It’s been some time since I started the Viva Fresh Clean Eating Challenge. In the beginning, I had some macro goals like ‘starting some good new habits, while eliminating or minimizing some of the bad habits’. One focus area was to eliminate binge eating snacks with zero or limited nutritional value. I feel I have done a fairly good job working on that, realizing yet again, if you put your mind to something you can succeed. Analyzing when this was actually happening most often was the most important step in trying to change this routine. What I’ve realized, is that the post dinner period was my favorite time period for this type of snacking, though to be fair I’ve also realized I’ve done it in the period between lunch and dinner quite a bit depending on the day. The next thing I did was try to isolate, when it was happening, the driver of why it was happening. It appears that boredom, stress, lack of focus/desire to eat healthy were the culprits. Once I realized when and why it was happening, the biggest thing I had to do first was ensure I had healthy snacks(fruits, vegetables, etc) on hand for the time when I wanted to devour those good tasting but not healthy snacks (candy, chips, etc). For the afternoon, I’ve really started to enjoy Carrots w/ Hummus, a fruit (clementine, apple, etc), or even realizing that I just need some water and not food. These things might seem like captain obvious to other folks, but they were an area I needed to change in my life, so I feel quite good about this process (and my mentors/teammates for support). As for the nighttime rituals, I’ve primarily done two things: 1) Eliminate eating a snack post dinner(which is combined w/ eating the right things for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner both from a nutritional and calorie count pov), or if I want something, 2) eating a square of dark chocolate to satisfy the need for something sweet or containing chocolate. The interesting thing about the chocolate square – I don’t necessarily feel full in the stomach sense, but I feel it satisfies that insatiable need for something sweet after dinner.
The results have been very positive. Most importantly, I’m feeling better about my choices. Also, I’m feeling like I’ve managing my boredom/stress better. And, while not a goal, it appears I’ve dropped 15lbs since I started this challenge.
The interesting thing about the weight loss, is that I didn’t set out any specific goals for weight loss — and, what do ya know – by not focusing on weight loss, I’ve achieved weight loss.
