Tonight I had a meeting and I didn't get out of there until 7:30. I was planning on getting a salad for dinner. I was looking forward to eating a big salad. I really craved a salad. But when 7:30 rolled around and I started eyeing the tin of cat food that was sitting on a nearby desk, thinking that I was hungry enough to go for a little Fancy Feast (I mean, it's FANCY and it's a FEAST. How bad could it be?), I started rethinking my salad idea. By the time I got to the drive-thru, I was so hungry that I ordered a lard sandwich with extra butter and a side of gravy, an order of fries, and of course, the requisite Diet Coke. I mean, I was hungry, people! Who wants to take the time to chew on field greens when they're emaciated? I want a cow! (And I don't even like beef!)
Another time I eat garbage is when I'm overwhelmed. I work well under pressure. I like being busy. When my calendar is full of commitments, I buckle down, organize everything and get cracking. No problem, right? But I've found there's a fine line between busy and overwhelmed. When I start to cross that line, I shut down. I no longer prioritize and take care of business. I can no longer break projects into smaller chunks and get it done. I sit there like a deer caught in the headlights, not knowing what to do. So I do nothing at all. I don't know where to start, so I don't start at all. Instead, I reach for the pretzles, or chips, or ice cream, or nachos, or cookies. OK, fine - I reach for all of the above. Hey, I keep busy that way, right? Well, my mouth is busy anyway.
I read somewhere that it takes 3 weeks to break a habit. It does make sense, I suppose. It takes time to retrain our brains. If only we could replace a negative behavior with a more positive one for 3 weeks (only 21 days!), it might just become more natural to us. If we could just replace that half hour of TV in the evening with a brisk walk around the neighborhhood, maybe after 3 weeks, we'd start to look forward to our evening walk instead of Seinfeld reruns. Maybe if we could manage to reach for celery sticks instead of cookies every day for 3 weeks, we'd naturally gravitate toward the vegetables without thinking too much about the cookies. I'm not saying that it would become "easy" to make the healthy choices, but maybe it would become a little easiER. Perhaps?
Who's with me? Who wants to try to ditch a negative behavior and replace it with a healthier one for a mere 3 weeks? I'm going to give it a try. Starting tomorrow, of course. There's a piece of cheesecake calling my name right now.
Or I could just follow Brooklyn's diet...
For breakfast, I could eat a piece of string cheese left in my high chair from yesterday's lunch.
For lunch, I'll throw my chicken fingers on the floor, I'll push my corn off my plate, and I'll use my fry as a spoon to scoop up and eat 2 1/2 cups of ketchup.
Mmmm ketchup.
After I've had my fill of ketchup, I'll eat chocolate sauce until it drips from my face.
For an afternoon snack, I'll eat 2 M&Ms I found on the sidewalk.
Then, for dinner, I'll look at my plate and scream, "I don't wan' it!" repeatedly until someone takes it away from me.
And for dessert, I'll follow Joe around until he breaks down and gives me bites of his ice cream.
102 comments:
Sounds like a good plan to me - especially the chocolate syrup part. And that 3 weeks thing is a bunch of doohickey (whatever that is). I mean, I spent 4 months on Weight Watchers 2 years ago, learning new eating habits; but none of them stuck. So I am back relearning them. I can take a daily walk for 2 months, and then "forget" for another 2. It's hopeless, but I just keep getting back up and trying again. I feel like a hamster on one of those little wheels.
OK, I am sooooo completely with you on everything. The problem is, after you named off all the foods that you eat when you are overwhelmed, they are now calling to me.....oh Debi???
My favorite part: "...lard sandwich"
What a cutie-pie! :)
Brooklyn and my Little Monster have about the same diet. He also enjoys stale cheerios and milk from sippy cups that have been lost under furniture for so long that it has become cottage cheese.
That's really nasty. I gag every time he does that. He doesn't do that often,though because I never lose sippy cups and my house is spotless. Really. I swear. Come anytime to look. Just call first. Three weeks ahead. :)
But Dawn - didn't you know that ketchup IS a vegetable? If we run out of ketchup around here, it's a MAJOR disaster. At least she didn't go for the half-crushed hairy potato chip under the couch...
I'm a major lurker on your blog--and this is the first time I've commented. I've been doing SparkPeople.com (free weight loss website) for almost 7 weeks now--and it's STILL not easy! It certainly is easier, but to say that my habits have totally changed would be a lie. It helped that my Dr. told me to stay away from all dairy products...but that's just one step. The up side is that I've managed to lose 12 lbs. I hope you're able to change one small habit at a time--that's all we can do, right?
It's the "I don't wan it!" I'd have a problem with!
The whole eating thing is so hard. Weight Watchers is the only way I can maintain. Brooklyn's diet sounds like a good idea too though : )
That is quite the gauntlet you threw down, but I'm taking up the challenge-I will give up cookies during the day and reach for healthier alternatives for the next 21 days.
