I the Husband.....Part 2

So the previous post was about successes. Wanted to add comments on my challenges.
Its a journey I am sure; discovering what works and does not work I have to admit is sort of fun and keeps you focused. We have acknowledged that freestyling is a challenge because we do not do it correctly. So we listened to Dr. Kalia and Susan at the group meeting and really understood for the first time what freestyling really is suppose to be. We started freestyling by making the meal or the day a free for all, all day. Now as we see the result from the food fest; it disappoints when you step on the scale and gain rather than lose. Then you think was it worth it? So this past Sunday we had a much better freestyling. A sensible meal as best you can then add something you really like. For the first time I saw no weight gain after the Sunday freestyling.
I remember Dr. Kalia sharing that you may love pizza but its not a good freestyle food because its also a trigger food that encourages to eat more. So even with this advice my son and I wanted pizza at the first freestyling and had it. Then we moved on and next time wanted honey barbeque chicken wings. Our favorite food for the Sunday Texan's football game. Again a trigger food. This week first of all I am not even feeling like a freestyle meal on Thursday. The desire to eat healthy all week and see good results is stronger than the craving for any of my favorite foods. By Sunday I can only imagine myself eating a hamburger and onion rings. Not a trigger food and maybe even try a type of bun other than white bread. Freestyling remains a challenge but I can see it getting better and better as we go along.

Second challenge for me pesonally is hunger pains and mental hunger about 2 hours after dinner. Let me admit fully that I know my worst habit ever is the "grazing" after dinner to relieve stress and relax from the day that I had really worked into a big bad habit the last two years of my life. So now I restrain from the desire to eat after dinner; however I notice now I actually get real hunger pains. So just about since the beginning I have been eating a snack about 2 hours after eating dinner. My goal has been to make it a healthier snack. My future goal is to reduce the snack smaller and smaller until maybe eliminating it all together. The best snack that seems to stop the hunger pains quickly and taste good and satisfying is either trisquits or Doctor Kracker with humus. I like to add lemon juice, splash of olive oil and sea salt to the humus. I know that sounds like a lot of stuff being added to the humus but it is SO satisfying to me. Instantly pleases the taste buds and satisfies and then the grainy hard crackers quickly fills up and adds the crunchy chewing that also makes me feel full. So not sure if there is a better solution or better foods to be snacking on; will be interesting to see if the weight loss continues even with the later snack. Mentioned in a previous blog that our goal was to hit the bed earlier to perhaps avoid the snack. However this has been just about impossible with the schedule. I'm usually up later either working, conversing with the wife on the day; or just simply trying to relax and do something for myself that is entertaining.

One last note; for the first few weeks I was drinking lots of water. Even Crystal light at times. Lots of weight loss. The last two weeks I just realized have not drank as much water. In fact allot less water because of the sickness and then because I was away from home. Just a bigger pain to cut lemons and fix a glass of water. Even was busier at work with all day meetings one day after another which didn't allow me a break to grab some water. Starting to notice that for my body and for me; water could be a big key for weight loss. Just get this feeling that this big ole body of mine really uses and needs water to flush the calories and food out. I just felt a difference. Going to really focus on drinking lots of water over the next week or so and see what happens.