Monday, April 20, 2015

Small Sacrifices

The other day I was really hungry around 4:00 pm, and I knew I wasn't going to eat dinner until 6:45 or so.  It took a lot of willpower (and a couple of big glasses of water) to hold off on eating anything, but I'd done so well for most of the day that I didn't want to waste all of my effort at that point.

I could have had a bigger lunch, but I didn't, because I'm trying to eat less.  So those couple of hours of hunger would have been for nothing, had I eaten more - it's not that I would have had so much to have gained weight, but I probably would've negated anything I did that day to lose.

I was willing to be hungry.  I wasn't going to die, and I wasn't at the hangry/cranky stage where eating something is necessary to save a relationship (come on, we've all been there...you know that "eat a Snickers" commercial IS telling the truth)(although you can achieve the same results with eating something healthier than a Snickers)(but damn, a Snickers bar is pretty good).  The hunger was worth the reward.

Dieting isn't about the big things.  It's about the day-to-day stuff you do, the little changes, the acceptance of being a little uncomfortable, that makes it work.  This also applies to maintaining that weight loss - much as I'd like to not have to think about what I'm eating, it just doesn't work that way.  As I'm in the midst of doing both at the moment (dieting on the weekdays, maintaining on the weekends), I'm realizing how many small, but significant, sacrifices I'm making on a daily basis in order to achieve my goal.  I'll be honest - some days, I'm going on a day-to-day effort, because thinking about being hungry again doesn't sound all that appealing.  But the results of these efforts are appealing to me, and for that reason, I'm willing to make these small sacrifices.

14 comments:

  1. As long as your not miserable being really hungry for two hours it isn't awful I suppose. I log my calories daily over at myfitnesspal.com and spread them out to include two snacks if needed. Its funny that its only 200 calories difference between maintence and losing weight. I thought I was at my good weight only to find out at the dr's that I had lost 1/2 inch in height and losing another 5 pounds would put me in the totally healthy category of 24% BMI. As of yesterday I am back at it I lost 13 pounds w/o trying hard so I am hoping these last 5 won't be too difficult. How many more pounds do you have to lose if you don't mind me asking?

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    1. Sounds like you're doing great - congratulations! I haven't focused on numbers in years - in fact, I haven't weighed myself in several years. I don't care how much I weigh or how much I lose...I just want to feel lighter, so I can hopefully run a little easier and faster. I judge weight loss by how loose my clothes are getting.

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  2. I love this post. As you may remember me saying, my husband is trying to lose weight but his will power sucks, to put it nicely. He is always coming up with excuses why he needs to eat those snacks. Most of the time it's the old "i'm getting a head ache an I need something NOW".

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  3. Small things add up to big success, even though it's sometimes hard to see it in the beginning. I do think it takes a certain mindset to be willing to make the small sacrifices and it sounds like you've switched to "ON." Gotta love it when the switch flips.

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    1. You are right about that switch - mine is definitely in the ON position, and I'm really grateful for that.

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  4. LOL @ the snickers commercial. I haven't even seen it, but I know exactly what it is!

    I joined you for two whole days in the 'small but significant' sacrifices, but then I let it go. Right now I am in that mode where I can't see that I can maintain at a lower weight. So until I'm there, I don't want to lose just to regain. I've already proven I can do that :)

    The huge glass of water really does do the trick while waiting for dinner!

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    1. LOL on "proven I can do that" - yeah, sometimes it's better to accept that rather than stay on the diet rollercoaster.

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  5. Truthfully, sometimes it is an hour to hour struggle for me. I wish things were different, but what are you going to do.

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  6. Hi, I just found your blog and I like your view on dieting!! Everyday consists of thinking and planning, and that's ok too :)

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    1. Welcome, Lori! Glad you found me...and now to go read your blog! :)

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  7. I admire your willpower. For me it's sometimes giving in to it and sometimes I just accept it and am hungry. It depends how long I have to wait. If it's 2 hours or more I grap a piece of fruit. Thank goodness for me I don't like Snickers anymore LOL

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  8. AMEN SISTER.
    dieting
    all things.
    it's the small choices we make which dictate the lives we lead.

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