This is going to be harder than childbirth!! (And I have twins!)
Thanks for kindling the spark,
Jeffie
oops. there must be a guy out there somewhere who reads your blog. I read in the paper today about a man who decided to propose to his girlfriend by putting the ring into a balloon. he let go! bye bye $6000 ring. he is not happy, and she is not talking to him. oh dear.
How did your daughter know my diet at such a young age. hehe. Your so funny!
I am all for the Brooklyn diet, that is what you were asking right? As far as the habit thing I heard a story once a man was trying to get into the habit of waking early to read his Bible. Someone told him 30 days to a habit. So he got up on day one stumbled out of bed took his shower and read his Bible. Day 2 he stumbled out of bed took his shower and read his Bible. Every day for 30 days he did this, without much improvement still not an easy thing to do. Day 31 same thing not a habit at least not an easy one. The good news is 20 years later when I heard the story he was still doing it. More power to him, I am a snooze addict, someone just didn't tell my daughter! My personal habit I want to break is the nail biting. I find a good manicure cures it for awhile, maybe after 21 manicures I would be cured, I could handle that treatment.
Brooklyn,you have the smartest diet I have ever heard of!
okay freaky, it's like you are inside my head reading my mind LOL. I feel exactly the same way and do the same things. You are not alone :)
And here I've been feeling guilty that all my son will eat anymore is peanut butter sandwiches, chicken nuggets, french fries and bread.
Three weeks? So if I put vegetables in front of him for three weeks either he'll finally eat them or he'll have cemented his habit of screaming that he doesn't want dinner every night?
Maybe I'll be your first comment woohoo anyways I understand how u feel I really really need to start working out a couple of times a week I mean I'm getting married in 13 weeks!! and i just dont want to do it however 2 days ago I managed to ride my bike 12 miles (boy did i regret it the next day my bottom hurts so bad) so i didnt do anything yesterday but today I actually did some aerobics yaay I will try the 21 day thing lets see how it goes I'll be rootin for you do the same for me please. oh and i just love brooklyns diet reminds me of my girls lol...have a good one sasha
I'm a "munch-aholic". If there are cookies, I eat 'em. My current addiction is sunflower seeds. I found a way to justify my munching, though. I go out every morning and walk my dog for 45 minutes to an hour, before breakfast. It gets my metabolism a jump-start for the day, and I burn more calories that way. I also have been eating a lot of mini-meals throughout the day, instead of sitting down and eating the full meat-and-potatoes meal I'm used to. Since my back surgery in December, I've taken off 25 pounds (or more...I don't have a scale at home), and 6 inches off my waist. The surgery is what finally got me off the roller coaster of dieting and not dieting. Can't say I'd recommend it as a way to lose weight, but it helped me to get the ball rolling.
I'm with you Dawn! Although I'm not sure which bad habit to break...eating the non-healthy stuff...watching too much tv...playing on the internet...letting the dishes pile up...
I'll think about it and post on my blog when I come up with a goal.
I love the Brooklyn diet! So cute, and the pictures are adorable.
I've been on a diet for two weeks (I count WW points), and I feel like it's getting easier to make healthier choices and resist temptation! Maybe in another week I'll be home free! Not likely, though, with all the chocolate that will be around this weekend!
You're on !! LOL........ I am going to commit to walking 3 times a week. I'm at my ideal weight, I have Celiac Disease so fast food isn't an option for me well it is I can have a bunless burger at Maccas ( try asking for one and see the reaction you get) and their chips if cooked in a dedicated fryer , but then don't you know having a diet Coke cancels the calories and fat content ? So it's OK
I can sniff out gluten free chocolate at 50 paces too
No seriously I commit myself to walking 3 times a week.....yikes what have I gone and done? You'll be on my case now
I'm totally there with you! I'm such an emotional eater. I don't think the 3 weeks things apply to stuff like that. I think it applies more to things to don't involve an emotional response, like brushing your teeth. (Although, I certainly have an emotional response if someone *doesn't* brush their teeth! Gah!) I'm trying to get in the habit of exercising - that's a tough one, too, when the ice cream is calling...
i thought it takes 3 weeks to start a habit and one day to break it... maybe not tho...
I am just like you, Dawn. If I am busy or have several things to do, not a problem. When my whole house starts to take on a look of "just rocked by an earthquake", then I feel overwhelmed and I sit and watch daytime reruns while my son naps, instead of being productive. Somehow, its easier to tackle the job when the house just has the "minor windstorm blew through here" look. lol
I am also trying to change some of my bad habits. (Like I want to change the good ones?!) I've been meeting up with a mom friend to walk and get some exercise after we drop our kids off at school...however, I end up throwing a wrench in the plan when I stop at Starbucks on the way for a morning croissant, which I discovered has something like 45% of my saturated fat for the day! YIKES!
