Eye of the tiger
Feb. 11th, 2013 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsyIt's been awhile since I largely cut out many of the grease/sugar/sodium bombs. There is no sense of futility, or that my sacrifices have been in vain. No, I'm seeing solid results. My weight is steadily inching down, I genuinely feel better, and that is highly encouraging. I'm doing something right, so I'm going to keep doing it because it's WORKING. (I could put this behind a cut, but this is something I feel needs to be shared.)
Possibly THE biggest thing I did was cutting out sugary soft drinks. (Not completely; more about that further down.) Remember how I used to drink cans upon cans of Mountain Dew? Now it's been at least a month since I had any of that, and three months since I drank it consistently ("consistently" defined as at least three consecutive days). Someone at work brought in a 2-liter bottle of the stuff for me because he didn't want it. It's sitting in the fridge at work, unopened. (The me from 5 years ago would have used it up in a day.) I also used to eat candy, but to a much lesser extent. Soft drinks made up the lion's share of consumed sugar.
What have I gained in doing without such a substance? Several things, all of which are good. My appetite is smaller, as I can have smaller meals and not feel hungry later. The act of cutting out the stuff kickstarted my weight loss. I have more energy, because the sugar in soft drinks is what slows down metabolism. I'm not hungry for all the fat-bombs like I used to be. That and when my muscles finally stopped being distracted by all the sugar, they started to burn fat (that is no longer being replenished by the fat-bombs), which helped get me past the first plateau. Couple that with cutting out the fat-bombs that I lost the craving for and you can see where this is going. I haven't even started exercising yet, and yes, that is in the plans. You see, my company has its own gym for employees. And recently they opened it up for all hours, so now it's a matter of getting on the evening access list, so I can go there after work, even in the middle of the night. Once all that starts happening? Watch out below.
Years ago I made the mistake of attempting an exercise regimen while I was still drinking liquefied sugar. The logic at the time was that the calories I was burning would offset what I was consuming. That didn't work because of the aforementioned metabolic sugar distraction that was going on.
"But![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
psipsy, how did you quit drinking that stuff?" Good question. I knew that I wasn't drinking it to enjoy it, and I couldn't even really taste it anymore; I was just going through the motions to stave off withdrawal. So I phased it out. When I decided it was time to stop it altogether, I was at around 3-4 cans per day. Then I went to 2-3 cans for a few days. Then 1-2 cans for a few more days. Then 1 can a day until I ran out of cans. Then I bought individual bottles, and spread each bottle out over several days. To balance things out, I started drinking more water and brewed tea. Not that canned Lipton/Nestea, but pouring boiling water over a teabag in a mug.
It was hard at first. It took some time to adjust my body to not thirst for it. I still had some withdrawal. (It wasn't as bad as the time I went from 6 cans/day to nothing overnight, though.) The challenge that remains is that sugary drinks are EVERYWHERE and aggressively so, which will always make them an option. Vending machines, restaurants, convenience stores, you name it. It's cheap, and ready to serve as soon as the can or bottle is opened, or as soon as it's in the cup. I've had to get used to asking for simple water or unsweetened iced tea at restaurants. As non-alcoholic options go, there's either water, tea, coffee, or a dozen flavors of sugary soft drinks.
Although I have to confess, I still have soft drinks sometimes. I have some Jones left in the fridge and I'll have some of that from time to time. I still reserve the option to have something like Mountain Dew, or pizza, or buffalo wings. Just not as frequently. The "never again" mentality tends to give rise to the "farewell to decadence last meal" mentality, and ultimately nothing changes. There is no "never having this again"; there is only "never having this all the time again". That's how moderation works.
As an old mantra of mine goes: Iron wills are forged by those who know the consequences of not having one. I have seen the consequences, and they are horrifying.
Possibly THE biggest thing I did was cutting out sugary soft drinks. (Not completely; more about that further down.) Remember how I used to drink cans upon cans of Mountain Dew? Now it's been at least a month since I had any of that, and three months since I drank it consistently ("consistently" defined as at least three consecutive days). Someone at work brought in a 2-liter bottle of the stuff for me because he didn't want it. It's sitting in the fridge at work, unopened. (The me from 5 years ago would have used it up in a day.) I also used to eat candy, but to a much lesser extent. Soft drinks made up the lion's share of consumed sugar.
