Accountability

Obviously I am going to be a tougher nut to crack than I'd originally thought... 

Perhaps this whole "over-coming my weight issue" thing is going to require some of my professional skills to master. Over-eating is an addiction. Just like those who use drugs, over-eaters eat when we're stressed, when we're angry and/or simply because it's another day. That's why they have things like Over-eaters Anonymous.

Personally, I don't like groups. As a counselor, I know they aren't for everyone. Some people do well talking about their issues in a group setting - others don't. I think my form of "group therapy" is this blog.

What makes food addiction hard to handle is that unlike illegal substances, one cannot simply avoid food for the remainder of their life. We have to eat daily in order to live - so our form of crack cocaine will always be there right in front of us, tempting us to dive right back in.

In the addiction world we would say that I am in the Contemplation Stage of recovery at this point. Yes, there are stages of recovery. Precontemplation is the first stage in the "Stages of Change" model we learned about in my very first addiction counseling class. In that stage you are not really thinking too hard about changing - maybe you are still in a little denial that you have a problem.

Here's a little visual of the whole process:

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The Contemplation Stage comes next - or preparing for action. This is when you have acknowledged that there is a problem and you are trying to figure out how to solve it. You may not know how, you may not be completely committed to the change yet, but you have progressed from denying it to at least admitting it is there and that it's not ok. 


I think I'm actually on the threshold and moving into the next phase in the change process, the Preparation/Action Stage of change. This is a stage that combines intention and behavioral criteria. What does that mean? Those in this stage intend to take action in the next month and have unsuccessfully taken action in the past year. We're trying.

The next stage will be Maintenance. At this stage I will have made the changes and will be maintaining the action of changing. The word Maintenance here is deceiving - it makes you think it's easy to maintain. Well it isn't so easy to maintain. Especially when what you have to maintain is hard.

Next is Termination - when the behavior has been eliminated and the new behavior is so ingrained that you aren't having to actively maintain it anymore. Then there's Recycling - or relapse as we call it around here. You go back to square one - or just slip back into an old behavior.

So... What do I do with my clients when they are in the contemplation stage or slip back into old behaviors? I hold them accountable.

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So in an attempt to hold myself accountable (with your help of course, dear bloggy friends) I am going to try to log my food intake each day. I may miss days. I have a lot going on - but this is important. Ultimately it's my life at stake here. So I'm going to give it the old college try... So here's what I ate yesterday:

6/30/2011 Food/Drink Log:  (stay with me here - it's going to seem a bit weird. I have an insane daily schedule!)


4:00am 1 cup organic apple juice, 8 oz water, 1 scoop Macro Greens
5:00am (breakfast?)1 Berri Berri Bar
8:00am 1 serving Beanitos black bean chips and celery with Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus
11:00am 2 servings of Seasnax Seaweed
12:00pm 1 cup organic apple juice, 8 oz water, 1 scoop Macro Greens
it was all well and good until I got home from work...
1:00pm: (lunch?) 1 (large) piece of gluten free banana bread AND one gluten free chocolate donut
A sugar induced coma/nap came next - after a short bout of seaweed & chocolate indigestion. Blech... One Pepcid to the rescue!
5:30pm 1 cup organic apple juice, 8 oz water, 1 scoop Macro Greens, 1 Laughing Giraffe Organics Gogi Cacao & Maca Snakaroon
7:00pm Cracker Barrel grilled roast beef with green beans, baby carrots and a side salad with Ranch dressing (which apparently was not gluten free - as evidenced by more tummy issues.) and iced tea with Splenda