Victory Moments

Something the three of us are constantly sharing with each other are Victory Moments (VMs).  These can be big or small moments where we felt victorious over food, our attachment to food, emotional eating, or feelings related to ourselves in general. 

So I think the very first VM I should share today is a HUGE VM for me.

As of this morning, I have lost 10.2 lbs since last Sunday night.  That is correct.  10.2 lbs.  And I haven’t been struggling like I normally do with diets.  I haven’t been starving myself and I haven’t been avoiding the foods that I love and crave.  In fact, I think what has made this work so well (besides the only eating when hungry part) is that I know I can have those foods so I don’t want them all the time non-stop.  It is preventing me from binging.

And just for some examples, I want to share my super crazy week with you.  Monday – Thursday I didn’t get home from work and after work activities until around 7pm.  Which meant none of my meals or lunches were home made and all that super nutritious. 

These are just a few examples:

Tuesday:  We had a pizza party for my son’s soccer team.  Pizza, cupcakes, cookies and sodas were served.  I only had a few sips of Coke, didn’t eat anything, and had a lean cuisine at home for dinner.

Wednesday:  Lunch – ate loaded nachos.  Said no thanks to the nacho cheese, but yes to the sour cream b/c I love it so!  Ate until I was full, and left about half of the nachos on my plate.  Previously I would have eaten every single bite.

Dinner – another party at Burger King.  I ordered a JR Whopper, and no fries or soda.  That was ALL that I ate.  It was enough to satisfy me and I was full as well.  Oh, I think I might have stolen about 3 fries from my son, but I didn’t eat a whole serving.

Thursday:  Lunch – ordered happy meal at McD’s.  Only ate ½ the bun on cheese burger and threw away half the fries.  Drank ½ the kids size coke.

Friday:  Every Friday I eat with my Grandma at her independent living retirement community here in town.  They actually have VERY good cooks and serve 4 course meals everyday for lunch (lunch is the big meal of the day for them).  Fried fish is typically on the menu – and it was this week as well.  I ate the fried fish, onion rings, a few bites of pie, and about 1/2 a salad.  I said no to a full salad, no thanks to the soup, drank water instead of sweet tea, didn’t eat the peas or the roll – and only had a few bites of the pie while asking for a to go box so I could send the rest back with my grandma for her to eat later.

So if you are still reading – the reason I’m putting all this down is so I can prove to myself later (if needed) that even when I’m super busy and don’t have time to cook good meals, that I CAN still lose weight and cut back.  Now, if this is the way you already currently eat, you would probably have to cut back even more to lose weight – say with a JR Grilled chicken sandwich at BK or a side salad w/a few chicken nuggets or something.  But this is what is working for ME right now. 

I would also like to add that I don’t plan to eat this way all the time, because I know this isn’t all that healthy.  Today I plan to meal plan for my family for this week, and those will be healthier home cooked meals for next week, but I did want to share what worked for me this week during my super busy time. 

Finally, and really this should be first, because it definitely is NOT last, but my prayer life and prayer walk has been very focused around God helping me through this journey during this past week.  Because I know I can NOT do it myself.  Can NOT.  I have proven that to myself over and over.  So every time I get on the scale and see movement, I praise God.  Every time I realize that I’m not obsessing about food, I praise God.  Every time I feel the freedom of being released from my bondage to my food addictions, I praise God. 

“For the joy of the Lord is my strength” Nehemiah 8:10