So now I am trying to lay off the soda. I tried to go "cold turkey", but it just wasn't happening for a gal who practically had an IV drip of Dr. Pepper going to her daily. So I tried Diet soda. Nope, not happening. So now I am drinking Crystal Light, which is all well and good, but I have a lot less energy now. lol I guess I never quite realized to what extent that caffeine boost made it possible for me to get my sorry hiney out of my pjs before noon. lol
Best of luck with your "3 week" experiment!
Beth
I'll take you up on the 21 day challenge.
I vow to stop reaching for the crack pipe every time the baby cries. I'll give her a benadryl-dipped paci instead
LOL
but seriously though, I could totally do with some exercise. I have a shiny new bike out in the garage that I bought with the intention of burning some calories, and then only rode once.
So I'll ride my bike if you go for a walk every day.
I won't comment on the habbit thing - i've got enough food-issues on my own.. ;)
I won't comment on Brooklyns food programme - as I mentioned before I'm not any better than you.. ;) But I absolutely HAVE to comment on the way Brooklyn holds her spoon!! How do you teach her that. My daughter is 2½ and still grabs the spoon in a thght 5 finger grip.
I'm SO jealous! ;)
I am with you!
Not sure what I will do differently, but a few things come to mind. Eating healthy, getting exercise, etc etc... these can only be good things for me.
And my 2-yr old loves ketchup too. Here I was thinking he was the only one who would probably drink it straight if given the opportunity.
Well, if Brooklyn's diet of ketchup, chocolate & ice cream can make one look as cute as she does, I say we all go for it!!!
I'm in! I "started a new life" last thursday. My intent is great but my character... not so much. Excercise and no snacking in bed are my goals. Three weeks you say? I'll check back then ;-)
But I must say that the two-year-old-diet seems to cross oceans. My Sanna whines and whines until we break down and let her have icecream and pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner...
I do the same thing! When I'm overwhelmed my brain seems to just shut down. I can't prioritize at all. I write my to-do list and then just sit there and stare at it because I can't figure out where to start. I walk around with my head in a fog thinking I should be doing something...
Aaahh, stress isn't it fun?!
Julie in PA
One of my high school teachers told me about the 21-days-to-form-a-habit rule. I created a new habit in 21 days and broke it the following day to prove she was wrong (I was a bit of a rebel.) By the way, didn't you know that tomato sauce/ketchup is the 6th food group? I didn't either, but after having six kids I am convinced it is a fact.
I'm with you!
Let's follow Brooklyn's diet.
That sounds a lot easier than standing in the kitchen all the time preparing healthful meals.:)
Ketchup here I come.
I am actually on day nine of trying to form a healthy habit. Fifteen minutes of exercise a day. Cardio exercise. With sweat.
My Husband (God bless 'em) got me a video game to "play" it's called Yourself!Fitness. Yes the exclamation point is part of the name. So far it seems of. The computer-generated fitness instructor is too perky though.
I stick my baby in her exersaucer where for ten minutes she plays happily throwing her toys off the edge, and then she starts to scream, so I spend the last five minutes of my workout with a twenty pound weight in my arms. But hey, it's exercise, right?
SSO QUESTION:
Have you tried any different fitness regimes? You know, the ones they sell late at night that get put out into the garden shed in the dark of the moon because they don't work and you'd be embarassed to put them by the curb on trash day.
The first part of your post sounds like you've been reading my diary. After I cross that line ~ I totally zone out and get NOTHING done. I do like your idea of trying to change for 3 weeks. Hell, anybody can do three weeks right? Although Brooklyn's way looks much more fun!
Oh, if three weeks were all it took, and then it stuck! Every year for as long as I can remember, I've given up sweets (candy, cake, cookies, etc.) for Lent. That's six weeks of being good and watching everyone else eat the stuff, and I have no problem. Really. It's fine. Then once Easter's here, it's right back to the usual nighttime eating of the junk (starting, of course, with the entire contents of the kids' Easter baskets). I'm telling myself that this year I'll just keep not eating it, because really, after six weeks, I intellectually know that I really don't NEED to eat it, but it just isn't that easy for some reason. And combined with the fact that I NEVER seem to lose more than three pounds during the course of that six weeks, it just doesn't seem worth it to continue denying myself the Thin Mints (or whatever). It's not even like I have that much in the house, but I guess it's the principle of the thing (and I need those Oreos with which to bribe the four year old to eat a vegetable every now and then). So I totally agree with you...the brain can be rational, but for some reason, it's really hard to stick to it. Let me know if you ever find a way to really retrain your brain; I'd buy it!
