Our dieters are doing well despite all of the added pressures of the holiday season. This week, almost everyone lost weight. In our group, we discussed how they had eaten differently during previous Christmases. One dieter, Roxanne, summed up the group’s general sentiment best, saying she used to: “Eat until I bust!”
Roxanne, 47, has been struggling with dieting since the age of 25. At one point, she lost 25 pounds and kept it off for about 2 years. Historically Roxanne’s biggest problem has been giving into cravings. When she felt a strong urge to eat something, she usually did, telling herself “It’s ok to eat this because… I really want it; I’ll eat it eventually; I’ll have just a little; this one time won’t matter.” Overcoming cravings and sticking to her food plans (a skill learned on Day 13 of The Beck Diet Solution) has helped Roxanne lose a total of 33 ½ pounds so far!
Roxanne is also becoming deft at making smart food choices. She knew that last week she would be shopping and eating out a lot more than usual and had to be extra vigilant about not taking in too many calories (Day 30). She made a rule for herself for this holiday season: to order a salad whenever she ate lunch out. This rule eliminated a struggle about what she would and wouldn’t allow herself to eat. She stuck fast to this rule. One day, without thinking about it, she ordered breaded, fried chicken on her salad instead of grilled chicken. But she didn’t criticize herself. She didn’t decide that she had blown her diet and therefore should eat out of control for the rest of the day. Instead, she was able to get back on track immediately (Day 20). She viewed the fried chicken as a momentary slip up and continued to eat normally for the rest of day, knowing that one minor mistake would not affect her weight at the end of the week.
Despite the holiday season, Roxanne lost 2 pounds this week.