My Food Plan

There was a time when I wished this could be my food plan. I would like to be able to say that I was 5 years old at the time. Not so. While I certainly could not or would not want to eat like this every day, at one time I would have been happy to have a day like this once in a while. In fact I do remember the time my friend Barbara and I went out for dinner and we each ordered a salad and split 3 desserts. Barbara was and is tall, thin and gorgeous. Not so for me. I remember that I was thin when I got married; I am still trying to lose those extra pounds (and then some) I gained with pregnancy. Since my youngest son is almost 40, it is safe to say I have not been successful.

Since starting this blog, I have made some progress. I am drinking water daily. I will probably work on increasing my water intake even more in the future. I currently average 5 or 6 glasses a day. For me that has been a big improvement. I now exercise 5 days a week. I am really thankful for the two days off, but I find that the 5 days on are not bad at all. I haven't tried to talk myself out of it. That is major progress for me.

There have been a few slips, however. One occurred on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I was at a local store standing in line when I saw a tall jar of Pub Mix. I quickly looked away. Then back. Turned away once more. "Thanksgiving!" I could put it out when the family comes for Thanksgiving." In the cart it went. Who was I kidding? Of course it was opened. I did wait about 4 hours before giving in. Even though I searched for my favorite pieces, the soy chips, I did not feel good after raiding that jar. It was too salty for one thing. The neon orange color of the powdered cheese coating the little cracker twists  was a turn-off. The thrill is officially gone. If I never buy another jar of Pub Mix, it will be fine with me.

I have fallen behind on my 100 Days of Weight Loss; however, the author of the book, Linda Spangle, does not seem to mind if that happens. She says we readers can pick up where we left off. So right before Thanksgiving, I am at the page that tells me to look at my food and meditate on how it looks, how it will taste, the act of chewing it, and the sensation of swallowing it. Savor my food and watch the rest of the family gobble everything up. I will just think of their hips expanding while I slowly chew and meditate.


Finally, I have chosen a food plan. It is called The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet. It is not new, and it has worked for me in the past. But I lost my focus. That is one thing I am learning; I must focus on my new way of eating and living healthy. At least for now. I know there will come a time when my healthy lifestyle will not require so much focus. It will be a part of me, something I do effortlessly. I know it will not always be easy. I will have my slips, but as long as they make me feel as lousy as the Pub Mix slip did, I believe I will succeed.

As I finish this post, Thanksgiving has come and gone. I managed not to stray too far from my plan. The next day, I was right back on the right track.  I also managed to lose 6 pounds. I have decided not to get scale-crazy. So it will be at least a week before I weigh myself again. My current feeling on this is that the more I get on a scale, the more I turn this into a diet, the more I add stress to what has, so far, been one stress-free baby step at a time.

How about you? How is it going? Have you tried any new strategies that you would like to share? Please post them.