Laura
Okay ~ I'm in...with Brooklyn's diet! I'm so jealous of eating ketchup as a food group, of throwing food on the floor and NOT having to eat it after, of playing with my food and not getting into trouble and of course...I LOVE the chocolate sauce & following someone around with a good dessert. Everything tastes better when you swipe a bite or two from someone else's plate or bowl. At her tender age, that child has her priorities RIGHT ON!
Hang on Brooklyn; I'm ditching my teens and coming on over to eat with YOU 'cause you're fun! That mom of yours though; wanting to go healthy and try it for 3 weeks? Uh.... you better to talk her quick!
Funny you should write about this now. I finally got fed up with my unhealthiness and yesterday vowed to start on a better lifestyle. Got up this morning and worked out for 25 minutes, which is about 20 min. more than I promised myself I would do. Need to start out slow, and not overwhelm myself. I can do ANYTHING for 5 min. After that, I can chose to continue or stop. Felt good to be moving. Now I just need to hide the cookies, licorice, chocolate...
So,what do you say Dawn? Join a fellow Dawn in this dastardly deed? Just tell yourself 5 min., then take it from there. Of course, eventually you want to increase the time...
Dawn/Michigan
Brooklyn's diet would definitely be something different!
I was doing really well for about 10 days on my new eating well/healthy routine. I was eating tons of veggies. I was staying away from refined sugars. I was feeling great.
And then my husband said, "Let's go out for dinner," and everything fell apart.
So 21 days, eh? Maybe you're right. If I can just hold on next time for 21 days, maybe it will work. I've never done anything for 21 days, though. Ugh.
Visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum today!
Three weeks sure does sound like a long time when you're trying to ignore the call of the M&M's. I have found that when I exercise regularly it's much easier to pass on the not so good stuff but after spending last week in Disney World I now have to detox myself from all the sugar. Here's to hoping that in three weeks I'll be (mostly) sugar free and just a little bit healtheir.
I hear you! I think I eat for the exact same reasons. Overwhelmed, definitely.
The house is a mess? Don't know where to start? Eat a piece of cake and pretend it's not there!
I'll jump on the 3 week bandwagon with you. What the hey.
I don't know Brooklyn's diet really kind of looks like my thing. I mean really kind of hard to resist that whole eating chocolate sauce until it drips off your chin thing LOL.
OK, OK, I'm with you 21 days. We are starting tomm right? Right?
Peace~
Rose
So nice to know I am not the only one that doesn't do what I wanna do! (isn't there a bible verse about doing what you don't wanna do and not doing what you wanna? I forget where that was....) It's so hard to get going on a diet - but once you see results it seems easier to stick with it.
As for the ketchup - WHAT IS IT with kids and ketchup? My daughter would happily eat a bowl of that for dinner....YUK!
Thanks for a morning giggle...as always!
~kim
Hey Dawn,
My husband and I finished the 3 week Daniel fast (basically fruits and veggies) a few weeks ago along with our church. It was really hard the first week especially since I still had to feed the kiddos regular food. But after that it got much easier. I lost 12lbs (havent been able to lose more than 5lb after my last child) Never realized all the junk I was eating! Good luck with breaking your habit. There are lots of sites out there that help support this. Even Nik has something like this on their webpage.
Take care!
Hmmm ... I wonder if I could follow the Brooklyn diet too. I know what you are talking about Dawn. I was faithful on my treadmill ... heck, I was even up to running on the sucker for 45 minutes. We went on vacay for a week in September ... I haven't been on the thing since. Other than to sit on the edge of it to tie my shoes.
*sigh*
Jen
Wow...! I could have written this blog. We must be (twins)twinkies. :)
Haven't you forgotten to mention the part where after Brooklyn throws the chicken fingers on the floor, she then cries because they're on the floor. Someone then picks the chicken fingers up off the floor and gives them back to Brooklyn, at which point she throws them on the floor and starts to cry again. Because crying is the requisite daily aerobic exercise that infants and toddlers so desperately need.
That is the perfect Toddler diet! Brooklyn is exactly like every other 2 year old in my world. Seriously! If I could just eat what my 2 year old eats, I would be a stick. And somehow she manages to stay relatively healthy and grow. We eat sooooo much more than we need to apparently!
Unfortunately, I've been told it's three months to break a habit. Otherwise I'd have stopped biting my nails years ago. I seem to make it right up to two months and two weeks before something horrible happens and my nails disappear.
I haven't even tried the healthy food habit yet. I'm going to wait until my nails grow back.
When does Brooklyn's Diet Book hit the shelves? I would like to preorder mine.
LOL My son does the same thing! French fries, chicken strips, or a fork for ketchup consumption. Could explain why he's 3 and barely weighs 26 pounds?
For ONCE I can say I'm way ahead of you on this one. Well, sorta. While I've been forming a habit of going to the gym and eating lotsa veggies, I still gained four pounds this weekend. Oops.
