ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

Love that song and now it will be swirling in my head all day.

I decided the other day that I would wear a pair of slacks that have a snug waist band on them as a reminder to myself to "stay on course". Now, I usually wear knit stretch pants that give and stretch and are very comfortable on my generously padded frame. Wearing a pair of pants with a waistband and button was bad enough and this pair is fine through the hips but, if I were to be completely honest, could use another inch in the waist to be totally comfortable. They were the equivalent of a "hair shirt" and by evening, I was so fed up with them that I just unbuttoned the waist and sat knitting in comfort like Uncle Joe after the Thanksgiving dinner.

Did it work? No. I was uncomfortable and irritated all day and having something tight on just reminded me of all the weight I still have to lose and made me feel "fat" and miserable all day.

A few days later, I wore a pair of pants that is getting down right loose on me...to the point I'm going to have to give them up...and I felt "thin" and successful all day...they were a constant reminder of how far I had come on my journey and I did well all day.

I think negative input is always detrimental to my weight loss attitude. I used to think that "fat pictures" on the refrigerator would make me want to leave food alone. Nope! Or that the doctor warning me about strokes and heart disease would scare me into sticking to a diet. Nope! Scare tactics just don't work for me...they just make me really want to eat.

Positive reinforcement definitely works for me. Thinking good thoughts...surrounding myself with happy people with good attitudes...emphasizing the positive aspects of my journey...all make me feel strong and motivated.

I'm choosing the positive approach...because I'm positive it works for me.

FOOL ME ONCE

You know, if there's anyone we should be honest with, it should be ourselves. I think half the journey we take in this weight loss thing is getting real with ourselves and coming to grips with the role we play in our own condition. There are a lot of factors such as genetics and emotional problems that can add to the difficulty of shedding pounds and keeping them off, but if we are to be completely honest...we are sometimes our own worst enemies.

• Fool me once...oops, what just happened?
• Fool me twice...this seems to be a problem...how can I fix it?
• Fool me three times...I'm probably setting myself up for failure.

I've been at this game long enough to see patterns in my behavior toward food and I definitely sabotage myself at times. I know there are foods and situations I have problems handling. I've run across "healthy" snacks that I just can't seem to stop eating when the original portion is gone. The first time it happens, I note it and tell myself that I'll be more careful next time and maybe I was just hungry. If the same thing happens the next time I eat it, I try to figure out a way I can handle it...pack it up in individual portions, perhaps, and not make the full bag available. So, if that approach doesn't work and I still find myself overeating this particular food, I have to come to the conclusion that it is a problem food for me and I probably should avoid it. That brings me to the third step. If I continue to bring the problem food into the house, just what am I trying to prove? That I'm strong enough to resist temptation? I'm really not. That this time will be different? It probably won't. I have to come to the conclusion that I'm bringing the food into the house knowing that I will probably overeat it and then try to convince myself that I am blameless. I'm not. I let it happen...and, maybe...I wanted it to happen.

I remember all those times I would begin my newest "diet" and find myself thinking that if I would just eat something that wasn't on the approved list...hopefully, early in the day...that this thing would be over and I could return to normal. I wasn't even trying to hide the sabotage from myself!

I try not to "ban" foods and try my best to figure out ways I can control my approach to them, but there are a few that just get the best of me...I know what they are...and if I continue to bring them in the house or prepare them, I have to be honest with myself and know that I am just setting myself up.

I know a lot of people have a problem with Phil McGraw, but one thing he advocates that I totally agree with is getting the problem foods out of the house and keeping them out. Our husbands don't need them...our kids and grandkids don't need them...and if they want them, they can get them elsewhere. Our health is too important.

I look at my environment as concentric circles with my home in the middle. The center of that circle is nearly 100% under my control. As I get further away from that center...restaurants, the homes of friends, work...I lose more and more control of the foods I will be offered. But within that center...my home...I have the power to make it a place where I am surrounded by choices that are "safe" for me.

I know as sure as the sun sets every day that I will read account after account in the weight loss blogs of "Why did I eat the Easter candy...Halloween candy...Valentine candy" after every holiday. I think the merchants love the fact that we've turned every holiday into an excuse to buy candy, send cards, and wire flowers. My grandkids were amazed to hear last Easter that when I was a kid, we actually hunted real boiled eggs at Easter and that we actually ate them. We did not get bags and baskets of candy, presents, and money...and we were happy. And our Christmas stockings...our real socks, by the way, actually held oranges, walnuts in the shells, and maybe a couple of chocolate drops...and we loved them. We were excited to get an orange...we only saw them in season back then. No...I did not grow up in a little house on the prairie...oops, I guess I kinda did!

So, I try to be honest and if I am sabotaging myself, I have to face that and try to fix the problem. We have enough hurdles to jump without throwing them down in front of ourselves.

CONTENTMENT

"The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have" Lin Yu-tang

"...learn to savor the small with a grateful heart." Sarah Ban Breathnach

I always told my girls as they were growing up that you were rich if you were content with what you have. I grew up in what would be considered poverty by most. If you counted the dollars we had to spend, we were definitely poor. But we were not raised to feel that we were poor. We had good, farm-raised, well-prepared food on the table. We wore clean, well-cared-for clothing. Our house was clean and furnished with good used furniture. And we were blessed with parents who were proud and confident in their world and circumstances. My family was well thought of and respected in our community. We were not poor...we were happy and content.

I think of this attitude toward plenty often as I prepare our meals following our new way of eating. We could feel sorry for ourselves that we can't continue to indulge in all those old fattening foods that we were eating and fear that we will be hungry all the time if we can't eat huge portions. But, instead, we have chosen to see this as an adventure in eating new foods and experimenting with new flavors and styles of preparation and the reward is that we are more than content with our new meals and are happy with this journey.

