Food Therapy; Food Personality

About five years ago, I took diet pills (with doctor supervision) for weight loss - I refer to it as food therapy. My doctor had me to keep a food journal that included:

1. What I ate
2. What time I ate
3. Level of hungriness
4. Emotion at the time I ate

The food journal was the first time for me to identify that all emotions trigger me to eat. Boredom, happiness, sadness etc. all trigger me to want food. 

Today with Kathie Lee & Hoda is typically on while I'm working. They recently ran a segment called What's Your Eating Personality (totally worth clicking on the link and watching for 2 minutes) with Madelyn Fernstorm. The segment hit home with me in a big way. It made me think a lot about food therapy and the WW Project.

My food personality is:

• 3 meals a day This is without a doubt me. I find that I eat because I think it's time to .. not because I'm hungry. Even though I consider myself and emotional eater, I tend to do it more at meals.
• Carb Craver This label might be one that is more because of convenience. I love eggs, but it's quicker for me to grab a granola bar.
• Volume Eater This was an easy one for me because the night before the segment aired I made myself a root beer float. Volume is without a doubt a thing for me. I would rather have more of something with less calories than a little of something super delicious. If points weren't an issue I would always buy Blue Bell ice cream. It is the best ice cream! Now, I buy low fat frozen yogurt from the Schwann's guy. I can eat more of it, and it doesn't taste bad. 
• Part sweet tooth; part fat tooth I think because I love ice cream so much, I'm a fat tooth. I also love Milky Way candy bars (haven't had one in more than 2 months). 

I feel that if I take what I take the knowledge I have from food therapy, food personality and Weight Watchers that I will be more successful with the WW Project.

WW Project - Month 2

That's me; the pear on the right. I really didn't want to include pictures throughout the project, but then I decided pictures would make the process more real. For some reason, I don't want to share my starting weight. I figure I give enough clues that you can guess a range. I will share my height; I'm 5' 6 1/2".

The picture to the right was taken on June 13, 2012. The jeans are too tight for my liking - they are size 24 from Coldwater Creek. The shirt is a 2 XL (20-22) from Coldwater Creek. At this time the bottom button will barely button.

Month two of the WW Project was really about staying focused and inspired.

Achieved: Goal 1 - Lose 5% of Start Weight
So, I met my first goal - which was to lose 5% of my start weight. That 5% is equal to 15+ pounds. My reward for the 5% loss was to redeem a facial that I purchased in December. Well, the place went out of business! That's right, I'm out the money and no reward of a facial. So the reward is the satisfaction of knowing I accomplished the first goal.

Staying Focused and Inspired
Looking at losing weight as a work project has really helped me. This is not an easy project, but I really can't think of many work projects that are easy.

• Foods I love: Knowing that I can eat (in moderation) the things I really enjoy has made it easier to stay focus and inspired. Food scales and measuring spoons / cups are my new best friends. The mini-scoop is the best tool. I can still have chips and salsa! I love having it for a treat (sometimes it's my meal) 1 oz of Baked Tostitdos (3 pts), 2 T of On the Boarder Salsa (0 pts) and 2 T of Kraft 1/3 Fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese (2 pts). You know what, that's a lot of chips and salsa!
• Milestones / goals: All projects have milestones / goals, my next goal is 25 pounds of total weight loss. Another way that I'm looking at it is 10 pounds because I've lost 15. Those 10 pounds should make all my pants fit comfortably. 
• Shopping options: I have a few friends that I've told that I'm looking forward to going clothes shopping with them. By this time next year, I should be able to shop the same stores they shop. It'll be interesting to see if my personal style changes once my options open expand.
• Working from home: I feel fortunate that I have a job in which I work from home (90% of the time). I travel to California three to four times a year for a week at a time. In the morning, the TV in my office is usually on the Today show. The Joy Fit Club is one of the segments that motivated me to get on a weight loss program. The stories are real and I related to so many of the stories.
• A salad a day: Since veggies and fruit are great filler and little to zero points, I try to have a salad a day. It really helps with the total points.
• Accountability partner: my dear friend, CJ, is my official accountability partner. I check in with her weekly. I have other family and friends that I check in with on occasion. 

Activity Points Are Everywhere
Who would have thought cleaning (light cleaning) the garage equals activity points? We bought our home in 2010, sadly we have a mess in part of our garage. Much to my surprise - 45 minutes of cleaning in the garage is 4 activity points. It has been a lot of work, and I still have a lot of work. Not only am I getting rid of shit, I'm getting activity points! Yay for cleaning the garage.

My husband and I hoed, hedged and weeded the entrances to our subdivision. We spent about four hours (consumed a lot of water) cleaning it up. I looked at it as multi-tasking: cleaning up the entrances, working on my tan, and earning activity points.

Libby's Great Idea
My friend, Libby, shared her exercise and weight loss reward system with me. She counts calories and exercises regularly. She rewards herself with things like music or book downloads or a movie for working out on the weekends. Libby is very dedicated to working out through the week but has a hard time getting motivated to work out on the weekends. She has various levels of rewards for different things related to exercise and weight loss. I love the idea and I started something similar.

Check back in 30 days to read about month three of the WW Project.