I'm chronicling my weight loss adventure at my blog at http://iamabiggirl.blogspot.com
Hopefully the three weeks of retraining will fly by!!
I have a new gig I started today...We have a foster child (5 years old) and his behavior is not so steller. He lies and is sneaky. Truely learned behavior. Anyway, I am starting to so a devotional with the boys (I also have a 4 year old).
They liked my story this morning. Kirby told me he really liked my Bible. They both took something different away from the story. Kirby learned not to say bad words. Ryan learned when you say sorry you should mean it (which was the actual point of the story).
Ryan and Kibry "love God" so I think these daily lessons might help Ryan's behavior - keep your hands to yourself, be responsible, etc. He comes from a home without consequences so he is learning for every action there is a reaction.
We will see.
Hopefully I can keep it up.
I'm in! I want to start using reusable bags when I go grocery shopping. I have the bags, I just never remember to bring them! So that's what I want to change.
Oh my this is my 2 yr old and her diet to a t. She is in the 5 % in weight and hubby frets about getting her to eat. You can't make her eat it when she clamps her mouth shut (can you?). She likes chicken one day next no crossing these lips. Eats the ketcup but nothing else and then there are always a cookie stashed somewhere. I know in my heart someday it will all work out. My mom just laughs and tells me that it is all payback for the torment I gave her when I ate.
I don't know about three weeks but I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
LOL, I can see how sunburned your boy is in the background
Ah, yes, the 2-year-old diet. DeBoy will actually eat the fries (with a spoonful of ketchup on each), but uses carrots as a spoon for dip.
Oh I could totally have written this, just about word for word. Complete with the toddler eating habits, although we're a fan of ranch dressing more than ketchup over here... :)
Three weeks, huh... I'm with you - but after Easter candy is off the shelves, LOL.
He,he,he! Babies always have the most interesting food choices. If she was a boy instead of a girl, all that ketchup might actually be good for her with all that tomato base! My son had to eat spinach when he was younger to increase his iron level and now when we go to Subway guess what he wants on his sandwich...You guessed it, spinach leaves, not lettuce. Good for him, I take the nutritionless lettuce and pile on the mayo! No wonder when I lay down I lay next to myself!
I'm quitting smoking next Monday -- with the help of Chantix (sp?).
I'm also on weight watchers, lost half the weight I want to lose, but stuck since last October. My leader says I've got maintenance down pat, I'm not gaining but not losing either. But I've also let the occasional - meaning weekly, ok, some times bi, tri or quad weekly - fast food meal and birthday cake and milky way back in to my diet!
LOL! My Amy (2 years on the 29th) also follows the Brooklyn diet. Some days I am amazed by her willpower. I have to say in fact, that I think the only things she will eat are those items which have been trodden into the floor.
Soon I shall take to scattering her dinner about the floor as you would do for chickens!
ROFL!!! You are so funny! I love your blog! but sorry, I won't be joining you in your sorrow(the diet)
Hey Room 3, where did you see that?
What I've found is planning ahead is what works in those moment when you really just cannot focus and bring yourself to think about it. Having snacks available and ready in the fridge is what works for me. So it's easy to grab the celery instead of a cookie.
And, I think 3 weeks is a starting point to establishing a new habit (not to burst your bubble). It becomes easier.
I'm with... (munch, munch, munch) you! (slurp, slurp).
I'll be right... (burp) there... (crunch, crunch, gulp).
Just as soon as I'm finished with... (munch, crunch, slurp) this tripple layer chacolate cake. (gobble, swallow)
Don't wait up.(burp)
http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/
Hi Dawn, My name is Kris and I am a munchaholic! I have to admitt that I love my Funyun's. Also I have to always have a box of Zour's candies in the house or I will make a special trip to get some. Also I do not share so don't even try! Kristine in Michigan.
Ahhh, more reassurance that I'm not alone. I love it, Dawn!
I'm so with you on the overwhelmed part. I do great when I'm busy and I hate to have nothing to do, but sometimes it just gets to be too much. You don't want to see my coffee table or my island with all my "to-do's" piled on. I was actually doing great when I made a daily to do list on my dry erase board, but I haven't done that for a couple weeks now, and I can tell the difference. Someone needs to kick my rear!
The good news with regards to eating more healthyfully, is that I joined SparkPeople after some of your readers recommended it back near New Years. It's been great, especially because it isn't too overwhelming and just changing little things at a time vs making wholesale change that becomes too overwhelming. I strongly recommend it (I'm Schnozzles there).
And the 2 year old diet, yep, that's my kid eating food off the floor. Yuck! Or my personal favorite, picking it off the car floor and popping it in the the mouth before I even know what it is. My 4 year old does that, too. The good news is that he'll at least spit it back out. Somehow though, it always goes back to the floor to be found again vs making it to the garbage outside the car. Baby steps, right?