We try not to think too much about the "losing weight" part of the equation. We try to see the little changes that occur on a daily basis...the alert way we feel rather than the post-prandial stupor that occurs after heavy meals...the ease that we feel in bending over to put on socks and shoes...the thinner faces in the mirror...clothes that are getting looser. We see better results on blood tests and don't fear going to the doctor's office. We look forward to grilled vegetables and fresh fruit. And when we do "indulge", we even have a new appreciation for that. Rather than expecting a daily dose of treats, we truly enjoy the occasional one.

Attitude is the key to contentment. Contentment is the key to feeling rich and satisfied. Feeling satisfied is the key to continuing the journey. Continuing the journey is the key to living a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle is key to feeling well enough to enjoy all the blessings we receive on a daily basis...our families, our homes, the abundance of food. Why shouldn't we feel content with all that?

"To the right, books; to the left, a tea-cup. In front of me, the fireplace; behind me, the post. There is no greater happiness than this." Teiga

Throw in some yarn and needles for me...a fishing pole for the Hubby...and we are the richest people on earth. Have a great On-Point weekend!

ANOTHER GOOD-BYE

It was time again this morning to say good-bye to another big jar of chunky peanut butter. It's a little sad because it is a reminder of a lot of pleasant mornings we've spent together while I've waited for my high-fiber, 100 calorie English muffin to toast to crisp perfection. I sip my coffee and the peanut butter sits there ever ready to please. Each jar's passing takes a while...at a single tablespoon per day, it is my daily companion for quite some time. But when the jar is empty, for all intents and purposes, the real celebration begins because it is then that I grab that long iced tea spoon and scrape every nook and cranny for that last bit of peanut butter goodness...and as I've discovered and written about in previous posts...glory of all glorys...this bit of peanut butter is point free, fat free, calorie free! Jubilations! Celebrate with me, Noelle! (btw...Feel better, Sunshine!)

You all know how hard I fight to keep my meals from getting boring...there is such an array of exciting ingredients out there that anyone of any skill level can come up with enough variations on vegetables and lean proteins to keep a body well fed and happy. But I am also a creature of habit where breakfast is concerned and I never find the above breakfast boring...it fills me up, it is a good balance of carbs, protein, fiber, and healthy fat...and it lasts from 6 to 9 AM, when I eat some fruit and have a cup of tea.

I like it so much, that I miss it when we travel or Hubby insists on eating out for breakfast on the weekend. There have been times, when I was not feeling well, when I have repeated the same meal all day long.

I reminded Hubby yesterday that some of his meals might be repetitive in nature, especially lunch where his choices are more limited, but that I would see that his dinner meal would be more exciting and he would have that to look forward to. He is great with that and the blood sugar just keeps falling!

Isn't it kinda funny, though, that human nature has us complaining about "diet" meals being boring when we will eat the same thing at a drive-through time after time and think it is wonderful! Anyway...

My point, I guess, is that while there is plenty of room in our meal plans for excitement and variety, there is nothing wrong with having a few great items that we eat very routinely. We just need to discover those patterns for ourselves and feel comfortable with them.

So, I said hello to my new jar of peanut butter this morning. I think I'll name him Mikey...but I'll keep that to myself since Hubby is already a mite uncomfortable with the life-size poster of Mikey-the-race-car-driver that I keep in the corner of the dining room! Sh-h-h!

ONE DOCTOR SHY OF A FULL HOUSE

My husband is fond of saying, "If I'd known I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself!" It used to be funny, but since we've hit our late 50's and started paying for earlier indiscretions, not so much.

Hubby was an Adonis back when I first met him in college...zero body fat...a naturally muscular build that was further enhanced by a summer of carrying bricks for a construction crew. Then he married me and it took 38 years of my cooking to turn him into a guy with a naturally muscular build, and what is currently being referred to as the disease of the Baby Boomers: Metabolic Syndrome. It is the combination of high blood pressure, overweight, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance...and it is a killer...increasing your risk for heart disease and strokes. And the only cure is lifestyle change.

My generation is so used to the medical community coming to our rescue every time we have a health risk that we seem to be completely at sea over the fact that this challenge is ours to meet and overcome. Scary business.

Hubby has been on Insulin for several years now, as well as an ever-growing list of medications for the other illnesses tied up in the Metabolic Syndrome package. Since General Practitioners are now more or less "gatekeepers" set up by HMO's to direct your passage into the health care system, he is being sent to specialists for so many things that our calendar seems to be covered with doctor appointments. The last one was to a nephrologist...kidney specialist...who offered up dire warnings about the dialysis unit next door to his office. You want to experience fear???

So, we are hitting the lifestyle change area with increased vigor hoping the next visit will show a great deal of improvement. If you remember from past blog entries, Hubby responds well to dietary changes...he lost 8 pounds just by eliminating 1000Island Dressing on his salads! So, he is fortunate that when he eats according to plan, his blood sugar responds immediately and well. We are hopeful that everything else responds as well.

The changes we have made for him are not terribly drastic...he's happy with the food he is eating and not starving...and we wonder why we haven't redoubled our efforts before now. I've been cooking "good" meals for us but looking the other way when he was slipping in too many carbs.

It's denial folks...none of us want to finally accept the fact that this diet and exercise thing is serious business...especially when we are young and not yet experiencing the serious health problems. When we are young, we seem to believe that watching our weight, eating healthy food, and exercising are for the sake of vanity...we want to look good. We believe that those health issues will only affect other people. I know...I've been there. It is easy to keep playing around with these issues when you are not suffering the serious ill effects of them.

