pitfall |ˈpitˌfôl|nouna hidden or unsuspected danger or difficulty.• a covered pit used as a trap. The four times in my adult life that I've managed to get almost to goal, I backslid. Not all at once, but bite by bite, until I gained all or most of the weight back. One of the major pitfalls I ran into is grocery shopping. In my family, that's my job. I want to do it, because I want to plan the meals and buy the things that I need. The problem is, though, that the several places I shop all have dangerous pitfalls. And when I've been at that happy place in my weight loss, where I can wear size 8 and where I feel fit and pretty, I am somehow more apt to fall victim to the siren call of the fresh baked sour dough bread, or the sample pushers at Costco, or the Snickers ice cream bars, or the Reeses at the checkout. I've tried all sorts of things. I seek out the no-candy lane. I try hard to shop the store margins. I try not to shop when I'm hungry. I chew sugar-free gum. Those tactics are good, but have not stopped the seeming inexorable creep of excess poundage.
The thing I've found that works best for me is to plan to buy myself a treat that I allow myself to eat as soon as I get in my car. My favorite treat is wonderful and well worth "denying" myself all those other temptations. I 
must admit that sometimes I eat two, and one time, three--all in the car. Maybe some day I'll have enough self-control to wait until I get home. What is my treat, you ask? Well,popsicles. Not just any popsicle, but the WW Giant Latte bars and, a new find, their Strawberry Smoothie bar.Each has 1 point per bar. The latte bar, which is a bigger than the strawberry bar, has 90 calories, 1 g of fat, 55 mg of sodium, and 4 g of fiber. The strawberry bar has only 70 calories, 1 g of fat, and less than 1 g of fiber. Yesterday my wonderful husband called in from the garage to ask why we had several opened boxes of WW bars in the freezer. . . .
I receive no compensation for promoting WW bars, nor was I asked to review them. I just love 'em!
That's a great tip, to give yourself a healthy treat!
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone with the tendency to backslide once you get to where you feel comfortable. I think your plan of always having something healthy you love available is so smart.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried those yet. I buy the Skinny Cow ice cream treats sometimes - they are good too!
I am like you - size 8 and I feel like I can take more leeway with stuff. Not!! Treats are important, but they should remain that - just treats and not multiple snacks :D
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog today. Thanks for sharing! :-)
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