Jenni's diary: Given up chocolate!

[HopeSprings]

Hi Babe, I just popped in to see how you got on at your weigh in ? No news is good news huh?

lotsa luv
xxx

 

[jennikay]

No news means I'm hiding in shame but I've been almost on track today and so hopefully a little bit better tomorrow, and a bit better the day after... etc etc... until I'm actually on track I'll get there eventually! I gained 2lbs this week which has been motivating (I am NOT going to be back in the 11s next week, no way!)

Thanks for popping by anyway haha. xx

 

[*Saski*]

Hey my dear i'm sure you will have those 2lbs off in no time and be right back on track. I hope you have a good week. xxx

 

[Less Rotund One]

So, had to track you down using the search button....you're as bad as me with going awol.

Anyhow, how did your Christmas and New Year go then. I hope you had a good one and that whatever point you are at, you are a happy bunny.

Lots of love for 2010. xx

 

[jennikay]

Honestly, I'm not entirely certain what to do now. I lost 11lbs on Cambridge which have all gone back on and have triggered a binge

Dieting itself isn't doing me any favours, I think I'm going to go down the therapy (probably hypnotherapy) route because my attitude to food just isn't good. And it's that which needs sorting, and then hopefully the weight will come off by itself - however slowly that may be.

I'm starting to be more concerned with WHAT I'm eating - at the moment I'm eating complete rubbish as snacks and then not wanting to eat meals because I feel guilty about eating the snacks

I'm trying to get back into my exercising. Realised I hate hate hate the gym, so I'm swimming instead

I'll pop back every now and again for updates, but mostly I don't think I'll be around much.

 

[omnomnom]

Let me know if you try the hypnotherapy and how it works

Make sure you do pop back and let us know how you're getting on! How's uni going? How's Jon?

 

[jennikay]

Uni's not too bad gotten better since last time I was on here found some interesting people! Woohoo!

Me and Jon are still going good both seem to be surviving the distance OK, all you can ask for really. Looking forward to summer anyway

 

[Less Rotund One]

Jenni, I know how you feel - I am exactly the same and need to get it sorted and for me, being on here, does help.

Just keep popping by and letting us know how you are getting on.

How has your first term at Uni been? Need to get down to being a proper student next term - the fun really begins....xxx

 

[lydia150970]

Honestly, I'm not entirely certain what to do now. I lost 11lbs on Cambridge which have all gone back on and have triggered a binge

Dieting itself isn't doing me any favours, I think I'm going to go down the therapy (probably hypnotherapy) route because my attitude to food just isn't good. And it's that which needs sorting, and then hopefully the weight will come off by itself - however slowly that may be.

I'm starting to be more concerned with WHAT I'm eating - at the moment I'm eating complete rubbish as snacks and then not wanting to eat meals because I feel guilty about eating the snacks

I'm trying to get back into my exercising. Realised I hate hate hate the gym, so I'm swimming instead

I'll pop back every now and again for updates, but mostly I don't think I'll be around much.

I think sometimes before any diet will ever work, we need to figure out our relationship with food, what triggers bingeing and why we eat certain foods even though we know the result, until you sort that out a diet won't work in the long term so I think therapy sounds like a great option for you.

I'm now at a stage in my life when I know when I am eating for comfort or eating cos I am bored or just eating for the sake of it, and I try to divert my attention elsewhere and I think once I sorted that out thats the only reason why WW is working for me this time, but its taken many years for me to get there. Good luck with hypnotherapy, I hear lots of great reports on it.

 

[jennikay]

I've been doing a lot of (both drunken and sober) analysing of my eating habits recently and I've come to the conclusion that there's two problems with my eating.

1. I have an addiction to chocolate.
2. I comfort eat.

It's actually taken a while for Jon to believe the first one simply because he doesn't really know how much chocolate I eat - I eat a LOT in secret. I figured though, that if I described my relationship with chocolate but said 'alcohol' instead of 'chocolate', then I'd be branded an alcoholic, no question.

So, I'm going cold turkey next week. As of Sunday night at midnight, any chocolate based food I own is going in the bin and I shan't touch any more until I feel 'safe' around it again, as such.

So I have a week to come up with a plan of action. I'm going to stock up on munchy things like cucumber, and other healthier foods that I like. Apart from that I think it's just going to be a case of willpower.

I'll keep you updated every now and again

 

[Less Rotund One]

I absolutely agree that it gets addictive - and for you it may have tipped over the edge.

Hope the cold turkey goes well - dark chocolate doesn't seem to have the same impact as milk - maybe cos its cos less sugar.

I am starting to think that its sugar in general for me

 

[jennikay]

I absolutely agree that it gets addictive - and for you it may have tipped over the edge.

Hope the cold turkey goes well - dark chocolate doesn't seem to have the same impact as milk - maybe cos its cos less sugar.

I am starting to think that its sugar in general for me

Yeah, sugary foods and chocolate for me. It's started to get to the point where I'm almost looking forward to Jon leaving so I can binge, just because I haven't done in 2 days. It's something I'm really quite ashamed of :break_diet: but as they always say, admitting it is the first step

But I think I'll do it. I'm going to listen to my PMcK CDs to help with the emotional eating, and see if I can find the clip from the TV show about cravings.

