TOANL with food jounals, soda intake & housework

I am now trying to get back into the habit of journaling my food. It is a hard habit to form but such an EASY habit to break. It's almost maddening at times! I was dedicating so much time & effort to journaling, etc that I neglected my home. I am continuting with my paper journal but not FitDay. I just don't have that kind of time with two small kids. The journal will have to become second nature or I won't continue it. Without it, I will stay fat & unhealthy & I REFUSE to stay trapped in a fat persons body. The real me, isn't fat...she is thin, sassy & loves to wear clothes that make her feel good about herself.

Yesterday I DID all of my journaling AND spent 3 1/2 hours in my kitchen & dining room area....cleaning & tossing. I broke my cleaning sessions down into 70 min. each. I STILL didn't get it all done, but I made ALOT of progress. Keep in mind that I still have boxes packed up & I have no place to store them. DH is working on that & is in the process of building a storage shed at the back of our property. ANYWAY, after DH came home & saw what I had done, he FINALLY broke down & disposed of these HUGE boxes....stacked floor to ceiling high that I have been after him since OCTOBER to discard. He always had a million excuses. Well I had a pretty good one. I would have to take the girls with me & our car wasn't big enoungh to hold the boxes....even broken down! He took his work truck & finally rid us of them. Now my kitchen area looks bare. I am just glad they are GONE! WOO HOO!

Now that my kitchen table is clear we can start eating at the table instead of in front of the TV. We will do this AFTER the Olympics is over. What does this type of thing have to do with TOANL you ask? It all ties together because when you eat at the table, books say you have a tendency to eat less. I know that my messy house is a trigger of my emotional eating. For me, getting it under control & not suffering from C.H.A.O.S. any longer will help me to TOANL.

I have so many triggers. I am sick to death of them.

Triggers for eating:

1. Emotional
2. boredom
3. actual hunger (sometimes I wonder if I know what that truly is anymore)
4. self medicating
5. cravings
6. illness
7. laziness
8. habit
9. sweet tooth
10. fast food cravings (bordering on addiction I think)

The journaling & self awareness will help me to deal with my triggers. Just as stopping drinking soda will help me to. I am doing pretty well with that. I went four days without drinking soda & then Saturday on a date with my husband & Sunday with my best friend...I had soda at the restaurants. (not fast food BTW) Today makes five days without soda.