I continue to manage my eating, and I continue to lose a small amount of weight. At the same time, I've really upped my exercise because I'm planning on a walking vacation and I will have a lot more fun if I am in better shape. I'm very mindful of what I'm eating, logging it all, and thinking through my approach to mindful eating, asking myself "Do I want this now?" (ask twice, once with the emphasis on this, once with the emphasis on now).
One night this past week the positive answer to that question led me to consume two four-ounce cups of mint chocolate chip ice cream that just happened to be in my freezer. I did pause and ask myself about it, and I owned the moment. It was not hurried, mindless consumption. I slowly savored each and every spoonful, noticing the uneven distribution of chocolate through the ice cream, enjoying the way the cream melted in my mouth, leaving a last chew of chocolate before swallowing. But I don't know what happened to drive me to a "yes" answer. I tried to talk myself out of it, but I kept coming back to "yes" and so I chose to go for it. Asked again, harder, before the second cup went down the hatch, and came up with the same answer.
So about 360 calories and 60 grams of sugar. So what? I was surprised at the immediate consequences on the scale the next day. After steady though small progress, the scale jumped up two whole pounds overnight and stayed there for three days before coming back down to where I was the morning of the ice cream incident. So I conclude that 60 grams of sugar led to my re-absorbing water throughout my body, because only water retention can explain that big a gain (or loss for that matter) overnight. My weekly trend, and Trendweight.com's more complex calculation, so a small loss for the week, but knowing specifically the consequences of a sugar incident may give me pause before my next chosen indulgence.
2 comments:
Oy, unforgiving.
Better to know.
This confirms my experience of eating better than ever, but barely keeping even.
To paraphrase John Irving, for change, you have to get obsessed and stay obsessed.
Not there yet.
Liz
Hi Nan. This reminds me of the time I was at a Weight Watchers meeting in NYC with a male leader. Someone shared about something they ate off plan. "Did you enjoy it?" the leader asked. He said that it is better to go into a fancy place and sit down and order a really good piece of cake, savor it, let yourself enjoy it, and move on. I always remember that. And you said you enjoyed every spoonful. I'm coming to the realization that I simply can't allow anything in my house unless I admit that if someone else doesn't eat it first, I will. It is so hard, especially with 2 girls age 10 and 21. My friend, mentor and boot camp leader Patsy would not take in the Girl Scout cookies ordered years back until her husband was back from his work trip and could take them into the office. These things are real. But I'm baffled: 60 grams of sugar in 2 four-oz cups of ice cream? I guess it's the sugar from the milk that contributes to that high count? What brand ice cream? And, a walking vacation sounds great! Love, Alice
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