And you would think that the first time a doctor tells you that your blood sugar is inching up into the zone where you will be diagnosed as having Type II Diabetes that you would finally "get it"...but you don't. Denial...denial...denial.

But today we are living the new lifestyle as a "couple" and not me following my plan and him being my cheerleader. Today I am his cheerleader as well. Today I am helping him with his lifestyle changes. Cause if I had known he would live so long...I would have taken better care of him.

IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY

If you were to look at a portrait of my family...Mom and Dad and the ten of us children...you would recognize that we are descendants of men who were able to fight in the Revolution, be early pioneers of the state, farm all their lives, and die in their 80's. We are not built like "frail" city folk. Our family tree is a giant oak. We are what is known as "big boned". I know some doctors are saying there is no such thing, but I will submit my frame for inspection anytime.

Our bodies were the type made for hard work and our metabolisms depended upon us performing that function. Mom and Dad did that hard work...Dad remained thin...Mom was always a little overweight. The ten children headed off to the city...we have all had weight problems...ten out of ten.

My children look at my husband and me and know that weight will probably always be an issue for them as well. Hubby and I both fight to keep our blood sugars under control, our blood pressures down, our lipids in check. Our children can look at us and see what is in store for them. We are sturdy people but we are not immune to the disease of our time...overweight and the host of diseases that accompany that condition.

I read the other day that in another few years the majority of Americans will be overweight which will make us "normal". So, I guess if I live long enough, the "normal" range on the weight charts will finally catch up to me! I've noticed that over the years, the weight charts have gone from listing "average" or "normal" weights to "healthy" or "desired". It had to happen.

As Americans, we all seem to be in this battle together now, and that seems to be turning the tide a little in the public arena, anyway. Restaurants are beginning to list nutritional information on menus...way to go Subway...and more of them are offering healthier alternatives so that ordering from the menu is getting easier. Kids are being taught nutrition in school. Maybe things will begin to get better.

It's all in the family...and I worry about my grandchildren and hope the wave of better nutrition will wash over them. Our family encourages them to eat well...fruits and vegetables...less sugar. But they are also of pioneer stock, built like little oaks, sturdy and made for hard work. The computer generation doesn't do hard work and they will have to fight their own bodies to remain a healthy weight. I hope we prepare them well. I don't want to see them fighting diabetes or hypertension.

A LITTLE FEAR GOES A LONG WAY

I read a book a few years ago about parenting written by a woman who professed to "training" her children much as she and her husband "trained" the animals on their farm. No coddling these children. When she was asked how she could allow her very young children to run freely around a pond that was on their property, she confessed to "making sure" that each of the children, as they learned to walk, would find themselves "falling" into the water and being left there just long enough to put a healthy fear of the water into them before she came to their rescue. That's a HARD mother!

But I think most of us have been thrown into some deep water and left to struggle when it came to dealing with our weight issues. After falling in that same pond more than a few times and always finding ourselves sinking, we finally get to the point that we're afraid to enter any longer. We've learned our lesson...we're failures at dieting...and we lose faith that we'll ever be able to swim our way out of that pond.

I was experimenting in the kitchen this afternoon when it occurred to me that I have complete confidence in my cooking skills. I've done it long enough that I understand what will happen when I change an ingredient or combine a couple of recipes. I trust in my ability to master the ingredients and get a pretty good outcome. When you are confident of your skills, you are not afraid to experiment.

I didn't wake up one morning and declare that I would, henceforth, not be afraid of experimenting in the kitchen. Confidence in my abilities came as a result of fifty years of trial and error, of successes and failures, of just keeping on going back to the kitchen.

I think our weight loss journeys are a lot like that. You can declare your intentions, you can be as determined as you like, but true confidence comes from many little successes interspersed with a few failures, and the determination to just keep going back to the "kitchen".

I've had some awful failures in the kitchen...I remember when I was a kid reading about cooking in a rock-lined fire pit and I spent the whole day building my best version of one and tried cooking the family supper in it. It was a dismal failure and we could probably ill-afford wasting any food in such a manner...but no one yelled at me or called me stupid or asked me what I might have been thinking. They also didn't wrap their arms around me and tell me that I was wonderful for trying something new and try to soothe my feelings. They just quietly helped me fix some scrambled eggs and toast and we ate our supper. The next night I went back and cooked again. That's how we learn.

That is how I try to approach my weight loss these days. I'm finally gaining enough confidence in my abilities to keep trying day after day. I don't throw my hands up and call myself a failure if I give in to the ice cream or eat a fried food. I try to figure out what may have caused me to eat off-program and learn from it so maybe I won't give in the next time.

Fear can be a healthy thing when it protects us from endangering ourselves, but we also have to be aware of the part it plays in keeping us from our greatest accomplishments. A little fear can go a long way.

HAVE YOU CHOSEN YOUR NEW IDENTITY?

I feel free to talk here and express my views on weight loss...and I do it here where people have the choice of whether they want to read my blog or take the dog for a walk. I've learned that the quickest way to induce the rolling of eyes in my social groups is to talk about my adoration of Mikey Waltrip in the company of anyone who is not interested in NASCAR...my love of books to anyone who doesn't read...my love of knitting to anyone who isn't interested in fiber arts...how cute my grandkids are to anyone who doesn't know them...my blogging to anyone who isn't in to blogging...or my weight loss and weight loss program to anyone who hasn't asked me a direct question about it...and even then, it is best to be brief and to the point in my response. No one is more hated by the public in general than the reformed person who will not be quiet about his reformation.