Michelle
www.honestandtruly.blogspot.com
I follow the same diet as your daughter! Day old cheese off the floor is the best! But really, it's so hard to change habits and most of us never really do, so don't beat yourself up. Just do the best you can.
Oh, Dawn, I did really well in changing my lifestyle after New Year.......I gave up all carbonated soft drinks (I say soda, you say pop) and stayed off, and I modified lots of other things. It worked real well, then I started slowly going back (still had very little soda since Jan).
I'll start again.........not today, its Quinns 4th birthday so we're having ice cream cake. I'll start tomorrow.......
Check this out: www.sparkpeople.com Its a great site!
Are you familiar with Ask Moxie http://www.askmoxie.org/ because she's doing just that right now. Many readers made lists of three bad habits they're trying to change for 60 days. No pressure if you screw up one or two now and then, but the online community is great. They're checking in all the time to keep each other on target. She's got something good going there.
Love the Brooklyn diet :) She looks fab, so it must work! Um, will I look 28 years younger, too??
I went on a diet and exercise quest. It lasted for 2 months. I felt better, I looked better. But one day I slipped. The next day I slipped again... and went right back into a life of grab-n-go eating and next to no exercise. I'm just lazy that way. THAT SAID - you can change anything in 2 weeks so go for it!!! :) (Better you than me, sister!)
I'm not sure that 21 days can break a habit...but it's definitely enough time to form a habit. For instance, I started drinking more water, flossing every night, and exercising regularly using the 21-day rule (although my roommate told me it was 28 days, so I was able to do those things regularly after a month's time). However, I gave up eating meat and even now, 6 months later, I have a regular craving for meat and the occasional break-down where I eat it. I think it's much easier to form a new habit in 21 days than break one.
You had me laughing hysterically at Brooklyn's diet. That really hits close to home with our little one.
Glad to know that we're not in this toddler diet-battle alone!
lmao!! too funny, i LOVE the toddler diet!!
i'm with you!! for the next 21 days, i will wake up 30 minutes sooner and squeeze in a workout. here goes nothing.... :o)
Brooklyn's diet sounds a little like my toddler sons. Except he's not crazy about Ketchup...he prefers ranch dressing. He'll dip the same carrot into ranch until the ranch is gone, and then leave the carrot on the plate.
I just sneak all the fruits and veggies (including carrot juice) I can into his smoothies. It's the only way I can be assured he's getting something good into him. And it's even better when I make it all into popcicle form.
LOL! Brooklyn is on the EXACT same diet as my boys!
Another "off-the-wagon" WW member here...yeah, the food thing is hard, & I agree totally that when we're overwhelmed we can't even can't think and that's when good eating habits go out the window! Oh, and this time of year those Girl Scouts don't help any--darn them & their cuteness!
Hi Dawn - thanks for your honesty and humour. Changing habits is so hard. Why are some of us prone to using food as crutches and others aren't? I made it a point to never live with friends in University who were " too stressed to eat" What is that??????
Try this to see how you adapt to new habits.....move your bathroom garbage can to a different spot in the bathroom and see how many tissues end up on the floor before it becomes a new habit to put them in the new location!!
Good luck and thanks for opening up this topic.
mmmmmm ..... bad diet day, huh?
Let it go ... and save me a bite of that cheese cake.
Brooklyn is adorable! And it looks like she eats much the same way as my Emma does...
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m245/ErinEQuint/?action=view¤t=ranch2.jpg
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m245/ErinEQuint/?action=view¤t=ranch.jpg
LOVE your blog! Can't wait for your book!
Brooklyn with the ketchup reminded me of my daughter when she was about 9. My son caught her in the pantry drinking the ketchup (or tomato sauce as its called here in Australia) out of the bottle. She didn't feel the need for any food carrier to satisfy her craving.
Fiona in Fremantle West Australia
Hi, Dawn. I'm not sure if you'll even read this, but I wanted to respond to one of your readers from Sunday sound out. She asked about sending her son to Kindergarten or not because of the cut off date.
Well, many don't know that if your chld is still born in the same month of the cut off date that you can speak with the principal, at which point the principal will interview your child. If the principal thinks that the child is mature enough, they will decide whether or not to let your child in.
I am a teacher and have witnessed this personally. If she thinks her child is ready, she shouldn't wait for the next year.
I am so totally with you! I don't know what to do to make myself do it either but am glad I am not the only one who thinks maybe I would lose weight if I followed my little one's diet!
Yes, change is hard, but reading about Brooklyn's diet today had me and my husband in tears we were laughing so hard. That sounds exactly like the diet that our daughter has. I really think it was the ketchup part that got us going. What is it about little kids and ketchup?
my little one obviously has far more sophisticated taste. She dunks her french fries in ranch dressing. No nasty ketchup for her. The boys, on the other hand, dunk everything but water in it.
