Freedom

I have just read a fascinating article in Lighter Life magazine about freedom. It basically suggests that we all need freedom to thrive but it is what we do with that freedom that determines the success of us as individuals.

With freedom comes choices and limitations, which translates as respnsibility and it is how we cope with responsibility as people that matters.

Observers suggest obesity has come about through capatalist excess, and this is true. The sheer amount of food choice available to us in our developed human societies and the choices available for a lack of exercise has esculated in a rising epidemic of obesity. (I’m thinking Wall*e here, I am going to see it this weekend) This is because we are not dealing with the responsibility that comes with freedom of choice and have gotten greedy (not literally but in terms of choice we want it all).

We hear so often in our society about people not taking responsibility: men not wanting to settle down, parents not making their children go to school, teens involved in knife crime, high unemployment, junk food addicts… people want the freedom that comes from a free society but not the limitations that brings with it.

I think in order to be successful in weight loss then we need to accept we have the freedom to eat healthily or not, but know that we need to impose limitations on ourselves to help the freedom and weightloss to thrive. If we eat junk then that will hinder our success. Think of weightloss as society and food as the people within that society. In any society you have good and bad people; good people are free to come and go as they please and live their lives. Bad people need to be restrained and locked up and only released when they are under control again. Think of good people as healthy food. You are free to eat healthy food and you need to restrain and keep locked up in the supermarket junk food (bad people) until we know it is under control. Its a slightly complicated metaphor but I think it works.

According to Abraham Maslow, a renowned psychologist, there are 7 steps to freedom:

1. Physical – food, water, warmth and sleep.
2. Safety needs – protection, security and comfort.
3. Love & belonging – friendship, family and sexual intimacy.
4. Self esteem – competence, achievement, recognition and respect.
5. Cognitive – knowledge, meaning and understanding.
6. Aesthetic – symmetry, order and beauty.
7. Self-Actualisation – creativity, problem solving, personal growth and acceptance of facts.

I actually think that when we do not fulfil these needs within ourselves then we become lost in what it means to be who we are, we lose the ability to deal with choices that come with freedom in the right way and we become obese, and fail to keep ourselves happy. I think this is where the saying you need to sort the rest of your life out first and then weightloss will happen comes from. Of course I dont think it is as simple as that and you can lose weight and have that develop the self esteem to enable you to use your freedom wisely, but it certainly explains where I am coming from when I say obesity is a mental disorder.

Quiche

I have been doing a lot of thinking about why, when I lose control, this happens? Am I greedy? Am I emotionally weak? Am I a junk food addict? One can never really know the full answer to this situation, just learn by their triggers and try to be better the next time.

Since I have been back on the ‘wagon’, I have been getting progressively better at handling my food. To the point of losing 6lbs in the first 5 days. That suddenly changed yesterday when we had quiche for dinner. To clarify, this was not homemade from fresh ingredients, it was a frozen quiche from the supermarket.

Within an hour of eating the quiche I felt a really strong need to eat and eat and eat. This was rather odd given I had just eaten a large meal and didn’t, previously to the meal, have much of an appitite at all. I resisted and resisted until about 9pm when I ended up giving in and having a one egg omelette inside a pita and then a bowl of cereal. Normally my binges are much bigger so I think I handled it well but still, the cravings seemed to come out of nowhere.

I woke up this morning ravenous. Given I ate before I slept I should not have been hungry for hours after waking. But I had a cup of tea and two toast, with marg and Jam. But I was still hungry and ended up having 3 weetabix and 2 more pieces of toast with another cup of tea within the hour (!). I told myself I would not have anything else until dinner. I had a nap and when I woke up I was hungry still. I managed to hold off until 12.30 when I made myself some plain noodles with a tin of tuna.

After eating that my hunger really subsided. Its now 3 hours since I ate the tuna and noodles and I am still not even remotely hungry. I think I am back on track. I am thankful it lasted less than 24 hours but it makes me realise just how powerful the chemicals are in junk and processed foods (such as the quiche) and how eating the right foods (such as plain noodles and tuna) can help to control appitite.

I think half the battle is in realising this.

On a side note, I have set up a challenge page for a little competition I am running to lose 10% of our body weight. It’s only me and Tigerlily at the moment so please join up!

Weigh In: 2.1: -6lbs

The weekend was an unmitigated disaster socially, but my weightloss could not have gone better! My appitite, helped along by a bout of nausea, is at an all time low. I am eating but only really my meals. I couldn’t ask for more.

Last week: 15.4/214lbs
This week: 14.12/208lbs
Loss: -6lbs

I guess a lot of it is water, but that does not matter to me. All I know and care about is that the scales are going in the right direction again, I am looking and feeling slimmer and am in control again. My stomach is MUCH flatter and my face is not so podgy. It is great!

Getting The Control Back

I am out of control. This week has been horrific for my healthy eating plan. Today culmulated in my devouring all sorts of junk in a futile attempt at fixing my emotional needs. But I was unhealthy to a turning point, I think. I have realised I have to do this, and take it day by day. Only I can gain control again. I remember when I took control the first time around. I did it, I found the strength from nowhere. I DO have it in me to lose weight, even when life is not going my way and it’s about time I took control again.

So for the first time in my life I have written my eating plan BEFORE I eat it. Here it is and yes it is quite stodgy and full of bread but I have to work it so my body can cope with small changes. At this stage if I manage to keep to the calories below it will be a successful day.

Breakfast – 7am

2 wholemeal toast, marg, jam (230 calories)

Morning Snack – 10am

45g Puffed Wheat, Skimmed Milk (200 calories)

Lunch – 12.30pm

Cheese sandwich, banana (350 calories)

Afternoon Snack – 2-3pm

Packet crisps(potato chips), home made veggie soup if needed (120 calories)

Dinner – 5pm

Sweet potato, veg, 2 sausages or a burger (350 calories)

Evening Snack – 7-8pm

Sandwich (250 calories)

This comes to exactly 1500 calories, which is a good amount to consume for my weight. I am also going to go to the gym tomorrow. No excuses.