AAMW

For me add a meal week is an opportunity to control food. After 4 weeks 'in rehab' with no temptation and lots of self-analysis its the week to put myself to the test. Its not about the nitty gritty of the food items i eat. I don't see a problem with having salmon instead of white fish. I'm not going to obsess about food - that's what my pre-cd head does. Its not a week where weight loss is the goal.
the week before aam, kel and i sit down with our notebook and make a plan of 7 meals that are exciting, nutritious, , very low (or no) carb, and low fat. But we don't adhere strictly to the cd manual. We plan as much detail as possible. we plan the portion size to be the size that a regular healthy person would have - not a dieter. We are very strict with ourselves on this point though and i visualise every meal as we plan it. We are very aware of our lack of portion control and that's why its vital for us to plan the week before. I couldn't decide the portion at the time of plating up -= that would be a recipe for overeating! We even plan when we will eat each meal and if it will be together. Kel decided that if she is on late shifts she has the evening meal for lunch and takes a cd pack for tea.

All of this planning is vital for us. AAMW is our 1 opportunity every 5th week to exercise some control over food. That isn't something that comes naturally to us so it requires work. Knowing what, how much and when we will be eating is the key to a successfull AAMW for us.

Munch and Kel's rules for AAMW

1. Follow the plan that was made the previous week.
2. Its ok to be excited about that days food but do not think about it constantly
3. Prepare and cook the meal without eating whilst doing it. Tasting what you are cooking is fine but not eating ingredients before they get to the table.
4. Eat the meal attentively - don't just wolf it down! Enjoy it. Recognise its healthiness. Finish the meal and be ok with that being the end of food for that day. Don't feel guilty about eating, just because you enjoyed it doesn't make it a sin.
5. do not eat anything that wasn't planned - just because you have food in the house this week doesn't mean you can eat it. Food isn't really calling you to be eaten as soon as possible - its for a planned meal.
6. At the end of the weeks weigh in try not to be concerned with the result. (practically impossible if you have gained though). If you sts or lose see it as a bonus. The real cause for celebration comes from achieving your aims of a week of being in control of food.

At this point we have had 2 lots of AAMW but we haven't yet succeeded 100%. My main problem is eating a few little bits while I'm cooking. Kel's problem is having food in the fridge that she is 'allowed' but eating it before the planned meal. This time round was much better that last time but we both obviously still have work to do. Even though i only ate some cucumber and lettuce whilst i was preparing the salad, which most normal people wouldn't see as a problem, for me that was overeating. It makes no difference what the food was. I ate compulsively. I was in a bad mood, i wanted food to anaesthetise me and even though i was aware of what i was doing, for that moment i lost control of food. I'm not going to let it get me down - I'm only 10 weeks into making radical changes to the last 17 years! Its going to take more time and by really evaluating and seeing my mistakes clearly it gives me stuff to work on so that eventually I'll be in control of food the majority, if not all of the time.

btw I lost 1lb!