You want to know a sad thing? I've had a lard sandwich with a side of gravy. There's a bar here with a smoke free dining room we eat out at because it's cheap to feed our 2 bottomless pits - I mean kids. I ordered the Mushroom Swiss burger once and got lettuce, tomato and mayo (easy on the mayo)like I always do on a cheeseburger. No one told me that the mushrooms are in a gravy and they slop it all on the burger, and it was nowhere on the menu. I looked 3x. I had red meat, gravy, AND mayo all in one sandwich. I still get a little queasy thinking about all that fat I ate at once. Mind you I'm not one to turn away good fat in the form of cookies, ice cream, or chocolate. But copious amounts of grease, mayo, butter, and the like make me ill.
Let me start with you are FABULOUS!
Are you making any more appearances (like Fremd) that people in the area can come see you? (fingers crossed)
Hey Dawn,
Enough of the dieting, google "hawaii chair" and pick the one a few down with Ellen DeGeneres. Great infomercial on how to lose weight while sitting down!!!! I still cry laughing when I watch it! Who would think of something so silly??? YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!!!!
"Take the work out of your work day"!
Have a good day! Oh, and my son has had the flu - diarrhea and vomit for the last week - thought of you!!!!
Pam (Seattle)
Oh good, maybe now my husband will believe me that it's not just our kids that have this diet and I'm not such a bad mother after all! Thanks for making me laugh as always!
Why is it difficult to change bad habits? Because we have kids & meetings until 7:30! And salads aren't made for eating while driving (remember the McD's salad shakers in a cup? What a mess!) Burgers & chicken fingers are car friendly, unfortunately they're not waist-line friendly. And who has time for a walk when there is laundry to be folded (while sitting on the couch watching American Idol, of course) & homework assistance to provide?
What it boils down to is taking the time for yourself - which isn't easy for a mother to do...Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat the 2 cups of popcorn I found under the couch cushions this morning! :)
Personally, I think I prefer the Brooklyn diet.
I have really tried now for 3 months to eat healthier and go to the gym.
However, it isn't getting easier. I still have to force myself to stay away from the junk, and to get to the gym.
3 weeks....yeah, right!
For a moment there, I was spooked, I thought I had written something in my sleep. That is SO ME! Especially the deer in headlights thing and the nervous eating of sweets. I think I could give it a go of living off Ghirardelli's dark chocolate.
Dawn, I know 21 days can seem like a REALLY LONG TIME when you're standing at the front end of it, but it's true - you can change a habit if you stick with it for 21 days, even when every muscle in your body aches from working out and you feel like you're constantly eating because nothing fills you up like a big juicy burger, certainly not wimpy salads and 4 oz of fish! I'm telling you that it's true because I made that commitment to myself for New Year's this year, and I've lost 6 pounds as a result.
I work out 3-4 times a week, and believe me, now that I've been doing it almost three months, if I miss a few days due to illness (mine or Super Boy's) or other commitments eating into my gym time, it makes me feel mentally and physically out of whack, and I can't wait to get back into the gym. And I go back again as soon as I can, ready to hit the ground running.
I'm not going to lie and say it was easy to get into it, especially at the beginning when I felt SO out of shape and out of breath and - let's face it - miserable about the whole experience. I'll tell you that there were three things that kept me going even when I felt like bailing in those first 21 days:
1) I'm only 34 - I've had unusual health stuff happen over the past year that should NOT be happening to me at this young age. I want to live a full, active and healthy long life, so I constantly remind myself that I'm doing this for ME. I only get one body and I've got to maintain it with the same diligence I do my car and my home, or it's going to crap out on me way sooner than it should.
2) I have a young child and I want to set the right example for him AND be here to enjoy all the big things he's going to do in his life, for as long as possible. I also want to have the energy and endurance to keep up with him in his 4-year-old exuberance!
3) I watch "The Biggest Loser" religiously. Re-LIG-iously. It reminds me that I'm lucky to have a normal BMI and that I'm only looking to drop 5-12 pounds so that I can feel AND look great. My health & fitness goals are nowhere near as huge as theirs, and yet they work their butts off (literally) for hours a day and drop incredible amounts of weight and are improving their health and fitness by leaps and bounds. I think of them when I'm on the elliptical and want to get off after 25 minutes - they keep me going for another 20-35 minutes, pushing myself harder. I love that show - it's amazing motivation!
Good luck. Pick a date and start - and don't look back. You CAN do it!!
LOL! My niece is about the same age as Brooklyn, and does almost the same thing; she even eats pizza with ketchup:)Though I have to admit that her love for ice cream is entirely my fault: I intorduced her to it.
