Things to Remember before you take that first bite...

It's the holidays....and even worse, a weekend.  UGH.  This is really the hardest time of year for many of us...myself included!

And I've had to fight temptation over and over again.  Sometimes successfully;  sometimes not.

But I've been thinking about it a lot lately....what WORKS? 

How do you get through it and out to the point where you can sail along....and STAY OP?

Well, I've had to go back to the basics. 

First, I reminded myself what's different about this program.  Things that had been missing for ALL MY LIFE up until Feb 2012
when I started on the 5/1. 

I had to find a plan that would be:

- EASY:  Easy to do was important!  I'd 'been there, done that' with the complicated calculations, calorie-counting, figuring
out the precise ratios of protein to carbs to fats (the 40/30/30 plan; it works, but it's a LOT of work);  counting points, etc.
I wanted something I could do 'forever'.  Something EASY!  I had a life, for pete's sakes!

- REPEATABLE:  It's fine to lose 5 lbs on a cabbage soup diet, but how long can you continue like that?  And 'next time',
if there is a next time, are you going to want to do THAT again?  Methinks not!  LOL

- DELICIOUS:  Yes, I'm a foodie.  Hey, I'm a food addict, I LOVE TO EAT!  So it had to taste good.  PERIOD.  And all my
favorites....brownies, cereal, pudding, soft serve, bars, ziti, mac&cheese, gingerbread, shakes, smoothies....it's all here!
All the tastes I love.  And they DO taste good to me. (so sue me LOL)

- CONVENIENT:  It had to be something I could do even when I was running errands, or had a heavy gym schedule, or
was on the road taking my parents to the doctors, etc.  For me, the bars, pretzels, and bites come in very very handy when
I'm on the go!

- NUTRITIONALLY SOUND:  I had HAD IT with plans that left me feeling weak and malnourished.  I needed something I
could do for a long period of time....after all, I had over 70 lbs to lose by that point.  NO WAY would I take chances with
my health...again, I'd 'been there done that' too many times before.

And last but not least:  it had to
- WORK!  It had to WORK like GANGBUSTERS.  Or I'd quit.  I knew it.  On Weight Watchers I lost maybe 1/2 lb a week....IF THAT.
I couldn't see myself staying on a plan if I didn't see some results on a weekly basis. 

This plan fulfilled ALL of my requirements.  And now.....years later....when I struggle? REMEMBERING these facts helps me.

Because I know, darn well, that if I go 'off' the plan....I'll gain. 

And if I gain, I'll be looking for another program to take it off.

And where will that lead me?

RIGHT BACK HERE.

I know that as sure as I know my own name.  Believe me, I've tried other methods.  MANY other methods.  Including pills, including
the latest research yada yada.....you name it.  THIS is the only program that works for me over the long term.  PERIOD.

So why am I screwing around with it?

What IS it that makes us keep looking for an 'out clause' somewhere....some excuse, some justification, some REASON to go
off plan 'just for awhile' because it's too hard? 

IS it too hard?  That's another thing I thought about today.

What's HARD is how I feel when I binge.  THAT'S hard.  That's AWFUL. 

And every time....every single time....I decide to have 'just one extra'.....it results in a binge. 

So maybe I'm a feast or famine type of person?  I don't know.  All I know is I'm not going off plan until I feel I have a handle on
my weight and I can maintain with some semblance of NORMALCY.  And that normalcy is not here yet.  I'm getting there....
I have changed MANY of my habits....and I can honestly say that I FEEL BETTER....much much MUCH better!....when I'm OP
versus when I'm off.  I just don't DO well with sugar and sludge.  PERIOD.

And since I'm still not happy with my weight....I've got to do this.  EVEN during the Christmas holiday. 

So I'm reminding myself tonight of all the things that food is NOT!

FOOD IS NOT....

- Comfort
- Love
- Company
- Entertainment
- Stress Relief

or anything ELSE, except nutrition.  That's all it is....is basic NUTRITION.  Trying to satisfy OTHER needs with food is what
led me here to begin with.  Perpetuating that cycle, is the problem I face....it's the problem we all face.

Sooner or later I think you have to come to terms with it....with the realization that food is JUST NUTRITION.  Despite a culture
SURROUNDED by food, despite the food pushers in your life, despite the commercials showing beautiful slim people (seemingly)
inhale mass quantities of sludge. 

That represents a huge SEA CHANGE in my thinking.....this idea that food is just nutrition.  It's something I think I've 'fought'
since the very beginning....but it's beginning to dawn on me that I have TWO choices.  I can continue to FIGHT Fat Brain, and
argue, and then compromise and eventually 'give in' because let's face it, it's HARD to fight all the time, isn't it? .....because I
can only stay OP for 'so long' before the foodie in me REBELS and wants to EAT for all the wrong reasons....all the reasons I
had all my life....
....
OR....
I can FINALLY, once and for ALL, learn that food is one thing and ONLY one thing to me. And that is, NUTRITION.  PERIOD.
It's like medicine.  I must 'take' it every 3 hours in order to function well and feel great.  But it's NOT the be all and end all of life.
It's NOT something I 'live' for anymore.  Instead, I find my comfort from .... my cats, my husband, my home, and my healthy
body....and my friends of course....and being free in this country on this planet at this point in time.
It's NOT something I have to look forward to and count down the hours to anymore.  Instead I'll keep busy doing the things
I LOVE to do...the things I've learned to substitute for food....reading, writing, working out, taking care of my home, running
my business, and enjoying things like my computer games and my journaling. 

FOOD is just nutrition.  PERIOD.

If you keep that in mind.....if you can live like that.....than this program becomes EASY. 

And it CAN happen.  I know a few....unfortunately a very few....that elusive 5% we all talk about....that have learned how to do it.

I'm DETERMINED to be one of them.  I'm not done yet!

Keep on keepin' on!

Linda
angiecat6@comcast.net