All this to say...when we embark on our journeys to lose extra weight and get healthy, we are also choosing how we are going to live in those "new" bodies. We have choices to make.

Depending on the amount of weight we have to lose and the amount of time it takes to lose it, the transformation can be pretty dramatic and people will notice. That is when you begin to establish your new identity.

• If you so choose, you can reach your goal and become that person who lost a bunch of weight and be known for that. You can lead meetings, write books, or write a blog with ads and make some money from it. Many people do this with great success and enjoy it. The pressure of being in the limelight and having a lot of people be aware of you and your weight loss is a great incentive to stay with your program and maintain what you have worked so hard for. The downside is that everyone does watch and the pressure to be perfect can be enormous. There are a lot of people who will admire you and there are a lot of people who are thrilled to watch you make any "mistake". And you will always be known by many people as a former fat person.
• You can deny that you are doing anything to lose weight and try to "fit in" because standing out in a crowd makes you uncomfortable. If everyone is eating pizza or birthday cake, you try to join in and eat less later. When you are successful at losing a few pounds, you pretend that you had nothing to do with it and it just came off...you don't want to be labeled a dieter or be proud of losing because then if you gained it back everyone would laugh at you.
• You can make it clear that you want to get healthy...that you're tired of being tired...that you're afraid of developing diabetes like your mom and dad. You can be the one who encourages everyone to get together for skating instead of meeting at the bar. You can be the one who brings the fruit salad to the office pitch-in. You can be the one who knows that the reason people are complimenting you on that new outfit is that you have lost 20 pounds and it is a smaller size and the reason that new hair-style looks good on you is that your cheeks are standing out more than they were.
• You can be the obnoxious one who judges what everyone else eats, complains that it's not fair that there is cake in the break-room. You can be the one who is upset that no one mentions your weight loss to you or that your husband wants to go for his favorite ice cream sundae. You can be resentful of all the people who don't have to diet while you have to watch every bite. You can lose weight and still be miserable and unhappy.

I'm sure there are more. And I know there are days when I fit in all of those categories without even trying. But as we journey toward that person we think we want to be, we have to be careful of the person we become.

I happened across a great web site yesterday...thought you might be interested.

SERVE ME UP A SINGLE!

KISS...Keep It Simple, Stupid! AA uses that saying for good reason. We humans are just prone to try and over-complicate solutions to our problems...hence, all the weight-loss programs and pills and theories...when it just boils down, most of the time, to eating less and moving more. There is room for fine-tuning the details, but losing weight and keeping it off does just boil down to that.

I have to wonder at how silly I was behaving for all those years as I ate freely...without regard for portion size. Did I expect to remain normal in size and weight when I was eating portions meant for two or three? I don't know what I was thinking, but I do know simple solutions to the problem of exercising portion control and I use them every day now.

• What is a portion? I'm much more conscious now of exactly what a single portion of a particular food should look like. You have to determine that for yourself in many cases because what you are served in a restaurant or at Mom's house is much more than a single serving. I'm constantly having to share my single scrambled egg in a restaurant with Hubby. I know what a single scrambled egg should look like...it doesn't cover half a plate. They bring you enough spaghetti for four people and 12" Subway sandwiches are enough for several servings...not one.
• Buy it or store it in single servings. There's a reason the 100-calorie packets are so popular...they work. They're a single serving unit that is easy to grab and take with you. But they are expensive and they are processed foods that are often questionable in the area of real nutrition. I keep them, but I use them judiciously. What I do keep, as well, are individual bags or Gladware bowls of fruits and vegetables that are ready to grab and go. A cantaloupe left in the refrigerator whole never gets eaten...prepared and cut up and put into a covered container, it is eaten more frequently...prepared and cut up and put into a single-serve bowl, it gets grabbed for packing Hubby's lunch for work, for my mid-morning snack, for taking to the deck when I go out to read a book. A stalk of celery, a bag of carrots, a red pepper left in the vegetable drawer never get eaten. The same vegetables cleaned and put into big bags get eaten more often. But those same vegetables mixed together and bagged up into single-serving bags that look bright and colorful and interesting get snacked on until they are gone. It's all in the packaging.
• Re-package problem foods. You know me and my ice cream. I buy the half-gallon size of that ice cream that is a fabulous snack when served up in the half-cup serving that it is meant to be served in...but when I go to dip it up in my greedy-how-can-I-sneak-a-little-more-of-this-state, it turns into a cup or more...no longer a great choice. You can buy the single-serving ice creams but they are expensive and don't always come in the flavor you want. So, I finally invested in some half-cup covered bowls that I fill from the half-gallon of ice cream as soon as I bring it home and I have instant single-serving bowls of my favorite ice cream ready to grab without a battle with my conscience.
• How do I prepare favorite foods such as soups and casseroles for the two of us? I prepare a full recipe and then before I ever serve it, I divide it into single-serving bowls or casserole dishes and store them in the refrigerator or freezer for another meal. I ladle soup into single-serving covered bowls and they are handy to grab for packing in a lunch or to freeze for later. I keep individual serving-size casserole dishes that I use to freeze extra portions of favorite meals like lasagna and Mexican chicken.

I make it a habit to look at portion size now and try to ask myself if I want to be the size of one person, or two, or three...and then eat my portion accordingly. So...serve me up a single...and a KISS to you!

WARNING! FOOD TALK AHEAD!

I have to warn anyone who might run across this post that there will be graphic food p**n today. I don't want to get anyone salivating and going off their food plan because of something I said. So remove the children and the sugar-starved from the room.

You see, our family is celebrating July birthdays Sunday and I'm planning my dessert.

