Why do I make poor choices

Poor choices – why do we make them?

I have tried every single diet plan there is. I know all about poor choices.  I know all about what I should be doing.  I know what I should be eating. So why am I not doing it?

Like many women of a certain age, I have tried every single diet plan there is. I know all about poor choices.  I know all about what I should be doing.  I know what I should be eating.  I know what helps me to shed weight.

Why do I make poor choicesHere’s what I know about diets?

Calorie counting is not necessarily the answer – eating one Big Mac Meal a day may keep you in your calorie limits but your body won’t thank you for it

Low fat – a la Rosemary – is not necessarily the healthiest diet.  You need some fat in your diet.

Carb free is not easy to keep up – living without any bread, potatoes or pasta (when you also have a family of five) is not an easy option.

Shakes and bars do not a meal make.  They may work short term but they teach you nothing about eating healthily.

The 5:2 or ADF diet works for some, but others (ok, me) really go to town on the days they’re not fasting.

The cabbage soup diet makes you hugely unpopular.

Food isn’t the problem:

It’s not the food we eat that is the real problem, it is why we eat that food.

When we know that one slice of cake is never enough and that one slice will lead to another (and another), why do we still eat it?

When we know that calories we eat in private still count, why do we still eat then?

When we know that the bar of chocolate will still be there tomorrow if we want it, do we choose it today?

Why do we make poor choices?  

When we know exactly what the problem is – when we know what foods we are eating to help us gain weight – then why are still making poor choices?

It’s time to go back to the very beginning and work out why you are eating them.  What do you get from it?  When you make poor choices, especially when you are totally aware you are making them, what is happening in your life?

There is a theory that people over eat to stop themselves saying what they really think.  It’s a subconscious way of stopping the words coming out.

Maybe that’s your reason?

There is a theory that people over eat because they don’t think they are lovable.  They believe they’re unloveable whether they are fat or slim.

Is that your reason?

Maybe you worry that if you lose weight, you won’t be the same person and people may not like you?

Maybe you use your weight as a barrier; to avoid others getting close?

My poor choices

This is something I am really looking into at the moment.  My own choices have lead to a large weight gain and the more miserable I get about it, the more I do it again.

Every evening, my hubby goes for a soak.  As he enters the bath, I enter the fridge.  I will pick at anything and everything.  Cheese, chocolate, biscuits, even crisps and I don’t even like crisps very much.

Hubby isn’t the problem, he would happily go to the fridge for me and get me everything I asked for.  I don’t do it to hide it from him.

So why do I do it?

I know that eating these without being seen doesn’t mean the calories won’t be seen.   I know that I will feel yuck for the rest of the evening and I will feel even worse when I next get on the scales.

So why?

why do I make poor choicesWhat’s the answer?

I am trying to work out what it is that I get from that fridge raid and then I can look at what I can replace that with.

A few things are helping me.

Listening to my slimpod is helping me throughout the day – as a work from home Mum, I have access to the kitchen all day.  Listening to the slimpod has stopped me picking throughout the day.  However, the evenings are still a problem so I am trying to re-listen to the pods when hubby goes into the bath.

Being honest.  Admitting it is an issue for me.

Looking at habit – I know it’s a habit and have read loads of books about making/breaking bad habits.  One of the things I took from Better than Before – by Gretchen Rubin was that I work better if I am accountable to others.  I don’t hold myself to account.  I would like to but I don’t.

I think this is why diet classes worked for me in the past.  Not so much following the diet but actually being accountable to someone else.  However, I struggle with the “clicks” within classes, being the “new girl” so I now avoid them.

So what suggestions do you have?  

How can I be accountable to others?

How do I stop the evening fridge raids?

I am open to all suggestions so please comment away and let me know what you think I should try.  I will report back every month and let you know what I’ve tried and how it’s going.

Sign up so you don’t miss the updates

[mc4wp_form id=”1446″]

* This post contains affiliate links. In plain English, this means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you subscribe or purchase something through the links provided. You will never see me post a link to a product or service that I haven’t used myself and love! 

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

2 Comments

  1. I eat to help me cope and I’m also lucky that I can have just one slice of cake. But sometimes I can’t manage with no cake at all. Sometimes the only way I get through the days is by a succession of treats, not all of them particularly bad (e.g. coffee) but I don’t see any way of breaking a habit I began to help me get through studying for A levels!

    1. I think I need to learn a bit more about self control. Having told myself time and time again that I cannot eat just one slice of cake, I act as if I have permission somehow to eat more. Perhaps I need to re-word it and say I can just eat one slice of cake, eating more is a choice.
      I will let you know how it goes!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

On Key

Related Posts

Lists - The ultimate tool for balancing work and caregiving responsibilities

Lists: The Ultimate Tool for Balancing Work and Caregiving Responsibilities

Welcome to the world of lists! Whether it’s your day-to-day tasks, a special project, or your lifetime ambitions, lists serve as a powerful tool to manage your life efficiently. Lists can be particularly beneficial for parent carers, helping to manage the constant juggling between work responsibilities and caring duties. They allow you to unload the

A to Z of Acronyms for Parent Carers from Life Aspland

Acronyms – A to Z – for Parent Carers

Do you sit in meetings or read reports and wonder what on earth this shortcode is that everyone seems to use? Acronyms are rife within the world of special educational needs and/or disabilities, or should I say SEND? Over the years, I have tried to keep a list of acronyms we’ve encountered. Last night I

Become a Behaviour Detective

Unravelling Your Child’s Actions with a Reactions Tracker Alright, super parents, it’s time to put on our detective hats! We all know that raising a child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is a bit like being in a real-life game of Cluedo, but instead of solving a crime, we’re deciphering the mysteries of

Life AsPland Mojo Spring Back

Bouncing Back – Free webinar March 2023

Congratulations, you’re almost there. Sign up today to come along to the free webinar giving you tips and tricks on how to make it easier for you to get back up after a bad day. As a parent carer, you will need to do this on a regular basis. Why not get prepared for this

Emma Murphy

Podcast – Emma Murphy – Always have a Plan B

On the podcast today, I am joined by the very entertaining Emma Murphy. Emma is a special needs teacher, a mum of two boys and has a crazy springer spaniel who drives her mad and saves her sanity in equal measures. She juggles teaching part time with being a carer for her 10 year old