Saboteurs!!!!!

The worst thing about dieting is saboteurs! I am currently staying with my mother for a few days.  One of the first thing she says is “I’m going to make Chicken and mash potatoes for you.”  This involves roasting a whole chicken with its skin on in its own fat as well as homemade mash potatoes with heavy wiping cream and butter. I told my mother I had stated a low calorie lifestyle but it only resulted in sweet peas covered in butter. So I did my best to portion out an expectable amount and hold back on the left over. (Although I have cheated a couple times). So later on my mom comes downstairs and asks if I want anything from the grocery store. I tell her “fat free milk, Kashi go Lean crunch (my craving saver), and baby carrots).  She come back with the things I ask for as well as a gallon of ice cream (on of my biggest comfort foods) and two family size bags of potato chips.  I think my will power will last me the 3 days I am here but how am I going to handle it for the six months I am with my family in Florida.  I don’t have control over what kind of foods are in the kitchen. How do you keep yourself from cheating when you can’t control the grocery shopping?

Honestly, I would keep the foods you want to eat (like the cereal) in your room!  That way, if you really need a snack or to help a craving you aren't confronted with all of the food in the kitchen.

I also always try to keep a bottle of water and some gum with me.  I apparently just need something to do with my mouth, not necessarily eat.

Meals are the hardest, especially if you're eating with others.  I would say, just take smaller portions that you would have otherwise, and maybe have a snack before meals, so you aren't as hungry when you all eat together.

I wish you the best of luck.  If you need any support, I'm here!  I have a family that LOVES to eat out, so I understand temptation!

Offer to cook the meals or do the grocery shopping from time to time perhaps.   Is mum a sylph like health-freak or could she do with losing a few pounds and trimming back on the cholesterol?   Have a long chat with her about what you're trying to achieve.  Keep pressing the point rather than explaining it once and leaving it at that.  Stress the things you'd like to eat and simply turn down the ice-cream etc., that you'd rather not eat.  No-one's forcing you.

Yeah my mom tried to make me eat her meals when I first started counting cals. Of course I was 17 but I realized that hamburger helper with corn and white bread 3 to 4 nights out of the week was not healthy. Now she fully supports me as I have shown her that I do not have an ED, which she thought I did, but that I am just trying to be healthy. My family still eats like crap so junk food is always around. I can avoid almost all of it because it is not appealing anymore but if I really want ice cream I just eat 1 or 2 tbsp. There are 8 tbsp in 1/2 cup so you can do the math with however many cals. And that normally does the trick for me.

1lbs --  First off, realize that your Mom wants to give you only the best, and she thinks she's doing just that.  She wants to  make your stay special for you, and she feels that having these "wonderful" foods around will help do that.   What she really wants is your love and your friendship.   So, maybe you can find a way to give her time by making up a menu and going shopping with her and cooking with her. 

If you tell her your plan for the next few days is to eat more healthy and have a menu plan in mind, it will be hard for her not to go along.  If she says something that hurts your feelings, have some upbeat responses ready.  She probably doesn't realize the impact of her words, or she's thinking something entirely different from how it sounds to you. 

Good luck to you -- remember you are in control -- you just need to let other's know where you're sailing to. 

 

1lb - Parents love their children no matter how big or small - just as long as their children are happy. Empty nester parents revert back to the good times of their children's youth.  When you were young and sick or down in the dumps - how did mom and dad bring you out of it...with food!  Food is social, it brings people together and cures boredom.  The key is to really talk with your mother and explain that although she loves you no matter what...this is something that "you" need to do for yourself.  By doing this for you, it will make you a happier individual.  She will understand.  Tell her how appreciative you are of her taking you back in and cooking and grocery shopping for essentials.  Know that it is your mother's business what she buys at the store.  At least she bought you what you asked for...had she bought all the junk and not the good stuff you wanted, then I would say she is a saboteur and not seeing or being sensitive to what you are trying to do. 

You have to be strong against the temptation - you are the one changing your lifestyle - you can't ask others to conform to you.  Remember that - you must change.  If she buys things that you don't want to eat and it starts to go bad, and she asks "why aren't you eating the items I am buying for you?"  You politely say, "I am not eating that way anymore..."   She will understand and then you both can go together and shop...it will then turn into a bonding.  Lead by quiet  example - and realize that using the word "diet" is more pressure than anything else.  Change your lifestyle and habits and then it isn't dieting...it becomes a change for the better...times goes by fast.  I have been there - I changed my lifestyle and combatted saboteurs by committing to doing what is right for me and me only.  No time schedule, no pressure - believe in you and before you know it you will have evolved into something that you thought you could have never obtained....best of luck....