I have this unwritten contract with myself that if I try my darndest to be On-Point the majority of the time that I can have three days a year that I can eat with impunity...Christmas...Thanksgiving...my birthday. My birthday isn't until next week and I have an appointment with my dentist that day so I'm choosing Sunday as my day to have what I want.

At this point, I'm not planning a day of "gorging" myself...I've worked too hard at changing my eating habits to go "hog-wild"...I really have no desire to do that and that is a good thing. But I have been planning to have a modest size dessert and that is where the food talk comes in.

I have been a fan of bread pudding forever. I never passed it up if it was on a menu. I always had to try it. I like all kinds...simple to outrageous. The absolute best I will ever have, I'm convinced, was in the Sherwood Forest Cafe in the Excalibur Casino in Las Vegas. I have no idea how they make it, but it is light and fluffy and served in a parfait glass...a dessert worth dreaming about...and thank goodness...only available in Vegas so I don't have to worry about anyone setting up a franchise around the corner. I'm safe from the allure of that little demon.

I pass up dessert now and really don't miss the sweet stuff all that much...I do have that Splenda sweetened ice cream to keep me purring...I'm satisfied.

But I ran across a bread pudding recipe awhile back and I knew I would have to store that recipe in my "someday" file and Sunday is my "someday".

We're not drinkers around here...not morally opposed...just lack of interest...so I will have to send Hubby out to get the whiskey for the sauce. And the amount of butter, cream and sugar in the recipe are frightening. I'll probably cut back on them just to ease my conscience a little. But once that is done, I'm going to have a serving of it with a fresh brewed cup of coffee and then I'm going to wish myself a very happy birthday and best wishes for another year of hanging around and spending my children's inheritance and then I'm going to eat salads for the rest of the day!

Nurse Lara informs me that her affianced, DW, is also a fan of bread pudding. All I'm saying is he'd better not mess with mine! You hear that, DW???

I KNEW THAT!!!

Why do we make life hard on ourselves when it could be so easy?

I spent a great part of today going down to Bloomington to visit my younger daughter and her man in their new digs on the Indiana University Campus. They'll be down there for four or five years while he works on his doctorate. It is such an exciting move for them...immersing themselves into a new academic community...one they can explore and take advantage of in so many ways. They'll also be leaving an apartment and living in a house which will be great for their children. We were excited to see the house and begin to see a little of their new community. So my mind was not on journaling my food today. I was just kinda "feelin" my way with the points and by the time I began to plan our dinner this evening, there was that "feelin" that I was really close to my total for the day. This "feelin" always makes me start thinking the old "well, you're going to go over for today, so you might as well eat a little more"...you know that "stinkin' thinkin".

The problem is...I don't want to give into these irrational feelings anymore...I won't give in without a little struggle, at least. So, I decided to sit down and journal what I had eaten today and add up the points...guess what? I was way good on points thanks to all the good choices I had made. I didn't need to be feeling down or defeated at all...and all it took was writing down what I had eaten and adding up the points!

I knew that!!!

I had also been eyeing some new snack crackers I bought the other day...they're good...they're baked...and not an "off-limits" choice, but I didn't need them. I wasn't really hungry as I was eyeing them...I just wanted them...the three-year old inner voice telling me what to do. They were sitting on the island in the kitchen where I saw them everytime I passed by.

I put them in the pantry...where they belong, anyway...and I haven't wanted them since. Out of sight...out of mind.

I knew that!!!

I've learned so much about how to handle the cravings and the "I wants" and the irrational thought processes...now I just have to remember to apply that knowledge...it would make my life so much easier...but I knew that!!!

DIGNITY...I'LL KEEP MINE...THANK YOU!

I've been on a tour of weight-loss blogs this week...strolling down the "cyber" avenues...stopping to look through "cyber" windows into other people's blogs...stopping to chat and get acquainted with some new "cyber" friends. I'm always interested in the journey's other bloggers have taken toward lowering their weight and being healthier. I especially like to visit those who utilize WW in their plans since that is my model. I enjoy witnessing the progress that the blogs reflect and the new ideas and recipes that others share.

I don't have a problem with people who begin by relating a little about themselves and how they came to where they are now. I think it's great that some people enjoy sharing pictures of their progress...love looking at those happy, smiling, thinner faces as the weight decreases. I don't even mind looking at menu plans...it's interesting to see how other people use their points and the foods that I might not have considered. That's part of the fun.

But what I really feel uncomfortable with are the few who feel they have to put their former selves down in order to "recover" and become thin. Can't go there.

You see, I've always loved myself and known that I am a valuable person no matter what I weigh. I can be honest with myself about my weight and disappointed in myself for making poor food choices without resorting to self-loathing. If I don't respect myself, how can I expect someone else to?

I realize there are people out there whose over-or-under eating are a sign of serious emotional problems and I feel for them, but I seriously don't consider myself "ill" or "addicted". I think I have made poor choices in the past, that I allowed myself to use food as one of many tools that I used to make myself feel better when I was lonely or tired or whatever. It was a form of "thumb-sucking" for me...a handy way to soothe tension or to reward myself or even to just enjoy the moment...no more...no less. I fell into the same trap that most Americans are in right now...too little activity...too few fresh ingredients...too many processed foods...too many restaurant prepared calorie-laden foods.

I don't consider myself a lazy or bad person...what's not to like about the taste of that food? I could lie and say I would never want it again, but I will. I choose to eat better food now...that's all. I like the way it makes me feel. I like the freshness of the flavors without all the oil and breading. But it is a choice...not a religion or a cure...just a choice that I wanted to make. I don't have to post about being "bad"...I might post about my "inner voice" whispering "ice cream" to me while I am alone in the house for over a week and the loneliness just might be beginning to set in and I'm looking for some new way to amuse myself...but that is not being ill...that's just being lonely and bored.

