Cravings beast is difficult to control

Dieters fight to tame hunger bully

Editor's note: Charleston freelance writer Sally Watts is enrolled in the Focus program at the Medical University of South Carolina's Weight Management Center. This is the 13th in a series of weekly columns about her journey and progress.

This past week at weigh-in, I had lost a total of 2 pounds. Of course! I'm nothing if not consistent these days. I am also headed into my last appointment of the 15-week Focus program. I'm going to opt to tack another five weeks onto the program and visit them every two weeks or so, just to stay on track and make sure I continue to lose weight.

This past Sunday morning, I was getting ready to eat breakfast in our church fellowship hall. A friend approached me and asked me about the program, saying that she wanted to do it. And do you know what I actually told her?

"It's hard and boring."

Nice.

I'd have to blame my crankiness and uncharacteristically less-than-sunny response on hunger. About 20 minutes later, after I'd eaten a few bites of grits, some light yogurt and a small glass of orange juice, I didn't have a care in the world. I got it in my head that I needed to go find her and tell her that this weight-loss method wasn't hard and boring. Not at all. It was no problem! It was a breeze!

And the thing is, these are mood swings, or "mind swings," that I go through sometimes umpteen times a day. If I am hungry or bored or already have eaten but am not satisfied, I am still, after these three months, likely to become a complete self-sabotaging pill of a person.

It is scary to me, the degree to which my simple hunger drive can be such a bully. It is a thug that taunts and prods me to mentally catalog every item available in the pantry and refrigerator until I can think of something that will mollify the cravings beast.

I wish I could consistently harness and redirect that seemingly insurmountable power and will toward good. Toward the desire to exercise like a fiend, or eat well without thinking that I could get run over by a bus tomorrow and that life is too short to eat bunny food. Then I'd be set for life.

In the meantime, I have to keep red flag food out of the house and keep on reminding myself that I have to take it minute by minute, and this, too, shall pass, be it an exercise slump or a confrontation with a cheesecake sampler.

Here's how it went for me this week:

--Exercise: Warm weather brings new outdoor activities and more chances to fit that exercise in whenever possible. Mowing the lawn with our throwback of a mower that isn't self-propelled burns more than 500 calories per hour, and we have a huge yard.

--Meals: I am still saddled with a bit of the innate boredom and resentment toward fruit and vegetables that some Southern meat-and-potatoes people have. But I find that this time of year makes it much easier to eat well. I love to make colorful suppers with whatever I can find in the produce department.

My 2-year-old daughter was born blessed with a genuine love of and preference for bunny food. Last week, she and I filled a big bowl with raw carrots, cherry tomatoes, fresh pineapple chunks and watermelon slices. We sat down on the couch and had a big produce bonanza for our lunch, and were both completely thrilled to do so.

--Motivation: "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm president of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli." — George H.W. Bush

--Progress: On day 91, I had lost a total of 35.8 pounds.

Coming next week: Tips from the trenches.

E-mail Sally Watts at sidlesup@yahoo.com.