Last week, as I sat in my kitchen creating individual packets of Halloween treats a full week in advance (to ensure our treats were safe for trick-or-treaters by giving any potential coronavirus hanging around on the candy wrappers enough time to degrade before the big day), I felt some urges to eat some. I bought Halloween-themed Oreos in packs of two, individually packaged miniature Rice Krispie Treats, gummy bears, and a big bag of assorted outrageous Reese’s (can you believe they now stuff peanut butter cups with Reese’s Pieces?!). I saved one of each type in a Tupperware as my “joy eat” stash and thought maybe I’d have them today after trick-or-treating with Graham, or maybe on Sunday when I can focus on them more and really enjoy them mindfully.
Interestingly, though this massive amount of candy has been sitting in our kitchen in plain view for a week, I haven’t actually had the urge to eat any of it since that night I was packing them. And I will confess that I have been having added sugar in my diet on many days this week (in the form of sweetened matcha green tea coconut milk lattes), but somehow haven’t felt triggered to eat more sugar despite this. I have not had candy or cookies or ice cream or any of my traditional binge triggers, and I really do find the cravings die down dramatically when I give my brain a break from them.
I’ve also been eating mostly plant-based this week, with the exception of some dairy (kefir) and salmon, which I will always include in my diet for the phospholipid form of the omega 3 fatty acid DHA (which may be important for Alzheimer’s prevention for certain people with a genetic variant called APOE4). Lots of veggies, olive oil, lentils, tofu, beans, fresh fruit. I’ve been relishing my homemade garlicky tofu tabbouleh that I make with lots of extra lemon (you tofu skeptics would love this if you like tabbouleh!) and grain bowls I’ve been eating with oven-roasted veggies (sweet potatoes/squash, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower), white beans, farro, Purple sauerkraut, and chermoula sauce on top. Honeycrisp apples from our local farmers market. Homemade gazpacho. Foods that fill me up and make me feel great.
So I’ve been more plant-based lately, and I’ve also stepped up my exercise a bit. I had traditionally spent 30 minutes on my elliptical every morning, but lately I’ve been spending more like 35-50 minutes (trying to increase my calorie burn to hit 200-300, whereas I used to get 150 according to my stingy Apple Watch) and also walking on several days, anywhere from a mile to about 3.5 miles.
I’m not sure which was the magic sauce (and suspect it was a combination of all of the above), but somehow my body decided it was time to give me the gift of crossing over into the 140s – something I’ve been bemoaning for about 5 months now. Hallelujah!
I might end up eating Halloween candy. Maybe a lot of it, if my history has anything to say about my present. But for now, I am celebrating this big win! And really excited to be inching my way closer to 135!
Project 135 stats:
Starting weight: 159.6
Week 1: 157.2
Week 2: 155.6
Week 3: 155.4
Week 4: 153.8
Week 5: 151.0
Week 6: 152.8
Week 7: ? (Dad’s death)
Week 8: 150.8
Week 9: 152.6
Week 10: 154.2
Week 11: 152.6
Week 12: 150.8
Week 13: 150.6
Week 14: 151.6
Week 15: 152.4
Week 16: 152.4
Week 17: 155.2 (sugar binges)
Week 18: 154.4
Week 19: 153.8
Week 20: 151.2
Week 21: 150.2
Week 22: 150.6
Week 23: 151.0
Week 24: 150.6
Week 25: 146.6
Total weight loss: 13 pounds (8.1%)
Happy ???? Halloween!
Jen