If you've visited my blog more than a couple of times, you've probably noticed that I admire people who are steadfast and full of good humor, but I also like people who like themselves. I like to be up-beat and positive, for the most part. I think it is an attitude that promotes health and sets you up to make better choices.

We're finally getting some much needed rain here...thanks, Intellagirl, for planning the move to Bloomington this weekend...that's all it took to bring in the rain clouds...just one big Rain Dance!
You can watch the grass turn green and the flowers thank the heavens for water that contains no chlorine. Hope everyone has a great On-Point weekend. I have the fridge full of watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and stuff for the grill...I'm set. Bring it on!

JUST A LITTLE IMAGINATION

One of my favorite bloggers posted about a woman who asked him if she could drink V-8 Juice in order to meet her daily requirement for vegetables because she could think of no other way to get them in every day. I feel so sorry for people who "don't like vegetables" because I don't know how anyone could possibly stick to a weight loss plan without them. I would feel like I was starving if I didn't have vegetables to fall back on as a means of adding volume and textural interest to my meals and snacks. And I can't imagine trying to limit my points to a level where I could lose weight without adding vegetables to the mix.

Roni had a great recipe for a tomato sauce on her site last week that incorporated vegetables into a toddler's pizza slice without ever letting the little darling suspect she was eating something nutritious.

Just about every entree, soup, or salad recipe I use begins with vegetables and then falls back on the addition of seasonings and judicious amounts of lean proteins to round them out.

I even pump up the volume in frozen dinners. I'm having a Lean Cuisine Italian Pasta meal today for lunch. It has 5 points and is already shouting from the package that it has twice the vegetables as other meals...but that's not where I'll leave it. I'm going to nuke the dinner for a couple of minutes while I rough chop some red pepper, a little onion and some garlic. I'll spray a non-stick pan with some olive oil Pam and then kind of stir-fry the veggies along with the garlic for a while before stirring in the Lean Cuisine and finally adding a little chopped fresh tomato. Now that's a lunch. It only takes a couple of minutes longer than heating up the meal and I won't find myself hungry and looking for something else to eat when that little frozen dinner is gone after a few bites.

I do this with the Oriental dinners but add a cup or two of frozen oriental vegetables from a bag that I always keep on hand and a dash or two of soy sauce. Mexican entrees are usually great over a plate of fresh lettuce, tomato and a little diced onion. You just have to use your imagination.

I love vegetable juice and I have it as a mid-afternoon snack sometimes with a few whole wheat crackers and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, but it will never be a substitute for the vegetables that I love and eat every day.

PLAN TO FAIL

Two posts in one day? Kathy...I know you're retired, but don't you have anything else to do? Well, I was doing some housework and I just kept thinking about this subject and I was afraid if I waited until tomorrow to post it that the fervor I felt would pass and I wouldn't be able to write as brilliantly or with as much enthusiasm as if I left the sweeper in the hallway and the bowl cleaner in the masterbath and sat and wrote. You understand.

Seriously, we had a "leave the television off" evening here last night so Hubby read while I roamed the FatFighter site for some new blogs to read. I found several that I added to my daily list of sites I visit, but I also noticed that there were several that had not had a post on them for months. I looked at some of them and noticed a recurring theme...beginning enthusiasm...I will succeed...I will follow the plan...I will stick to it this time...I will walk every day...I will count every bite that goes into my mouth...I will attend meetings no matter what...I will not let the scale dictate how I feel. And then the post filled with anxiety about going to the meeting because of that certainty that there will be a gain this week due to vacation...illness...parties at work...going out to that bar with friends...boredom with salads...or that trip to the fast-food restaurant on the way to class. That is followed by skipping meals to catch up, skipping this week's meeting and going next week, and starting again Monday because weekends are so hard to plan for anyway. And then comes the silence...crickets chirping...darkness falling...failure written all over that blog page.

We've all been there. But there is a huge difference between those pages and the ones I read daily...the ones where people are succeeding...and the biggest difference is how they deal with failure.

EVERYONE FAILS. There...I said it. If you've reached goal and maintained it without ever "failing" along the way, you are probably ready for your halo and wings...you are rare. Every successful person expects failure and has a strategy in place for dealing with it...that is where the "champion" is set apart from the "also rans".

I heard a Jeff Gordan admirer say that Jeff would probably drop out of NASCAR if he felt he could no longer be the winner...that he would not settle for being a second place driver. I don't think it ever enters Jeff's head that he is not capable of winning a race. My guy, Mikey, shows up and keeps on trying week after week even though the season may appear dismal...he knows that he can still win any of those races...he just has to keep trying. Lance Armstrong fell from his bicycle, Edison found hundreds of ways not to make a light bulb, American patriots had to fight a lot of battles before they created the United States.

If we go into this weight-loss battle thinking we will be the winner in every battle and we will turn back and stop fighting if we aren't, then we might as well stay at home. We have to create a battle plan for ourselves that takes into account all those little failures we are going to encounter, allows us to assess and learn from those set-backs, and gives us a plan for moving forward. If we never got up after falling down, we'd all be crawling right now.

The people whose blogs I read are people I admire for their tenacity, their sense of humor, their self-deprecation, and their willingness to fail and just keep moving forward.

Now, back to the dust-bunnies!

STICKY CHICKEN RULES!!!

