Hello! I’m new (just joined this month and very excited)! I have been off sugar and flour (for the most part other than a few unplanned grabs here and there) since last August and have lost 20lbs (130 to 110; I’m 4’11”). I still have a lot of work to do on my mind (causing more overeating), and have stalled out over the last couple of months, which is why I have joined. I have a few issues, but I’ll start with two related questions for now.
First, I have a question about joy eats- I haven’t been doing them for two reasons. One, I notice after I make a decision to eat sugar (unplanned), I have horrible urges and hunger lasting for days- it takes me a few days to get “back on track.” The other is, when I have a joy eat planned, I really look forward to it and think about it a lot. As my goal is to see food as fuel, it seems counterintuitive to schedule eating something for joy. Thoughts on that?
Second, and on a related note, I still feel like I enjoy food too much- I have really constrained my food over the past 8 months, but honestly look forward to/get excited about eating my salad or my broccoli or whatever. In my opinion, I am thinking about dinner too much during the afternoon (usually precipitated by waves of hunger) and I also have urges after meals- thoughts like “I want more” or “I don’t want it to be over” causing feelings of deprivation. I’ve been using the thought “I am learning to not use food as entertainment,” but it doesn’t seem to stick.) Thanks for all you do!