Your post sounds so familiar. I was in a similar boat not too long ago. Five years ago, I finally decided to change my life and I lost a total of 185 pounds by changing my diet and exercising. You can check out the whole story and see lots of before and after pics on my website at:
Deanna Lite
Weight and food issues are something that affect MOST of us. I saw recently that by the year 2015, 75% of Americans will be morbidly obese. So those of us who struggle with extra weight are certainly not alone.
I don't want to take over your comments section with that whole discussion, but I applaud you for taking this on. It's hard to change a habit and create new ones, but you can do it.
If you or anyone else needs encouragement or more thoughts about effective ways to change, check out my website and send me an email.
Much luck to all of you who are ready to change your lives!
Deanna
Actually, we should follow the little ones examples...they only eat when they are hungry. Me, on the other hand, eat just to have something to do. LOL I've gained weight since I became a SAHM. When I was working I wasn't around food 24/7. At home...it's all right there for the taking. And I take it. And take it. And take it.
I don't think there is a woman on this planet that doesn't understand what you just described.
I have found that the only way to make sure I stick to having my fresh juices and salads (which I too crave) is to be prepared BEFORE I AM HUNGRY. If I eat at the right time, then I am satiated. If I let myself get too busy to prepare lunch/dinner and have put it off until I am starving, then I will definitely go for the instant mouth gratification option!
YOU can do it Dawn! I just started back to the gym last Monday. I've been going every night during the week for 1 hour. Can't stay too long as I have 3 kids at home with Daddy, LOL! But I'm doing it and it's a start. And I have to tell ya it feels great. Invigorating I'd say. I feel so much better and hope to start dropping the pounds and looking better too =)
And you don't have to starve yourself and go on a crazy diet. Just try to eat as best you can with sensible portions.
Best of luck to ya!
Kristi
Feel like getting creative with food, hehe, join me~! I'm on day 8 of 31 (not that I'm counting, lol) of an allergy-healing (hoping), yeast syndrome diet. I can have meat, 1 cup of beans per day, non-starchy vegetables, butter, avocados, herbal tea and water, none of the above can have any sugar, soy or vinegar either which limits even most canned food from Whole Foods~! I've lost 7lbs in the first week, but more importantly I feel better~! I finally had a salad tonight, which I put basil-flavored olive oil and lemon on for "dressing". BUT, I'm soooo happy that my gluten intolerance test is negative~! As strict as it's been, healing my body has been enough incentive. Cheers to your health~! Kate
Here's a tip - put your scale in the kitchen. Swear to you on the 9lbs I just lost that everytime I felt the **munchies** take over I stepped on the scale before opening the fridge and it totally turned me off to eating something bad.
Yeah, I think its 21 days to make a good habit, one day to break it, a lifetime to maintain it!
I'm up for the challenge, now that the weight is slowly coming off, I need to add in a few minutes every day on the $$$$ elliptial that is currently serving as a clothes hanger in my bedroom.
How about I just continue to eat junk but move as much as a 2-year-old? It seems to work for Brooklyn!
Isn't it interesting that it takes 21 days to get into a habit and 1/2 a second to break it?
Ok. This diet is fail-proof. First you travel to great distances to take care of dying in-law. Also deal with healthy in-laws for two weeks while taking care of your toddler. Everyone in the house should get the flu, one at a time, so that you can clean up vomit and diarrhea everyday all day, including your own. Then you go home for two weeks and work at your job. Shortly after, go back to distant residence and attend funeral. One day before travel time your toddler should contract the flu again, generously sharing with you so that you are not well for the funeral. Luckily, this one lasts for seven days so you won't have to worry about eating very much. When it is all over, you continue to have loss of appetite on and off and also two to three day bouts of diarrhea. This should go on for about three months, all the while carrying on with daily life and job. The kind where you are on your feet all day. Then when summer comes you go to work and wrap your body in a disposable plastic apron all day while sweating to death because the a/c can't keep up. Do this for about 3-4 months. When you finally feel better and fall comes to offer relief you have your eating habits under control and you might even be broke. You will have lost about 40-50 pounds! You'll look great and feel great! You won't want to go back to scarfing at any given time or any given thing because of all the money you will have spent trying to keep your shrinking body clothed. It worked for me, I lost 45 pounds in less than a year that way, maybe it will work for you, too. You already got the first flu out of the way, and several children to keep up with.
Seriously though...I hope you have an easier time than that! Good luck to you.
Do your kids have any favorites that they beg you to make for dinner at times?
I love you're blog and you've inspired me to establish more healthy eating habits in my home. Here's a SSO for you: Have you found cold breakfast cereal you can eat on the diet? I'm wanting to banish preservatives and all things artificial from our diet, but my hubby can't stand the thought of not having cereal around (even though we already eat oatmeal at least five times a week). I told him I would ask you :) Thanks!
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