Starving Artists: Starving Artists -> Make It Or Break It

It's a challenge in the beginning to develop habits. It's even more challenging to develop good ones. They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. And you know what? It does. I've found that to be true. I've been on this WW kick for about two months or so?? I've noticed that I eat smaller portions of foods. And if I do eat a lot more, I've noticed that I don't eat as much later on, kinda like balancing out an equation. I'm not even aware I'm doing it. I think it's been programmed in my brain to respond a certain way when I eat.

I'm more aware of my stomach when it reaches that "full" or "satisfied" status automatically. It doesn't take a lot of food to be satisfied. It really doesn't, but sometimes it's so good I want more. In reality, though, it's my brain that 'wants' more, not my stomach. A lot of times I give in and fill my plate with more food. It doesn't take too long after that I notice I'm at the 'full' stage. Not stuffed, but just full. It's when I've gone just slightly beyond the 'satisfied' mark. Though, personally, I'm starting to perceive there are a couple of levels in the 'full' category. One would be being 'full' in a low level and the other being 'full' on a high level, if that makes any sense. For me, at least, being 'full' in that lower level isn't too, too bad. It's where I've passed the 'satisfied' level and just arrived at the 'full' level but I'm not really, really full. I shouldn't have gotten there, but I did and now I need to stop eating so I won't become really, really full. It's interesting and funny how I've learned to pay attention to my stomach while I eat. And I'm not even really aware I'm doing it.

So why am I talking about this? Well, this past Thursday I attended my WW meeting and got weighed in. Now, I purposely missed the weigh-in the week before because I just couldn't face the scale. See when Thanksgiving came around, I did not deprive myself of ANY foods. None. I felt guilty the whole time, too. Not good. And see, the week before Thanksgiving our WW Leader was talking about eating controlled portions of less fatty foods. Meanwhile, in my mind I was just laughing 'cause there was absolutely no fat chance I was not going to indulge in my favorite meals during Thanksgiving, ha! And because I made that decision in my mind, I did exactly that when Thanksgiving arrived. But, interestingly, when I finally went back to my meeting, I had only gained two tenths of a pound. Yes, I only gained .2! That's not even a half of pound. And I was shocked because I ate evARything and haven't stopped eating bad things since Thanksgiving. I thought for sure I'd gained like 2-3 pounds, but I didn't.

I really couldn't understand. I thought I was going to be faced with the challenge of taking off what I had already struggled to take off months before...but how did I only gain .2 pounds since Thanksgiving? I started reflecting back on those moments... Then I realized when I ate, I only ate a one plate serving and smaller portions of the foods. Normally I'd go back for seconds and the portions would be twice the size. Okay, so that kind of helped, but what about all the bad stuff people started bringing in at the office? Well, I remember cutting things in half and eating one half of it...then the munchie stuff...well, that I'd only grab 2-3 handfuls. I have very small hands, so that helped. I really believe portion controlling helped. But the irony is that while I laughed in my head as I listened to my WW Leader talk about portion control, I subconsciously did just exactly what she talked about. Not because I followed her advise, but because I had already been learning it a couple of months beforehand. So, I conclude and agree, yes, it does take 21 days to make or break a habit. The habit just has to be practiced c-o-n-t-i-n-u-o-u-s-l-y and with that practice comes forth THE habit, whether good or bad, it shows up. Before realization hits, it is practiced without any effort whatsoever. It becomes automatic. Automatic systematic...isn't there a song with those lyrics?