Thursday, June 15, 2006

The Snacking Monster

Um, hi. Remember me?

I keep meaning to post to this blog but I'm feeling more tired than fired up lately about weight loss. Mostly because I can't seem to stop the snacking. See, I'm working an incredibly boring job for 12-14 hours a day and the urge to snack kicks in fairly often. Usually I can stave it off or pop some gum in my mouth. Sometimes I give in and have a healthy snack - some nuts, wasabi peas, or a piece of fruit. But the truth is I'm sitting on my butt 12-14 hours a day and I just want to nibble.

I have been working out. I got knocked out by a cold last week, but I'm back and better than ever. This week I've ellipticalled for 50 minutes 3 nights in a row already.

But in reality the pounds just aren't dropping off like they should be, or like they were this time last year. It's frustrating. Sedentary days and the urge to snack can't be warded off by a burst of exercise every night it seems. I leave for Vegas tomorrow and - sigh - I haven't made my goal.

What do you do when the snacking urge hits, realizing I don't have the option of getting up from my desk because I have to sit here and review these documents?

6 comments:

GG said...

I don't know if you have a place to store stuff, or maybe you could bring it with you each day, but I always make sure my office is stocked with raw vegetables like carrots and celery, rice cakes, and that sort of thing that I can pick at when I have to. Of course, my secretary brought in an apple pie she made today so I can't be giving anyone advice.

Regina Rodriguez-Martin said...

What I do when I get the urge to snack (in the order that I do them):
1. Drink water.
2. Drink seltzer water (or other no-calorie beverage).
3. Suck on a hard candy.
4. Chew gum.
5. Have a piece of apple or grapefruit.
6. Eat a 40-calorie pretzel rod, ver-r-ry slowly (take a bite, suck all the salt off of that bite, slowly chew it and swallow, and repeat this so it takes about five minutes to eat a single pretzel).
One of these actions usually takes care of the problem (unless someone's waving a doughnut under my nose).

i i eee said...

I can't remember if I read this on your other blog -but are you able to listen to music or books on tape while at work? Having healthy snacks around is helpful, but rather not having to think about food at all is best, I find. My urges seem to disappear when I can forget about them, if my mind is elsewhere occupied.

That sucks though, having a job like that. Maybe you can also try all those silly desk exercises, like flexing your butt and stuff. ha ha

i i eee said...

Also, I find that if I have snacks nearby I'm going to always eat them. And healthy or not, that might be more calories that probably won't help me make goal. I also try to make it hard to obtain any snacks -like if there's a candy machine at work or something, keep any change or 1 dollar bills in the car.

Anyway, I think you're doing pretty good considering your sitting job!

Kelly said...

G, I do bring some things. The problem is our fridge is jam-packed because 65 people are here for basically 3 meals a day. We were supposed to get a second fridge, but that never happened. It's kind of scary in there. I have tried these Soy Crisps that the little market upstairs sells. They're kind of similar to rice cakes in consistency.

Regina, yeah I've definitely tried the water and gum. A fruit vendor comes outside our office a couple of times a week and I always try to stock up on fruit when he's there.

Meta, I was listening to podcasts, but then my computer died so I can't download them until I get it fixed. I'll get a new cord in a few days and hopefully that will fix the problem. The podcasts did help distract me.

I'm really fidgety as I sit here for 12-14 hours. Just think how huge I'd be if I wasn't!

Jamie said...

I was a nanny on the east coast for four months once. I had never really worked out before and decided this would be the perfect time to do it. So I went to the gym 4-6 times a week for at least an hour. After two months I hadn't lost anything and was really discouraged. The third and fourth month I lost just a couple pounds and I was mad by the end of the summer because a couple pounds really wasn't worth all of that crap. THEN, over the next couple of months I lost 35 pounds really quick! And I was still eating the same and everything. It just took a long time for my metabolism to adjust. My metabolism was bad for several years and so it just needed a couple months. With how serious you are about this you're surely going to reach your goal!! And eat what you want.