It is so amazing how good healthy food can be. When you're out there eating everything in sight like some starved heathen the thought of eating "diet" food sounds so boring...and some of it can be. I love salads and carrots and celery, but I don't want them all the time. Part of being successful long-term is incorporating great tasting healthy meals into your menu rotation...things that you would eat and enjoy even if you were "piggin" for some reason. Every time I've found myself looking for some excitement where food is concerned, I find everything I'm looking for in those "healthy recipes" I have so handy in the kitchen but have chosen to ignore. So last night, after returning from the DMV with my new driver's license in hand...decent picture, by the way, thanks to letting my hair grow since the last one and losing that weight...Hubby and I dug into my favorite summer salad made with our home-grown tomatoes, green peppers, a little Vidalia onion, lettuce, and vinegar and oil dressing...YUM. We followed that with this great chicken that even a husband can find worthy of praising THREE times! You've probably run across the recipe for Teriyaki Sticky Chicken if you've visited the on-line WW site...everyone makes it there, but you may not have actually made it or done so, like I did back in January, and then gone on to other things and forgotten how good it is. So I'll give the recipe here...just in case.

TERIYAKI STICKY CHICKEN

4 servings 4 points each

4 4-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup ketchup

3 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce

1 tsp dry mustard powder

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken in baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

I put the frozen chicken breasts in my crockpot and poured the sauce over them, set the pot on "Low" and let it cook all day. The chicken really soaks up the flavor of the sauce, but it also thins it out, so , just before serving it, I poured the sauce from the chicken into a saucepan and let it boil and reduce to about a cup. It then became more like the barbecue sauce consistency that you get when you bake it in the oven. I just poured that over the chicken once I had plated it.

It feels so good to be journaling and back on point again. I have a fresh rush of energy after eating more fresh foods and fewer processed ones...even the "healthy" points-friendly ones. I always seem to fall into that trap after a few months of really following plan...getting lazy with my prep work and resorting to more packaged or restaurant meals. It's something I'm definitely going to keep in mind as fall approaches and I get the urge for heavier meals. I'll have all those great soup and muffin recipes ready to go.

I found two interesting sites yesterday that I thought I'd pass along. I don't know how many of you read Jennette Fulda's blog, but it is funny and very inspiring. She had a great post yesterday entitled "Why I Want to get to Goal". If you are close...or just dreaming of it...it is a great reminder of why losing those last few pounds may be important.

And for anyone trying to kick a habit, there is a site called "The Big Cold Turkey" which has a kit they sell to assist you in the process. I wouldn't spend money on it, but I thought the idea of the bracelet...done that...and the system of accountability was good and could be used for any habit you might want to break...like ice cream, for instance! I'm just saying...

Have a great On-Point day, get a little exercise, and try something new...like Sticky Chicken!

PICTURE DAY

Well, it's only the second day of school and I already have to pose for my picture. It's time to renew my driver's license. I don't use it much, but, like my nurse's license, I worked so hard to get it in the first place, I'm not going to let it go now for lack of renewal.

Driver's licenses are evil though. First, there is that picture which always looks like I've been on a bender the night before and, like television, adds pounds. The only person I know who actually looks better in her DMV shots is my daughter, Nurse Lara. She always looks fabulous. Then there is that deal with hair color which went through a range of shades from my youth when it was a gorgeous brunette, to the "cover up the gray" years when I added a little auburn to the mix, to the present when I can just put "cotton head" in that box. My eye color hasn't changed, but I've had to add glasses. And then there is the pesky question of weight, for which I would rather go to prison than answer with the truth. If they were smart, they would do like WW and just put a scale in the floor where they stand you for the picture and it would just silently print out on the finished document with an automatic shaving of 30 pounds if you pay them an extra $5. They'd be rolling in the dough!

And then there is the fact that in Indiana, the license is good for six years now, so you're stuck with those figures and that face for a long time no matter how many times you lose 10% or reach goal.

I had a great On-Point day yesterday. Drank a lot of fluids, ate fruit and veggies, had a great supper with lots of grilled veggies...my favorite summer meal.

Thanks for all the supportive comments and well wishes. Weight loss bloggers are great people...all love and support...well wishes...no turf battles...no smack-downs. It's not quite so nice in some of the other blogging areas.

I was charred by the flames that were shot at me in the NASCAR blog world once when some Junior fans mistakenly attached my name to the comment before mine and thought I had said something negative about him. I had actually made a very positive comment, but it still hurt to see those very nasty comments come at me.

Younger daughter, Intellagirl, is part of the tech world and has filled me in on the turf wars there involving Wikipedia vs the Britanica folks.

And the knitting world is especially vicious...I guess it's those needles. I've found a lot of really great sites that I love reading...just won some yarn on an Australian site...but there are also a group of snarky purlers out there who seem to love drama and inject a lot of political and personal content into their posts which invite a lot of comments...probably the reason for doing the controversial stuff in the first place.

Recently the Knitting Curmudgeon has been hosting Open Mic questions which are controversial and aimed at inviting comments which are negative about other well-known sites. She has recently taken on the Yarn Harlot and her book tour and the Knitting Heretic whose poor husband has recently been diagnosed with cancer. It's really ugly and someone like Jackie Collins could probably get a great book out of this new form of mud-wrestling!

Anyway...I'm glad the weight loss blogs are a pleasant place to take up camp. I derive a lot of encouragement and strength here and I think writing my blog and reading the entries from fellow bloggers has played a significant role in how well I've done since the first of this year. It's like a great big meeting with terrific leaders that is always open and available whenever the need for encouragement may arise. Thank you all for being there.

SECOND SEMESTER

After that long, long, long 4th of July Holiday, I feel like I did all those years ago when I headed back to school for second semester. Not quite as bright eyed and bushy tailed as in September, but definitely ready for a new start.

