So I survived January's challenge to give up soda. It was much easier than I was expecting. I was all geared up to experience a caffeine withdrawal headache the first few days and was surprised that one never came. Which got me thinking... Had I given up one evil and replaced it with another? Up until mid-January, it never occurred to me that all the hot tea I was drinking (up to 3 cups a day) had probably as much caffeine in it as the diet coke/diet dr. pepper/diet black cherry soda I was giving up. Essentially I made it a seamless transition. So I went to the grocery store and found a perfectly tasty non-caffeinated tea to drink. I've been slowly incorporating this into my day and doing away with the other kind of tea. Since my goal was to give up soda and not necessarily caffeine, I feel like I am still victorious in my small change for the month of January
I do admit the time I miss drinking soda the most is when I have popcorn. For some reason diet coke and popcorn go together like peanut butter and jelly for me. My new fave liquid to have with popcorn now is Chrystal Light Fruit Punch flavored water. Not sure why, but this seems to do the trick.
So my plan is to continue to give up soda and incorporate another small change in the month of February. This is going to be much more challenging for me as I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to do this for sometime and keep failing. I figure if I put it down in my blog, I'll have a better chance of succeeding by being held accountable.
Here goes.... I am not going to snack after 7:00pm. I think the reason I am having such a difficult time losing these last 20 pounds is from all the eating I do after dinner. It's not like I am hungry and there is no reason for me to raid to the kitchen. So I will give myself a cut-off time and do my best to stick to it. I am going to be interested to see if this makes me eat better throughout the earlier part of the day knowing that I am not going to be stockpiling up on food late at night.
February is going to be tough month for me...good thing its the shortest one we have all year.
Stock up on lots of chewing gum -- it'll help keep your mouth busy.
ReplyDeleteAnd one other thing - even Oprah gives herself until 8 pm on the "no more eating for the day" rule!
ReplyDelete7 pm seems pretty early. It's a long time for your body to go without food (assuming you eat breakfast the next day @ 6 am -- that's 11 hours later). Just a thought.
Thanks Rebecca! I think I need the 7:00pm cut-off because I am still pretty full from dinner. If I wait until 8:00pm, then I will quickly start getting snacks ready at 7:45pm and trick myself that I am still hungry. As long as I can make it to bed by 10:00pm, I do not need to eat anything again. I will, however, allow myself liquids leading up to bedtime.
ReplyDeleteThere is something in me that is not allowing myself to snack moderately. I start off wanting salty, then move on to sweet or vice-a-versa. It's all or nothing with me. Much easier to give myself a hard stop and no that I can't do anymore damage. It would be one thing if I was actually hungry, but I know I'm not.
Thanks for your comments!! It's nice to know my blog is being read.
I gotcha! For me, many times dinner isn't over until 8:15-8:30 pm. Not ideal, but such is my life :-)
ReplyDeleteTry some of the Celestial Seasonings herbal teas with a splash of milk. My favorites:Gingerbread and Honey Vanilla Chamomile. Thee have good flavor but no calories or caffiene (sp?).