old habits are hard to break

i'm not sure how to get out of my bad habits. the pattern is pretty clear. when i go to work i follow a routine, but on the weekends it's an eating free-for-all. my weeks break down into 4-5 "good days" (healthful food, busy, positive attitude) and 2-3 "bad days" (binge eating, junk food, feeling stuck). i've been with peertrainer for three months and haven't yet been able to shake this pattern. and of course, i haven't yet lost any weight, either. any suggestions?

Sun. Sep 25, 6:10am

What worked for me was just to get through ONE day first. I just said, if I can do it for one day I'll be really proud of myself. And once I got through one day, it was like this huge feeling of success and motivation and I said, OK, I can do it for one more day. The great thing about your situation is that you only have to do that two or three times each week because you're already doing the right thing the rest of the days.

Just take it one choice at a time. Next Saturday, when you get ready to have breakfast, think about what you would ordinarily have and then choose something healthier. It doesn't have to be a bowl of bran cereal, but if you ordinarily have a plate of pancakes with butter and syrup and a side of bacon, even just eating less - a smaller stack, light on the butter and syrup, no bacon - would make a difference. Make small choices throughout the day. If you have a sandwich for lunch, have wheat instead of white bread and skip the mayo. If you usually have chips, choose a low-fat kind or pretzels instead. You don't have to make huge sacrifices; start small.

Kate (kissmekate02)

Sunday, September 25, 2005, 11:36 AM

It's been said (although I have no idea how reliable the source is) that it takes 3 weeks to break a habit. So you could try to set a goal for your self - for the month of October, you are going to have "good days" every single weekend. It's just a month, so you can definitely do it. Make healthy choices like Kate said above, and be very, very conscious of what you are eating on the weekends (do you really want to be eating all this junk?). In those four weeks, also try to replace your bad habits with good habits. Bing on water instead of junk food; every time you go to reach for a cookie, eat an apple instead.

Sunday, September 25, 2005, 12:17 PM

May I suggest a small adjustment to your eating pattern. My pattern is very similar to yours. I am very controlled all week and on the weekends I want to splurge.

The difference is that I don't splurge on all weekend meals. Friday night and Saturday night I eat whatever I want. I eat a little over the edge (meaning not diet, but not whatever I want either) on Sat breakfast, Sun breakfast and Sunday dinner. I stay pretty controlled at lunches on Sat and Sun.

With this pattern of eating, I can usually lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. I realize this is slow, but I can keep it up almost indefinitely.

Sunday, September 25, 2005, 12:19 PM

I am in the same situation... I keep thinking that maybe if I had more to do on the weekends instead of falling into deep relaxation mode, then I wouldnt be as prone to binging. maybe we could try to keep in touch to keep each other in check.

Sunday, September 25, 2005, 2:54 PM

I would try planning your meals out a week at a time. I started doing this for my husband and I, and it's helped enormously. I did three big things that have helped out a huge amount!

1) Throw out everything in the house (or give it to Goodwill) that is high-cal, high-fat, and super tempting. Start with a clean slate- nothing in the house to binge on. (Talking to the people you share the house with helps- my husband knows not to bring in foods that will sabotage me.)

2) I use www.peapod.com to grocery shop. They let you personalize your grocery options, so you only see your picks. Now, when I'm shopping for milk the only option on our list is 1%, and all our other options are healthy. It keeps your budget down because there are no impulse buys or dangerous foods to stare at with desire, and they deliver right to my door!

3) I plan out a weekly meal chart (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack) every Saturday. Then I spend 5 minutes on peapod.com and "shop" off of our list, getting the healthy options. I have the groceries delivered every Sunday. This way, every meal, every day is planned out and the groceries are in the house. There's nothing extra around for me to splurge on, I don't want to waste the money by eating out, and I stay on track more. If I eat more than the right serving size, I know we'll run out of food ahead of schedule, and we're too broke to buy more!

Setting those limitations, I stay more on track, our food budget is dramatically lower, and I don't have those temptations lying around my house.

Sunday, September 25, 2005, 3:13 PM

thanks for the support and great ideas everyone! i'll keep trying -- and little by little i hope to make some positive changes

Monday, September 26, 2005, 12:14 PM

i also heard that it takes 3 weeks to brake a habbit and i heard it only takes 1 week for a habbit to form. the best way to change anything is to write it down and start small to fulfill the bigger goals.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005, 10:25 PM

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