What have I gained in doing without such a substance? Several things, all of which are good. My appetite is smaller, as I can have smaller meals and not feel hungry later. The act of cutting out the stuff kickstarted my weight loss. I have more energy, because the sugar in soft drinks is what slows down metabolism. I'm not hungry for all the fat-bombs like I used to be. That and when my muscles finally stopped being distracted by all the sugar, they started to burn fat (that is no longer being replenished by the fat-bombs), which helped get me past the first plateau. Couple that with cutting out the fat-bombs that I lost the craving for and you can see where this is going. I haven't even started exercising yet, and yes, that is in the plans. You see, my company has its own gym for employees. And recently they opened it up for all hours, so now it's a matter of getting on the evening access list, so I can go there after work, even in the middle of the night. Once all that starts happening? Watch out below.
Years ago I made the mistake of attempting an exercise regimen while I was still drinking liquefied sugar. The logic at the time was that the calories I was burning would offset what I was consuming. That didn't work because of the aforementioned metabolic sugar distraction that was going on.
"But
psipsy, how did you quit drinking that stuff?" Good question. I knew that I wasn't drinking it to enjoy it, and I couldn't even really taste it anymore; I was just going through the motions to stave off withdrawal. So I phased it out. When I decided it was time to stop it altogether, I was at around 3-4 cans per day. Then I went to 2-3 cans for a few days. Then 1-2 cans for a few more days. Then 1 can a day until I ran out of cans. Then I bought individual bottles, and spread each bottle out over several days. To balance things out, I started drinking more water and brewed tea. Not that canned Lipton/Nestea, but pouring boiling water over a teabag in a mug.It was hard at first. It took some time to adjust my body to not thirst for it. I still had some withdrawal. (It wasn't as bad as the time I went from 6 cans/day to nothing overnight, though.) The challenge that remains is that sugary drinks are EVERYWHERE and aggressively so, which will always make them an option. Vending machines, restaurants, convenience stores, you name it. It's cheap, and ready to serve as soon as the can or bottle is opened, or as soon as it's in the cup. I've had to get used to asking for simple water or unsweetened iced tea at restaurants. As non-alcoholic options go, there's either water, tea, coffee, or a dozen flavors of sugary soft drinks.
Although I have to confess, I still have soft drinks sometimes. I have some Jones left in the fridge and I'll have some of that from time to time. I still reserve the option to have something like Mountain Dew, or pizza, or buffalo wings. Just not as frequently. The "never again" mentality tends to give rise to the "farewell to decadence last meal" mentality, and ultimately nothing changes. There is no "never having this again"; there is only "never having this all the time again". That's how moderation works.
As an old mantra of mine goes: Iron wills are forged by those who know the consequences of not having one. I have seen the consequences, and they are horrifying.
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no subject
Date: 2013-02-11 11:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-13 03:39 am (UTC)I'm impressed ... really and very
Date: 2013-02-11 02:10 pm (UTC)Re: I'm impressed ... really and very
Date: 2013-02-13 08:53 am (UTC)Re: I'm impressed ... really and very
Date: 2013-02-14 12:52 pm (UTC)I tried smoking once or twice, out of curiosity and as an adult...and found that it interfered with my ability to taste food. That was a dealbreaker right there!
no subject
Date: 2013-02-14 12:58 pm (UTC)We've basically cut out soft drinks at our house except when there's pizza. Because pizza needs pop. Or beer.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-15 09:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-15 12:48 pm (UTC)Bigelow has a few really great flavors -- pomegranate (AVOID the Celestial Seasoning's pomegranate....they add something else that makes it simply horrid), oolong (aka "Chinese Fortune"), Earl Gray, and Green are always in rotation at our house.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-18 04:52 am (UTC)We're discussing tea. Just look at what we've become.