So often people don’t realize that you don’t have to have problems with “the hard stuff” to be an addict. And addictive behavior is with you your entire life, you just might never have identified it before it got really bad.

So, in your situation, where alcohol seemed to turn to food, this is actually true. When my brother finally got off the pills and alcohol, he drank more coffee than Dunkin’ Donuts could even supply. Then he focused on school. Then he got a job and tried to have the best sales. And most recently, he got a girlfriend to devote 100% of his time to. Two months ago he started smoking again too, but I digress.

The point is, if you have an addictive personality or any type of addictive tendencies, the only way to truly beat them, is to identify the underlying cause. Of course cookies and ice cream taste good. Of course you will want to eat them whether or not you’re full. Of course it’s hard to say no to them when you’re offered. For me, I think the hardest part is that it is ALL ABOUT CONTROL!!

When you are young, your parents control what you eat. Whether or not you are allowed to eat dessert or soda, they even picked your meals for you. So when you become an adult, how are you expected to learn to eat healthy when your VERY FIRST bout into choosing your own nutrition is typically COLLEGE??? It doesn’t start you out on a good path. No wonder so many people end up bingeing on alcohol, fast food, bad food, soda, pizza, blah, blah, blah…

I know that sometimes for me, it was about ME being able to pick and control what I wanted to eat. I could go buy myself McDonald’s, I didn’t have to ask my mom. Stupid, right?

But I know that in your situation, you feel like you have a loss of control when you are on food overload. Do you feel like you have a loss of control anywhere else in your life?

I definitely like your idea of blogging when you feel a craving coming on, and describing how you’re feeling. But you might not always be at the computer. Maybe you should try carrying a little notebook, so that you can write little notes in it whenever you get those cravings, then once a week, write a blog about the cravings for that week??

Anyway, my comment has turned into a blog itself!! I’ll end it here and we shall continue conversing later!!

Maybe try adding more protein in the mornings. You could make egg cups (like mini-quiches) in cupcake tins, freeze them, and microwave them at home or at work. The extra protein in the morning keeps you fuller longer.

Also, if you feel like you need a bigger dinner, try adding more veggies. The Biggest Loser teaches the contestants that HALF of your plate should be veggies, then 1/4 meat/protein, and 1/4 whole grains.

AGAIN, GREAT JOB!!!

I forgot to tell you the other day that I realized something. Part of why you are so hungry sometimes (even after you’ve eaten, and no, I’m not talking about the cookies last night), is because YOU ARE NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP!!

I bet you anything if you got 7 hours of sleep each night for a week straight, you’d have an easier time with your eating. I’m going to try to write a long blog like you did for yesterday, because I feel like I’m slacking with adding details.

WOOO for Power Week!!

Also, let’s plan to have a talk sometime this weekend (Sunday after your race, maybe?) and really plan out our Power Week. It should be one week I think, maybe in November we can do for two (great idea for the two weeks BEFORE Thanksgiving).

What would our prize be? Maybe we should plan a weekend to hang out together, and we could earn our reward on that weekend?

And I see you took my advice on less peanut butter…did you notice a big difference?

If you’re running, make sure you use ALL of those 400 calories for dinner, get some carbs and protein!!!

However, there may be times where you are actually hungry, and you should have some sort of option for that. I noticed you deprived yourself of food later in the day for that muffin, that might not be good. We should come up with an alternative.

It actually would also be a good idea to reduce the amount of coffee you drink, especially because you take sugar in it. But just make sure you drink milk, because you are getting good vitamins and protein from the skim milk you put in your coffee. And that caramel swirl from DD has a LOT of sugar!!

So yes, that sounds good to me!! I think you’ll love the green tea more than the coffee, honestly. If you need, you could even add a little drizzle of honey. Or if you need variety, there are TONS of flavors of green tea out there, too.

But we need to work on a plan for you to help as a defense against the impulse!! Such as…DON’T GO TO DD!!! LOL. Maybe go again but only if you meet a certain goal?

From now on, this is my goal: Instead of going straight to get coffee, I will stop in the kitchen, fix myself a nice hot travel cup of green tea and then go for a walk outside around the block. That way, I’ll still have something warm and tasty AND I’ll be getting a small amount of exercise outside. (Not to mention I won’t be consuming those extra 100 calories.) This will be my goal for tomorrow. Maybe once a week I will treat myself to DD, or not at all. Maybe every 2 weeks (to save money and FAT).

Sound good?

Yes, The Seal is from Winsor Pilates hahahahaha…so embarrassing!

Maybe carry around that bag of almonds, so next time you’re staring at the muffin, you can stuff 15 almonds in your mouth and then say, “nope, can’t have it, I just ate all this fat from these here almonds.” Well, you don’t have to say that.

But you need a trick to make you simply get your coffee and get the hell out of there.

LMAO at “The Seal”…if I remember correctly your dad had plenty of laughs at that one whenever we tried to do the DVD together…that’s Winsor Pilates, right?