binge says the budget created is not working.

Then comes the evaluation time. Is this allowing me the level of joy I desire in life? With our money, if we never allow for entertainment, life gets sad. With our money we spend on what we value in life, short term and long term. There is no room for regret, not on any day. There is only room to evaluate, make changes or not.

Today is a small beans compared to the rest of life.

Today is required though to get to the rest of life. Live and learn... make every day better than the last in some way.

I wish you power to figure out how to get through this part of your life.