Why oh why?

[Hannah]

So, on Thursday I weighed in at 159. I had a loss of 2.6! I tracked everything that week, exercised every day. I felt on top of the world. Since then I've opened my tracker once, eaten whatever junk I've wanted, and wonder why today I feel miserable?! I am not really stressed about anything besides finances. I work at a local BBQ restaurant. Since I live in a college town, most students have left for the summer. Work has been sooo slow! Therefore, I am getting about 10-13 hours a week instead of my usual 25. I am so behind on bills!

I am taking 3 classes this summer, so getting a second part time job is out of the question. I feel like that would really overwhelm me. What I'd really like to do is get a new job. I have worked in food service since I was 15 and am sick of it! It gets old so quickly. Don't get me wrong, I am blessed to have this job and I know many people are out of work right now, but I'm still unhappy.

I'd really like to find a job I like. One that I look forward to going to. One where the management shows their appreciation and thanks me for my hard work. I've never really had that before. It's about high time I find it! I'd love to work at a gym or something community-oriented to stay active. I get so sick of being around greasy french fries all day. Lol.

Anyway, I am bound and determined to get this stress eating under control. It only makes me feel sick and guilty--which is definitely not healthy!

Oh yeah, I am also starting a 21 day challenge. No diet pop. I know they say not to cut anything out or deprive yourself, but diet pop only makes me want sweets, which are my trigger food. I am starting the challenge tomorrow and will post everyday!

Have a great night all!

[Tanie]

Just thought I'd share this excerpt from a book with you. It talks about how fake sugar makes you crave more food:

Excerpt from Jillian Michaels, “Master Your Metabolism” page 102-104
"However, when we repeatedly drink diet soda, this understanding breaks down-your appetite says, "Okay, here's the sweetness, but there aren't many calories-that must mean I have to eat a lot of sweet things to get my needed calories." The next time you're given something sweet to eat, your body doesn't recognize how many calories they hold, so you overeat them. And then, in contrast to those people who ate sugar to begin with, you don't make up for those excess calories by eating less at later meals.

This next part is even scarier. The Purdue study also found that as the animals continued to eat the artificial sweeteners, their metabolism started to "forget" that most sweet things do have a lot of calories. Scary! So there's a good chance that when you finally do break down and have that chocolate-glazed doughnut, your body thinks, "No big deal," and doesn't bother burning u pth calories because sweetness doesn't mean anything.

One more plausible explanation why artificial sweeteners make us fat might be the fact that aspartame, also known as NutraSweet, is an excitotoxin, a chemical that may cause permanent damage to our brain's appetite center.

She also mentions, "I feel a bit hypocritical to say "Don't eat any artificial sweeteners." This is really a case of "Please do as I say, not as I have done."

Hope this sheds some light on your struggle with diet pop and why it makes you crave more sweets.

[Arlene]

I hear you. I had a great WI two weeks ago (down 4+ pounds, putting me just 12 from my WW goal) and then proceeded to eat my way through the weekend and GAIN 7.2 at my WI the next Monday). I'm looking forward to this Monday's, though ... I've been on track since Wednesday (and did pretty well Tuesday, too), so I should have taken off most of what I put back on. I, too, am stressed about money — and if there's a job out there like the one you described (where you're appreciated), I'd like to find it, too! :D

Good luck with giving up the diet soda. It won't be easy, but it's definitely worth it. I rarely drink any diet soda now — just a couple a week. Mainly it's water, iced tea with Splenda or sugar-free flavor packets (like Crystal Light).