Monday, November 10, 2014

No Milkshake For You...er...Me, and Other Maintenance Habits

Last week, Jeff and I went out to dinner before he left for a road trip to California.  We'd placed our orders for our favorite chicken Caesar pasta salad, when a waitress walked by us, bringing a milkshake to another table.  Jeff immediately wanted to order one, but I said I couldn't - it was Monday.  It made perfect sense to me as to why I wouldn't even consider getting a milkshake on a Monday, but I had to explain my eating pattern to Jeff, so I thought I'd share it here, too.

Monday begins my "rein it back in" part of the week, and a milkshake, or any dessert, is not on my menu.  And it's not because of the old standby of starting a diet on Monday; it's just that after our long run on Saturday, I do treat myself afterward, and I eat pretty much whatever I want, even on Sunday.  So on Monday, if I don't consciously put the brakes on that kind of eating, it would spiral out into the entire week pretty quickly.

Tuesday through Thursday are hold steady days; Friday brings a bit more protein and carbs so I can fuel up for my long run on Saturday, and of course, the weekend is all about making my stomach and my brain happy after torturing my legs.  It might sound a bit weird, but it works for me quite well.

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I've been in maintenance mode for several years now, and while I'm pretty good at being on autopilot with food choices when I'm by myself, I sometimes forget who I am and where I've come from when I'm out with friends, and order/eat like they do.  But I had two instances last week where I ordered my usual, except that normally I'd split the meals with Jeff (but he wasn't there).  In the first instance, I asked for my burger to be cut in half and got a to go container when I placed my order, so when the burger came, I immediately put half aside.  I didn't think about the fact that I'd been given twice the amount of fries I normally eat, and was just eating and chatting with my friends, when I realized I was done...and guess what?  There were a lot of fries remaining in my basket!  I still ended up eating what I normally would have and stopped without becoming a member of the clean plate club.  Go me!

The next day, after our race, I ordered the usual at Blue Baker:
Cinnamon bun was in place of the cinnamon twist - boo on me for getting there too late to snag one!

I ate one of the bagel halves and a piece of bacon, along with the chocolate milk, Nuun drink, and coffee.  Took the rest home for later, and that's when I realized that I ate what I normally would have, had Jeff been there to split it with me (well, minus the cinnamon twist/bun - there's only so much I can eat right after a long run). 

Later in the day, I had the other half of the burger, and half of the cinnamon bun.  And even though I was not having the greatest weekend, I was pretty happy when I realized that my eating habits were so ingrained that I ate my usual amount of food without even thinking about it.  I guess repetition does eventually breed success!

17 comments:

  1. Well it doesn't sound weird to me at all but very smart. On the days I work it's so easy for me to eat healthy. You are at home which is more difficult in my opinion and I think you are doing great. But although I eat pretty healthy on work days, I need to exercise/move more and cut down on the weekend wine since I did gain a bit of weight in the past months.

    It's still not common here in Holland to ask for the rest of the meal to bring home. That said I know portions are sometimes not as huge as in the US. Funny thing is though that at the moment there's a lot to do about food waste here, there was even a special week for it where a couple of restaurants in the country gave the opportunity to bring leftovers home instead of throwing away what you don't eat. Good thing in my opinion.

    No worries what others think about this or might find it weird, I find it a good approach and it's working for you.

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    1. How interesting that your country is making a conscious effort to raise awareness about restaurant portion size. Of course, our thing in the US (or maybe it's just Texas, I don't know) is the bigger, the better...but it's ridiculous. I guess people expect a bargain when they eat out - might be good for the wallet, but not so much for the waistline!

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  2. yes!!!!
    for me it is the repetition breeds success in ALL REALMS of my life.

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  3. Isn't it nice to know that your new ways are actually becoming your old habitual ways? It's nice to see that habitual overeating CAN be changed to habitual regular eating!

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  4. Yes, I'm still surprised when one of these "new" habits kicks in, without me consciously planning my choices.

    That's pretty funny about "no milkshake Monday." And impressive. I'm not sure if I was with someone else who suggested the milkshake if I'd have had the nerves of steel to turn it down!

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    1. I'm telling you, if I don't lay down the hammer on Monday, then entire week would go down that path!

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  5. It's so good to know that it can become second-nature. Awesome job Shelley!

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  6. That is your lifestyle now! Love it!!! Have a great week Shelley

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  7. So smart to have simple sensible rules like that to follow--I have a lot of those myself. The problem is I don't actually FOLLOW them. :)

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  8. Go Shelley! Those choices do become automatic. Every once in while when I order a small portion size (when offered) or I decline a free item because I just don't want it - someone with me will say "Oh you are being so good" and I tell them it isn't that. It's how I eat.

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    1. I do the same with "free food" - it still has to be worth it for me to eat it. You should see Jeff and I walk through Sam's Club...he's stopping at every sample table, while I keep moving forward, LOL.

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  9. Thank you for showing me that maintenance is achievable. Posts about keeping your weight off give me hope.

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  10. That is total success in my book Shelley! Way to go! Had it been me, I may have split the burger in half, but the fries would have been ALL mine - but salty things are my crack. :D

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  11. It's true! You reach a point where there's a new normal. This is the way you live now.

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  12. I'm definitely not at the point yet where it is automatic, so I have to have a set day to "rein it in" after any day "off", like a holiday or a long run. I'm hopeful that one day it'll be automatic, but until then, I just do my best. :) Always glad to know I'm not the only one having this struggle and that it does eventually get easier!

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