Not staying low-carb on weekends has been my downfall in my weight-loss journey so far. As soon as I ate something high-carb, my entire weekend turned into a food fest, which undid all of the body-healing progress I’ve made throughout the week.
My Binge Pattern:
As I mentioned in several of my posts, on workdays, I hardly have any cravings at all. I can even walk by the sweets and cupcakes people leave by the coffee paraphernalia for others to enjoy. Actually, all unwanted treats from coworkers land there. “Someone will eat it.” is the common attitude. And indeed, someone will eventually eat it … just not me.
The trouble starts Friday evening. Here’s what usually goes through me head: “Weekend!!! It’s time to relax. Let’s do something special as a family. Let’s eat out! I’m going to eat whatever, just for this meal and I’ll get back on track after we leave the restaurant. Okay, I’ll have some sweets, that’s it for tonight. I’ll reset over night, let’s go to the store and grab some stuff.” Saturday goes sort of like this: “Hmmm, I didn’t eat those snack cakes last night. Let me eat them and get them out of the way, then start over afterwards. Heck I already started, might as well keep going…” Once Monday comes around, I’m about 3-4 lbs heavier again, I feel puffy, swollen, and lethargic, combined with a mild, annoying headache and the question looming over my head: “Why the hell did I do this again?”
The bad thing is, there are many places where I could actually break the binge-cycle, but my mind is on overdrive and I go on autopilot. I don’t seem to have control anymore of what goes into my mouth. Sweet stuff is all I can think about and I am driven to fulfill that need. The sad thing is, it is never enough. So, my only solution is not to start at all. But how can I do this?
Reframing:
Back in the old Weight Watchers days, I’ve learned about a tool called refraiming, where you replace a belief or thought with another, more positive one. Here is how I want to change my thinking for now:
- Weekends are danger zones – turns into – Weekends are opportunities to learn more about healing my body (more podcasts to listen to, reading, try new recipes that I don’t have time for during the week, etc.)
- I can have just one of these – turns into – I rather stay on the straight path I’m on right now. (I imagine the path of binging to be loopy with many d-tours). If that doesn’t work, walk away and the cravings will diminish.
- Whatever. I don’t care. I don’t want to do anything – turns into – What do I really feel? Am I blocking something out?
So for this week, I’ll be practicing my reframing skills and post about my progress as I go along.
Next, I’d like to hear from you readers if reframing has worked for you. What thoughts have you changed? Have you noticed any changes in your thinking, your mood, your behavior? Just leave a comment below to share your experience.
Until next time,
Nickie
A Year of Putting Myself First 
I had to get out of the mindset of thinking that a weekend was time to relax and do whatever. It’s actually 1/3 of your week if you start going off plan on Friday night. That can really derail your progress.
The other thing that really helped was to change my mindset about the way I was eating. It’s not a temporary thing until I lose the weight. It’s a lifestyle change that I have made for my health and longevity. Sure I’d like to lose weight, but the main thing is I want to be out on those hiking trails well into my 90s.
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Wow, I like the way you said that the weekend is 1/3 of the week. This puts it all into perspective. No wonder…. It’s almost like a no-brainer. I just never looked at it that way.
One bonus, for staying on track this past weekend, I had a nice whoosh of a 2.5 lb loss and I didn’t feel out of control.
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