Struggling - New Challenges/Need Solutions

I would suggest making a few changes. As life evolves so must your WOE. You now have to find what works for you-fast, so you don't regain. Face it, it might be nice to change things up for the summer and then in the fall you can go back to your habits. Try new things. Work will probably be a challenge, but can be done. There is a solution for every problem, you just have to search for it.

Wishing you well for the summer months. I, myself, quit logging and go to the beach. I've done this for 7 years. I just make sure to weigh everyday and since we eat out frequently, take home half. The hardest to resist is gelato. There is a place that makes fantastic creative gelato flavors. However, I only indulge for the summer.

Houseguests: This sounds like a problem that has already solved itself. If you're working on "reclaiming your kitchen," as you delightfully put it, if you can't give the food away for practical or economic reasons, perhaps break up that grazing station (also delightful!) and deli drawer into pre-portioned snack packs. Or, if the grazing station has nonperishables like granola bar type things, put those away as emergency rations, if you're in an area prone to seasonal natural disasters like hurricanes. My favorite tip for bulk ice cream: eat it out of a teacup, ideally with a tiny spoon as well. I think part of it is psychological - if I weigh out a 90g serving into a regular-size cereal bowl it looks like a pittance, but it looks very generous in the teacup. The novelty of tiny bowl and tiny spoon also seems to help, somehow, and tiny spoon means smaller bites so it lasts longer.

Work: Do you have access to a refrigerator and microwave, could you bring your own food and just practice saying no to the catering/craft services? If not, do you have or could you get access to catering/craft services' nutrition information for the food they magically bring you, so that you can at least make an informed choice about what to get from them?

Schedule: If I'm understanding the problem correctly, you've been following an intermittent-fasting-style eating plan where you eat 2 meals during the day and stop eating after a certain time. Now that you're waking up earlier during the summer because Reasons, you're finding it hard to continue fasting until your eating window opens. Do I have that right? Assuming I do, you have basically two options:
* Extend your eating window by a couple of hours and shave 100-150 calories off of your two main meals for a 200-300 calorie breakfast earlier in the day.
* Figure out what you need to do to be able to fast for an extra 2-3 hours in the morning. Caffeine has an appetite-suppressant effect for many people, if you can do unsweetened black coffee or tea.

It's a total platitude, but the only way you fail is by giving up. You haven't done that.

The exceptional time period (the guest interval) won't matter much, as it gets smaller in the rear-view mirror. Spend a few minutes brainstorming about how to make the next guest interval a little easier on you and your goals, rehearse that script a few times in your head to groove it in, then apply it next time. Keep doing that after each future guest interval, until you find an approach that's the right approach/balance for you. It'll get solved, or at least reach "manageable". (I have some things I'm still trying to figure out how to handle really well, in year 5+ of maintenance. They're still not great, but things can work out OK in the overall context, even with a few loose ends.)

On the other points, you've identified the problem. That's step 1. Start brainstorming and auditioning solutions. Something will stick.

I like 88olds advice to keep logging: That's your journal of experimentation, on the way to finding what works. It's a good tool, looked at in that way (vs. starting to let it be some kind of melodrama about success, failure, shame, anxiety . . . nah. Neutral record of experiments.)

Catering/craft services: Are you in the entertainment industry? If so, aren't there some healthy-weight people? What do they do? I'm not saying "do that", but rather that they may be a source of strategies to try out.

You've come this far, you've developed lots of self-monitoring skills and self-awareness. You can navigate this for sure. Just keep chipping away at it.

Best wishes!

This is going to be way outside the box and since you said you would never have those things in your house may not work for you, but.

I have a problem turning down 'treat' or 'luxury' foods, sometimes. My husband buys them for me, my kids buy them for me, events often have them - etc.

I am also really bad at saying 'no' and potentially hurting feelings, on top of a weird 'this is a limited resource and I might not ever get to have it again' psychology.


When the food comes to me at home, I have taken to taking them and then putting them into a bag in the freezer. "Not now" works for me in a way that a hold no does not. Bonus: Once frozen it is then a special excursion to get to it and it now takes 900 years for me to manage to eat it.

When food comes to me at events/out and about I take it and IMMEDIATELY hand it off to someone else or the trash can, depending. Which is not always easy but is still easier for me than dealing with people who are actively pushing food.

(Also stop berating yourself. You don't need to grow up; your'e not immature. This stuff is hard)

MsCzar wrote: »

snowflake954 wrote: »

Are houseguests a frequent or rare happening?

About thrice a year. Next visit: Maybe late September.

OK. Then that isn't a huge problem. You can relax and just change things up a bit the next time they arrive. It's important to enjoy your guests. I live in Rome, Italy and have always had lots of guests.

MsCzar wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Catering/craft services: Are you in the entertainment industry? If so, aren't there some healthy-weight people? What do they do? I'm not saying "do that", but rather that they may be a source of strategies to try out.

Yes, I'm in the entertainment industry and as you might imagine, even after losing a lot of weight I am often still the fattest person in the room. I do log every day - no matter what.

Looking at my most recent work day, I had:
Bacon, egg & cheese breakfast sandwich on a pretzel bun
Oikos Yogurt
Full sized pkg.M&Ms
small pkg mixed nuts
two large salted chocolate-covered caramels
Tuscan chicken wrap
Caesar salad
cheese cake

Guesstimated at around 2200 - 2500 calories. Houseguests aside, these are foods I would NEVER have in my home, so I am never tempted. Yes, it's very easy to look at that list see what I should have avoided and yes, there are many healthier options available. I need to practice making better choices, my Just Say No in the moment and grow the heck UP.

I am so grateful to have this place with all of you to work through this.

You’re right, calories counting is for adults. Fact is we can’t weigh 150 lbs living a 200 lb life. First thing I’d do is knock that cheese off the breakfast sandwich and pitch half the bun. No, that’s the second thing I’d do. First thing I’d do is not leave the house without at least 2 apples and a plan. What I’m eating on your list is the modified breakfast sandwich, the yogurt, the chicken wrap, the Caesar with the dressing on the side and 1/2 of the M&Ms. Or maybe the caramels instead of 1/2 M&Ms. Depends on the numbers. I generally avoid nuts even though they can be nutritious as they are tiny calorie bombs.

Another strategy regarding treats. Is it an urge or a craving? Urges should be resisted as they undermine my plan. I wasn’t planning on eating a donut today. Wasn’t even thinking about donuts. But here they are at the office. Now I want one. This is an urge. If I give into this I’m blowing up my plan because someone else decided that donuts was a thing to do. Who’s life is this, mine or theirs? Well, its mine. No room in todays plan for a donut. What about a half? Maybe but I have ice cream planned for later (I always have ice cream planned for later). If I do even half a donut, then no more treats today. Move on.

Now its tomorrow. Maybe I want to pop into a donut shop on the way into the office. Good thing there’s no time for that. 2 days later- still thinking about those donuts. This is now officially a craving. The way to deal with a craving is to satisfy it. Going to have to get out my calculator and fit a donut into my plan. Not easy but possible. So eventually I’m going to get around to cheese cake. Not the easiest thing to work with but doable.

One other thing that helped me was always knowing what I planned to eat next. I’m not very good at “Just say no,” but I’m pretty good at delay. I had my plan friendly after work snack waiting for me at home. But first I had to get past the vending machines on the way out. Knowing I had an appealing option at the house got me as far as the car. Stopping after that would have been a big pain in the neck. But I had to have good snacks planned at home. I wasn’t going to be able tp pass up chips to get home to carrot sticks.

And sorry but that looks like more than 2500 calories to me.