I love springtime in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We had over a foot of snow on Friday and today it has all melted and we’re expecting nearly 70°! So my husband and I decided to take a quick motorcycle ride. Riding is exhilarating. I love the feel of the wind on my face and being outside and breathing fresh air…well, until a big truck whizzes by. It’s definitely scary too. I think of going 65 miles an hour and hitting gravel or something and crashing. Not pleasant. But I try not to focus on that and just keep aware and relaxed and focusing on my surroundings. We rode past a field and stirred up a red tailed hawk. How cool is that! She took flight and soared over our heads and I could see the snow capped peaks in the distance. I can’t wait till it gets warmer though, because it was not 70 - closer to 60. Oh well, summer is coming fast!
Maybe part of what I love so much about riding is that we generally ride to a destination and often times that destination is a restaurant for lunch. And like other restaurant outings, I somehow consider each one a very special occasion, and worth eating anything I want. (I just don’t remember that we already eat out too much and it just isn’t that “special”.)
Anyway we went to Red Robin and I ate an entire hamburger and helped polish off three baskets of French fries with Ranch dressing. I love their hamburgers and French fries, even though I know they probably have a gazillion calories and tons of fat and salt in them. I’ve gotten into the habit of deluding myself that because I’m exercising so much I can eat anything I want. You’d think I’d know better (I do) and that I’d act differently (I don’t).
I’m pretty sure that until I can get this all figured out, I won’t be losing all of the weight I want to lose, or keeping it off even if I do. Right now I’m struggling with two, or more, ways to proceed:
1. I can “diet” - cut out all the white stuff, flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, cut out alcohol, and dairy products, heck I might even cut out all meat and go vegetarian OR
2. I can not give up anything that I can’t give up permanently and just focus on portion control and overall calories.
I’m not sure I could ever give up all of those things above forever anyway. I could give them up temporarily, and I’ve done it before, but after losing the weight and then adding them back in, I gained the weight again. Was it because of them or because I just started eating out of control again - large portions - no thoughts about calories or volume of food and eating pretty much as much as my husband?
I sure like the idea of not giving up stuff - I like an occasional drink and I don’t want to have to give it up totally. I like bread and cheese and all those things and I don’t want to have to give them up! The million dollar question is how willing am I to eat moderately healthy, eating the unhealthy stuff only on occasion and really paying attention to healthy portions?
Maybe that’s what I’ll do, I’ll choose the middle path and walk it with mindfulness and compassion for myself. That sounds good.
Maybe part of what I love so much about riding is that we generally ride to a destination and often times that destination is a restaurant for lunch. And like other restaurant outings, I somehow consider each one a very special occasion, and worth eating anything I want. (I just don’t remember that we already eat out too much and it just isn’t that “special”.)
Anyway we went to Red Robin and I ate an entire hamburger and helped polish off three baskets of French fries with Ranch dressing. I love their hamburgers and French fries, even though I know they probably have a gazillion calories and tons of fat and salt in them. I’ve gotten into the habit of deluding myself that because I’m exercising so much I can eat anything I want. You’d think I’d know better (I do) and that I’d act differently (I don’t).
I’m pretty sure that until I can get this all figured out, I won’t be losing all of the weight I want to lose, or keeping it off even if I do. Right now I’m struggling with two, or more, ways to proceed:
1. I can “diet” - cut out all the white stuff, flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, cut out alcohol, and dairy products, heck I might even cut out all meat and go vegetarian OR
2. I can not give up anything that I can’t give up permanently and just focus on portion control and overall calories.
I’m not sure I could ever give up all of those things above forever anyway. I could give them up temporarily, and I’ve done it before, but after losing the weight and then adding them back in, I gained the weight again. Was it because of them or because I just started eating out of control again - large portions - no thoughts about calories or volume of food and eating pretty much as much as my husband?
I sure like the idea of not giving up stuff - I like an occasional drink and I don’t want to have to give it up totally. I like bread and cheese and all those things and I don’t want to have to give them up! The million dollar question is how willing am I to eat moderately healthy, eating the unhealthy stuff only on occasion and really paying attention to healthy portions?
Maybe that’s what I’ll do, I’ll choose the middle path and walk it with mindfulness and compassion for myself. That sounds good.
1 comments:
It's a tough choice. I feel the same way... can I really give up chocolate cake forever?? Well, no. I don't think I will. I am giving up SOME things forever... fast food, french fries, chips. But cake? I'll have that when I am done losing weight. In moderation.
I guess we will always have to be on guard and watch our portions and intake. I think your moderate approach can work well for you. I wish you the best!
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