BBR -- Wednesday, 11/11 -- Day 11

With cravings I usually start obsessing about a particular food, usually it is sweets. Since I don't keep them in the house and I usually don't go out just to buy something I'm craving I do pretty good. Sometimes I will cave or I will plan for it. There are days when I can tell I just want to eat to be eating. Also if I'm at an event the sight of the food can make me want to eat something. Sometimes I move myself away from the food. But usually at home I recognize the feelings and stick to my plan for the day. Hunger I can recognize. I can usually tolerate it more towards the end of the day. Earlier in the day if it is between a meal/snack time I sometimes give in and have something.

Hunger:
I usually don't let myself get hungry as I don't feel well when this happens. I space my food out during the day making sure to eat every couple hours.
Desire:
If sugar food is in the house I will eat it until it's all gone, making myself sick, this is why I don't bring in any sugar food. This weekend when shopping with my DD I wanted to buy a small celebration cake, she said no, mom, so glad I didn't buy it. I need to stay out of the bakery when shopping!
Cravings:
My biggest challenge because I go so long and then I crave sugar such as the celebration cake and usually end up giving in by getting my hands on something sugar in my pantry. I don't keep brown sugar in my house another huge craving, but, just anything sugar will do. Right now I'm on seven days of no sugar so I need to work on this. If I'm off sugar for a while then I'm OK, it breaks that craving. This is one of the reasons I'm not at goal, sugar! I definately need to use the Bech technique above for this!

Hunger: when you have fasted for several hours and your stomach is empty.

I’m usually hungry in the morning and late afternoon and i need to remember to eat a healthy snack before dinner. I haven’t made this a habit yet and need to do that. 

Desire to Eat: not being particularly hungry but eating because food is around.

yes sometimes but better at checking in and telling myself I’m not really hungry. 

Craving: physiological and emotionally intense urge to eat.

Yes, food is sometimes linked to my uncomfortable, or bored feelings and I can use food to mask these feelings rather than just sit with them. I’m trying harder to stop and pause and let the feelings settle. I was feeling a sucker punch of a moment of grief yesterday as I was cleaning out some of my mom’s things. I finally wanted to throw away some stuff I couldn’t donate anywhere. Afterwards, my sabotaging thought was to eat/inhale something or worse, numb that feeling with a drink. Instead, I allowed myself to just cry and move on. I recognized the thought and chose to acknowledge what I was experiencing and let the moment pass. 

Food is also associated with celebrations in my family and I’m trying to break that connection that food needs to be front & center. Trying to link healthy choices celebrations: making it about who’s at the table rather what’s on the table. 

I am thinking about this topic in terms of that Chain of Events That Leads to Eating

TRIGGER ➡ THOUGHT ➡ DECISION ➡ ACTION

I think that HUNGER, DESIRE, and CRAVING are three types of TRIGGERS.  Like any other TRIGGER, they spawn THOUGHTS, DECISIONS, and ACTIONS.  Beck has already given us a bunch of tools to use in responding to TRIGGERS and interrupting the Chain long enough to have the most productive THOUGHT and effective ACTION.  The rest of the book elaborates on those tools.  But you have to differentiate between the types of TRIGGERS in order to apply the right tool.

TRIGGERS                                                                                    TOOLS                                                                                  
    Environmental: see, smell food                                                        Arrange environment 

    Biology/physiology: hunger, thirst                                                  Physical solution/ACTION: eat slowly 

    Mental: think, read, recall, imagine, crave                                        Mental solution/ACTION: review advantages, call diet coach, give self credit 

    Emotional: anger, sadness, frustration, boredom, desire                    Emotional/Social solution/ACTION: deal with real problem, deflect pushers, exercise, eat and 
    Social: pushers, “everyone else has some,” desire                                    track