Competitor Blog: Finding Satisfaction

I was designed to eat. When people say “Oh, I forgot to eat!” I am immediately appalled. My whole life can be summed up by moments of being awake counting down the moments until I get to eat or sleep. I am essentially a sloth trapped in a human’s body!

This can make cutting macros a bit of a challenge. There are many times I find that I still desire to eat more. Please note that I am usually no longer “hungry” or feeling hunger. I just enjoy the eating process; chewing, tasting, and feeling the warm hug of carbs in my belly. Since eating my weight in food is not an option I have picked up a few tricks to help tide me over. 


Water never does the whole “fill up the space and feel full” trick. I like my water icey cold and I will drink a lot of it but all it does is make me and my belly cold. It is flavorless and does little to appease my demanding taste buds. Coffee however fills me up quite nicely. It’s warm and I can get it flavored without extra calories/macros. If I am feeling really generous I can doctor it up with some sugar free creamer (tracked of course) or some sugar free flavored syrup. The flavored syrup is my new thing for home. A little can really go a long way! I use ½ a tablespoon and it is plenty. Coffee works better than tea for the full feeling. I am not sure why but I try not to look a gift horse too hard in the mouth. I did not drink coffee before but now that I have started it is a nice routine. I even have decaf because sometimes I feel the need to “snack” at night time and this can help if I am feeling desperate. 

Keep busy. It is easier to do physical busy activities on the weekend. Often you won’t notice that you are feeling a little hungry if you are up trying to get a chore done. Even if you do think “hmmm I could eat” you are usually so into your project you can put it off until the next appropriate food time. The important thing is to make sure you stop and eat at regular intervals. Otherwise, you may find yourself ravenous and falling headlong into poor food choices.

I am a soda drinker. I like the fizzy bubbles and the sweetness. Try making your own Italian soda’s. Using the sugar free syrup and club soda I can make myself a sparkly beverage to help cut the sweet tooth. It’s different from the La Croix flavored waters which are OK but a little bland. It really can help shake up the monotony of water and it feels like you are having a treat.

So tell me, do you have any tricks that you use to help pacify your consumption cravings?

Competitor Blog: And then I got mad - living with a chronic condition

If you have been following me for a while you may have picked up on the fact that, sometimes, I am a train wreck. I struggle with migraines, tension headaches, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) all of which likes to manifest with a whole lot of nausea. I have a list of triggers that I know and some that I am still figuring out. Sometimes I go days or weeks without any issues. Other times it seems like it feels like a competition inside my own body on what is going to break me first. Migraines and IBS flairs both tend to land me in the recliner strategically positioned as to not anger the beast that is within me.

For me, carb heavy things are comforting during a flair up and with nausea. This gets difficult sometimes when trying to keep track of macros. I am very fortunate as to have a fair amount of carbs but not so many as to eat mashed potatoes at every meal.

Sometimes, I get mad and defiant at my own stomach. If I am going to be painful and nauseous anyways why does it even matter what I eat? This is typically when I fall headlong into a crap food bender. I think part of the reason is because I am trying to find some small semblance of comfort, even if it’s emotional comfort or the brain chemical dump of eating sugar and shit.

I have done better this go around, so far, with my emotional eating. But it has happened. I always feel a little guilty after I am done. But honestly who suffers from these decisions? My spouse and family may suffer the backlash of my flair up (we only have one bathroom). Mike may suffer from the frustration of not getting anticipated results. But the person who is paying the real price is me. I am penalizing myself for having ailments that cannot be controlled and throwing a tantrum because of it. I *really* like to control the things in my life. I am putting a long term goal and objective in jeopardy so I can shove easy gratification in my face.

So what am I going to do about it? I am going to acknowledge that I have some unhealthy coping mechanisms like emotional and sometimes binge eating. I am going to try to be more aware of these tendencies. I am going to forgive myself for screwing up. I am going to try to do my best to stick within my macros when I don’t feel well but I am not going to make myself sick(er) over it. I won’t make excuses for eating like crap. Follow people who I find inspirational on IG. People who have a tougher hand dealt to them by life and handle it with way more grace than myself.

It isn’t an exhaustive list but it is a start. I am still going to have to deal with the demons in my brain and belly. I just need to make sure I don’t give them any more fuel.