I don't really have a long term plan of action - I'm hoping to be able to reintroduce chocolate in SMALL quantities at some point, maybe even dark chocolate instead of milk, hopefully that way I won't binge. For now though, I'm concentrating on getting through the first week or so. I might do more exercise next week to distract myself and get the happy chemicals from that instead of chocolate.

I might come back on here a bit more often for motivation and/or distraction :

Lecture time! I'll write a bit more when I'm back, I need to write my plan down

 

[omnomnom]

You might have to give up chocolate forever! Alcoholics can't ever drink again Then again, it's not physically addictive, you probably just need to break the habit so I'd try go for 28 days without any chocolate if you can. Have you looked more into hypnotherapy yet?

 

[jennikay]

I wouldn't give it up forever. : No chance, haha. It is a habit, I was thinking probably a month before I start letting myself have bits if it's offered to me.

I might consider hypnotherapy if going cold turkey doesn't work. I imagine it will take a fair bit of willpower for the first week or two, but my friend said she gave up chocolate for 7 months just for fun so I'm sure I can manage.

I shall get around to writing my plan sometime this week, but for now, it's my birthday :bliss: I'm 19 now. Getting old I just had chocolate cake Going to see Nickelback later, by massive coincidence they're in London ON my birthday. I was like when I saw that :bliss:

So anyway. I'll be back in a few days

 

[Less Rotund One]

Happy Birthday, honey - sorry, I didn't see your post till just now

Hope the Nickelback concert was/is amazing - not sure if birthday yesterday or today!!!

Have a wonderful bit of chocolate cake. xx

 

[omnomnom]

Happy birthday! It seems like yesterday you turned 18. Time is flying by! I am now back down to the weight I was when I joined Sept 2008, haha.

 

[jennikay]

OK, so I made a list of reasons to give up chocolate etc, and a list of things to do/how I'm going to make it work. I've decided to give up sugary food in general - the stuff that I binge on. I'm probably going to end up replacing it with other snacky food, but I'm fine with that for now.



So - why am I giving it up?

1. Stabilise my blood sugar - hasn't been to bad recently, but I do occasionally get noticeably low blood sugar, and the up/downs caused by sugar can't be doing me any good.
2. Weight - I will never be comfortable with my body at this size. I'll be happy if I get into my favourite jeans again, but I'll settle for being a 10-12 ish.
3. Money - I spent £15 today on snacky foods, without batting an eyelid I know that snacking in general dents my bank balance significantly so I could do without it.
4. Teeth - I've been getting toothache recently when I eat (anything at all but particularly with sugary foods) and I know that sugary foods are the reason my teeth are in such bad condition.
5. Mental health - I think getting rid of the ups and downs will help with my moods.
6. Sleep - I struggle to sleep at night simply because I eat a lot late at night (it's currently 7am and I haven't slept )
7. To be able to enjoy my time with Jon more, instead of thinking about when I can next get some chocolate. I'm still appalled by this one, it really shames me. With my ex, I used to occasionally 'receive' a text from my mum telling me to go home early so that I could get back before the shop closed :cry:


How am I going to give it up?

1. At midnight tonight, any unopened chocolate is going to my friend, and any opened stuff is going in the kitchen bin.
2. I learnt EFT (the tapping thing PMcK did on the TV program, but I learnt it a little bit better than that from a counsellor ) so I'll use that if I'm craving chocolate. Apparently it works REALLY well on pretty much everything - including chocolate addiction.
3. I still need a proper good chat with Jon about the whole thing. I'm not sure entirely when this will happen - it may be in a week or two when I can talk less ashamedly about it because I'll have given it up.
4. I NEED to (nay, I WILL) not touch the stuff (not even a nibble) for 2 weeks. I'll re-evaluate after a fortnight and see if I feel confident enough to re-introduce it in tiny quantities.
5. I have munchy food in the fridge which I can have if I need to. I'm going to try and up my magnesium intake a bit which might help. I'm not really a fan of nuts/seeds/spinach though, so not sure how well that will go!


All in all not a bad plan I don't think. I think I might give up bread as well since I don't find that difficult and it would probably do me some good.

Wish me luck

 

[Kater-tater]

Good luck you brave woman!!!!!!!!

 

[Less Rotund One]

Well done Jenni - that seems like a great plan - and a very mature approach to the whole chocolate thing.

I did feel a twinge when i read the last point you made - and i recognise myself in that one....very honest of you - and that's the main thing. xx

 

[Aaleigha]

Hi Jenni
hope you dont mind a new visitor
I put magnesium into a search and up came you post

I too think I need more magnesium so have looked for a list of foods
for me it is easier as I do like spinach

here is a site that may be of use to you
Magnesium Food Sources

good luck with giving up chocolate I did it and didnt eat any for a month (that was a couple of years ago) I can now take it or leave it

when I started back on chocolate I bought the best dark chocolate I could and put three small squares into foil and kept it in the freezer
that way it took longer to melt and lasted longer and it also limited the amount I could see in one go

hth
H xx