Why do I eat???

So you will notice that I did not give a Tuesday update this last Tuesday...reason...I did not loose any weight, in fact I gained +1.5 pounds, NOT good. I did not fall off the bandwagon-but I did splurge a little. Special K crackers may be good for you, but they are still going to make you gain weight if you eat the whole box!

(on a side note I did stay under my budget for groceries this week- $72.00)

Anyways I have been thinking a lot about food, why I eat it, why I love it, and why I fail when I diet....Here is what I have come up with, so far....

Slippery Slope- The biggest problem with a "food addiction" is that you cannot treat it like any other addiction. For example when you are addicted to Alcohol you go into rehab, get clean and then you try not to have any alcohol after that, you don't have it in your house, and you may choose to find some new friends that don't drink....nobody says to an alcoholic "oh JUST have a glass of wine three times a day." NO more than that! That would be a slippery slope...but with food that's exactly the way it is, you HAVE to eat food to survive, it's all around you and EVERYONE around you is eating!!!

Stress- When I am dieting I need to have very strong will power not to allow myself to indulge in all the things I know I shouldn't eat. When I get stressed out I need to focus on how to keep my cool and not explode or have a mental break down....This is part of the problem. For some reason I cannot seem to have Strong will power and Keep my cool at the same time. So I can only do one at a time, So I eat (whatever I want) then my willpower is no long needed and I can focus on keeping my cool... Also I cannot be BOTHERED with hunger when I have bigger things to deal with.

Self-medicate- I am the queen of this one...I know all the best "all natural" medications...Most people reach for the medicine cabinet, when I am having heartburn I grab a hostess cupcake with a big glass of milk. For hiccups I grab a soda. Tummy hurts I get some cereal. and of course when cramps arrive chocolate is the trick.... When I think about this is seems so silly, but I really do feel better!

Social & Board- I think these go hand in hand, and we ALL do this. I think it is just natural to much mindlessly. If I have extra time and I am board, I just FEEL like eating- still I know. and if Family or friend invite you out to go to dinner you really want to go- and it doesn't really matter if you are starving or not, you are going to be social, and if you happen to eat a 1,600 calorie meal while being social, that's one more nail in the coffin.

Selection- I am a VERY picky eater. I did not know this until after I got married and didn't want to eat anything my husband would. He likes to pick something different on the menu whenever we go out. I WITHOUT fail choose the same 5-6 things when we go out to eat. Breakfast- Ham & cheese omelet or Waffle. Lunch- a chicken tender Salad or Enchilada. Dinner- Chicken Alfredo. The problem is that because I am such a picky eater there may be 968,257,937,589,674,132,256 types of food and I am only willing to eat 35% of them. Then when I cut out those things that are REALLY FATTY (chicken Alfredo) I am left with about 15%...and I get board! And I don't like any of the foods that people put in really healthy things...I try! I don't like Peppers or mushrooms or Onions and I am not really big on fish... I only like 6 flavors of Yo-plait light Yo-gurt!

I like food- ( I just realized that all my points for far started with "s" and I don't have an S for the last one) So sometimes I am not already eating food, and I am not stressed out, and I do NOT have any ailments, and I am not Board, and I am NOT being social, and I am NOT being picky and I am NOT hungry...but if there is a plate of Chocolate chip cookies I want to eat one (or 3) because I like Chocolate chip cookies! No other reason! I like food and when there is a food I like- I want to eat it!!

So now I have identified why I eat...next step is to fix it....wish me luck!

Happy St. Patty's Day