Shall we catch up?

 Hello friends, it has been a while since we chatted.

I do sincerely apologize for neglecting this blog for the past couple weeks.  I can make a bunch of excuses, but I'm sure you've heard them all in a bunch of different places.  So let me just say, I've been meaning to write, and I'm finally making time to catch up!

I have not been keeping up with my reading.  I've been finding myself with little time for anything other than work, the boyfriend, more work, and sleep.  I fall asleep about a half a sentence into any reading whenever I'm overtired, so I haven't even attempted to pick up Overcoming Overeating... lately.

However, something spectacular has happened!  As of today, December 20, 2011, I am TWENTY FIVE days binge free!  I was super excited last Friday when I hit the 21 days mark.  Because it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. And though it hasn't been an easy (almost)  month, I have no binged.  I have not been perfect, and I may have eaten a little too much at a party here or there, and I have definitely not been eating the best for me foods, but I have not binged.  Any time I've gotten into that mentality of "Ohmygod-I-just-want-to-stuff-my-face-full-of-delicious-foods-so-I-don't-have-to-feel-these-feelings," I have done something other than eat.

I almost binged last Tuesday.  The day started off okay, but toward the end of the day I was tired and feeling very stressed out.  (Though I don't remember any specific events leading up to or causing the stress.)  As I've mentioned before, Tuesdays are one of my most likely days to binge, so it was no surprise that I was getting this urge.  Oh, yes, now I remember.  I was having a hardcore pity party for 1 because I had worked for 9 days straight with no days off.  I was tired.  The kind of tired you feel all over your body.  The kind of tired that paralyzes you from even making it to your bed.  The kind of tired for which food is the clear solution.  (Please read that with all the sarcasm with which it was intended.)  I was talking with WW boardie friends and told them I was 18 days binge-free, but I was struggling.  And I didn't want to break my streak, but I was just oh-so-woe-is-me-tired.  So I made a plan for dinner.  I stuck to my plan, but even then wanted to continue to stuff my face.  Pizza, ice cream, cookies... let's be real, I was too tired to make cookies or pizza. The most likely option was a gallon of ice cream washed down with leftover soup and leftover Chinese takeout steamed white rice.  Not even fun foods!  But, I'd stuck to my plan, so I just didn't let myself get off my couch and back into the kitchen.  The last thing I remember was having something on the TV, noticing the time as 9:11, and then waking up an hour later.  I should have gotten up, changed my clothes, and gone to bed.  But I was too tired to move.  So I slept on my couch until midnight or so before finally making it to bed.  Sleep is much better solution for physical exhaustion than food!  And that's how I made it to day 19.

So, here I am, a week later.  I'm 25 days binge free.  Tomorrow will be 26.  I've got plans for my week and they include eating reasonable dinners, and then doing things that don't involve food.  I'm really excited that I'm almost 1 full month without binging.  This hasn't happened since the summer, if not earlier.