For those of you that might be committing to a lifestyle change this year and dieting might be on the top of that list as one of those changes, I  decided to make a list of 10 HABITS that I KNOW were MAKING and KEEPING me FAT in 2014.

I  started thinking about this at the end of 2014 and really started noticing patterns and had my own AH HA moments.   I realized I was on a never ending roller coaster of bad habits and unless I put on the breaks I would never get off.

So this year i want to do better and become healthier and stronger.  Losing a few pounds couldn't hurt either.

I thought about things I did in the past that have contributed to my weight gain and dieting failure, so I'm sharing my 10  pit falls with you for a couple of reasons:

1) to make it public.

2) to be really aware of what i am doing by writing it down.

3) to help someone else who might  be falling into the same habitual patterns.

Here goes....

[dropcap2]1. Too Much Sugar[/dropcap2] Oh Lord how I love the sweet stuff!!   I feel like I am a sugar addict at times.  Now when I say that I'm a sugar addict I don't mean that I sit around and eating sugar all day long.  That is not my style.  I'm not that fond of cookies, candy or ridiculously sweet treats,  but I do love a good cake like treat on the weekend while watching my fav mindless TV shows on a Sunday.   And don't get me started on Holidays, birthdays (mine especially) and  celebratory events. So the first step is awareness. Great got it!

[dropcap2]2. Celebratory Eating[/dropcap2] For the Love of GOD I am always celebrating!! 2014 instead of it being the year of the Horse (Chinese calendar) it should of been called the year of Celebration for me!!

I celebrated  ALL THE TIME and sometimes for no good reason.   I had ALOT of social engagements too in 2014, it was ridiculous!   If  I had a great work day, I'd celebrate.  If  I'm meeting friends after work or on weekends,  we'd celebrate.  Doing good on my diet for the week,  I'd celebrate.  Birthdays or holidays come on.... that calls for a celebration (no brainer).   Going on a long road trip, excuse to celebrate.  I was always giving my self a reason to have celebratory meals  where I could eat whatever I wanted.

3  of my fav rewards were Starbucks Caramel Macchiatto,  fast food drive thru and Chinese take out b/c it was cheap and plentiful.  This has got to stop!

[dropcap2]3. Sleeping Too Much Or Too Little[/dropcap2] Both of these are habits I definitely need to break.  I'm always staying up till about 1 am in the morning and having to get up at 6-6:30am was reaking havoc on my body and my mind.   And then to combat my tiredness I would always be napping after work b/c i was so tired.  When i would wake up in the morning the first thing i would be thinking about was coming back home and going back to sleep.  Crazy right??  Napping was becoming a strong habit i couldn't break even when I tried.  I would nap even when I wasn't tired b/c it was a habit and my mind wouldn't let me do anything different.

[dropcap2]4. Emotional Eating[/dropcap2] Bad day lets eat what ever i want b/c that is the one thing in that day that I could control. Enough said.

[dropcap2]5. Calories Galore[/dropcap2] Now I'm not that into counting calories b/c most of the time the stuff  I'm eating is too hard to count calories for b/c

1) b/c I did not prepare it myself

2) its not from a pkg with a calorie count on it

3) its not considered "clean"  like a vegetable and easy to find on the calorie counting list.

So its just too much of a hassle to figure out. Call me lazy...I know.

However, I noticed when i tried to use my the My Fitness Pal app...and tried to count the calories in a meal as best I could,  whether i was doing it wrong or right it became very apparent that i was eating way too many calories for my daily allotment.

For instance if my daily calorie allowance was 1200cals a day and I bought a big mac combo for lunch lets say and there are approx 1120 cals in that combo (don't quote me its just an example), that's pretty much my whole daily allowance eaten at only one meal.  That really means I would  have to eat nothing but veggies for the rest of the day just to meet your requirement or I would of course go over my daily allowance.  Ridiculous. RIGHT!!  But when you don't know you can't make wise decisions that are conscious.

So there is a place for knowing the caloric intake of what you are putting in your mouth and body so you can make wiser healthier decisions.

[dropcap2]6. Combo Meals & Take Out[/dropcap2]   Self explanatory. Right??  I was there way too often, sometimes 2x a week!  I would start to rotate locations them so i wouldn't see the same people too often. I  would feel embarrassed if  i saw the same person from the week before.

So why was I using the drive thru, the reason I used the drive thru was b/c it was convenient  most of the time.  No time to make breakfast or dinner? just pick up something on the way.  I watched a documentary once that said the chemicals in fast food are addictive and that is why you can't stop eating it.   Slowly, i began to see that this was true.  My mind was always thinking about the drive thru especially when the triggers like emotions, late night, bad weather which made for long car rides, celebrations etc came up.  Even when I was telling myself no I'm not hungry and I truly wasn't,  my mind was like you need to go through the drive thru b/c of reasons listed above and beyond my better judgement I simply gave in.  That feeling of  not being satisfied until I got what I wanted would never go away until I gave in. I would feel guilty but my mind would always find reasons to justify why it was a good idea.    It was like I could never win.

[dropcap2]7. Water Shortage[/dropcap2] Self explanatory.  I drink water.  Its not that i don't like water its just sometimes I need something more.   Watered down juice would be my go to on occasion.  But my biggest excuse for not drinking as much as i should was I'll have to use a public bathroom.  I kinda hate that.   I know its a BS excuse but its what I told myself.

[dropcap2]8. Late Night Eating[/dropcap2] This one ties in with the sleeping thing.    Its a vicious cycle!! Nap when i get home, get up at 8pm, eat and back in bed by 12am.    So that does not leave very much time for my stomach to properly digest my food  or for my to use up some energy to help it along.   So the food just sits there and makes me fat.

[dropcap2]9. Inconsistent Workouts[/dropcap2]  I like exercise the problem is i don't do it consistently. Once you fall off the exercise wagon getting back on is so freakin' hard.  Its like starting at zero every single time.  I also realized that if i was going to eat crap there was not point in exercising.  I was just canceling out all my workout efforts and in some cases not burning enough calories to offset my bad eating behaviour.   If  I'm gonna work out I'm gonna eat healthy or what's the point.  Also if  I'm going to do this, I have to do this b/c  I'm ready.   Not for a fancy dress, person, family member, reunion, wedding or the world.  It has to be for me.

[dropcap2]10. More Portion Control[/dropcap2] I feel like I should cut my portion sizes.  I don't eat ridiculous portions or over eat. I know how to stop when I'm not full but satisfied.  I never usually eat everything on my plate when I order at a restaurant either.  I love doggy bagging it.   But maybe to get to my goal weight I should cut my portion sizes in half by using smaller plates. eating slowly has never been my problem, so i should have no problems feeling full with less food.

So there you have it, 10 habits that have contributed to my increased weight gain for 2014.  Maybe this list might help you become aware of some of the things you are doing that might be  contributing to your weight gain consciously and sub-consciously.

You can't change a bad habit if you have nothing to replace it with.  So look  for Part 2 where I share all the things I will be doing to replace my bad habits with good ones for my weight loss success.

xoxo<3

Toya. Live, Laugh, Love, Give!