I always loved school and just knew when I boarded the school bus every fall with my new notebooks and pencils that I was going to be an "A" student this year, every assignment would be completed ahead of time, that I would not only answer the required questions at the end of each chapter, but would tackle all of them just for my own satisfaction and quest for learning. I would be bored with just the assigned material and would happily do extra credit work as well. But as October and November passed, the enthusiasm would wane, there would be that evening when I had something else to do and I put off some of the reading assignment for the next day, or I would take more notes in class to make up for it. The pencils wore down, the notebooks started to fray around the edges, and pretty soon I was just ready for the semester to end and the holiday to begin.

And then the second semester would roll around and I would begin it with renewed vigor, a little older and a little wiser than when the year began, but still anxious to learn.

So, that's the way I feel today. I restarted my program in January with a lot of enthusiasm, as do all weight watchers. I was reviewing my journal from the beginning of the year and it was beautiful. I wasn't beginning to eat all my points, there were new recipes on every page, lots of quotes and websites I had made notes of, and my food choices and points calculations were impeccable. First semester. Riding high.

By July, I find myself rounding off those points a lot, forgetting to journal a lot, eating the same foods a lot, and causing my beautiful weight loss program to be boring...a lot.

I put the blame right where it belongs when this program becomes boring because it is so unnecessary. There are great choices to be made, great recipes to try, lots of inspiration to succeed to be found. But, like first semester, the routine sets in and the enthusiasm wanes.

So, it is second semester today. I'm going to sharpen my pencils, get out a new notebook to journal in, and find a new recipe to try this week. I'm going to tighten up the points calculations and try to eat more fruit and drink more fluids and eat a little less ice cream.

I even went yesterday and bought some new undies...a sure sign I'm ready for new beginnings. So, bring on that second semester...I'm ready...and I'm not settling for any "B's"!!!

A short addendum to the bear story: Bear went off to his first day at GM today, confident that he would fit right in. None of our neighbors have noticed the switch...they wave from their passing cars just as they always have...so he is hopeful that the GM boys will be just as keen in their observations. He has already passed muster with Hubby's fishing buddies...he has impressed them mightily with his tales of fishing in Canada's remote regions...he is so knowledgeable on the subject. I had a chance to speak with him more over the weekend and he informs me that his reason for escaping to Indianapolis was his growing disdain for "catch and release" policies and the back pain he suffers after all those years of standing in cold streams trying to make a living. He thought it was time to stop sleeping in the wilderness and look for an orthopedic mattress. So, I guess he is happy here and will probably stay until at least hockey season...that and the desire for real maple syrup may drive him to go north again, but until then, he is welcome to stay as long as he doesn't make a move for the television remote.

BORDER SECURITY

I'm alarmed. I know there has been a lot of concern about the lax security on the southern border of the United States...can't we just get those fences built and the kleig lights installed? But I thought the northern border was pretty safe...until today.

You see, someone at the border-crossing was definitely sleeping on the job when they allowed that SUV with the bear disguised as Hubby at the wheel cross back into the US. I can understand how it happened...Hubby in the same clothes he left to go fishing in over a week ago and a bear with a cigar stuck in his mouth could easily be mistaken for each other...especially in dim light with just their odor to guide you. So I can't be too harsh on the border agents. But surly they could see that this bear is not nearly as old as Hubby and his eyes are not blue-gray but a very lovely brown.

I don't know what got into the bear that he wanted to escape the Canadian backwoods, but he should have known that I would be suspicious when he returned a day early...Hubby would never do that! He doesn't seem to be too tech-savy, but he must have figured out the On-Star feature and used it to find our drive-way...clever bear.

I was going to report him, but he seemed so appreciative of the hot shower and cozy bed and he doesn't snore nearly as loud as Hubby. And he has shown no interest in Sci-fi, the Military channel, or the History channel. He does have Hubby's keen interest in Animal Planet and Discovery, however.

If I can get him to go to work Monday morning, I just may let him stay. He's really quite sweet and the dog seems to like him. I'm sure he'll get along with everyone at GM...if they'll direct him to the break-room, I'm sure he can take it from there.

I don't know what I'll do with all the clean clothes he brought back in Hubby's bag. He doesn't seem to like the summer stuff too much but he immediately latched on to the flannel shirts and stocking caps!

Well, I really must go now. Bear will be awake soon and I've promised him some blueberry pancakes with honey!

I FORGOT TO FAIL

The script for the past eighteen months of my life was to have been quite different...I was supposed to be undergoing gastric bypass surgery about now.

You see, eighteen months ago, I consulted with a bariatric surgeon and had decided that surgery was my only hope for regaining an active and half-way healthy life. I had been overweight for all of my adult life, but I had never felt as hopeless and helpless as I did then. I was miserable and I truly felt that if I didn't have the surgery, I would not be alive today. So, reluctant as I was to admit defeat, I felt I had to.

But the insurance company demanded that I have an eighteen month period of supervised and documented weight loss attempts. I can't tell you how upset I was. I had a lifetime of unsuccessful weight loss attempts to tell them about. And why couldn't they see that another eighteen months of the lifestyle I had been leading might prove deadly for me? What was wrong with them?

But, I consulted with my own family doctor and we agreed that I would check in with her on a monthly basis to document what I had been doing to lose weight and that I would attend weekly Weight Watcher meetings since my attendance and weight would be documented on a weekly basis and that I would present that information to the insurance company in June of this year.

I went off to that first Weight Watcher meeting two weeks before Christmas...what kind of fool would normally be doing that?...with the biggest chip on my shoulder that you've ever seen. I stepped on that scale...the heaviest I've ever been in my life...and dared anyone to remark on my weight. I sat at the meeting and felt like the biggest loser there...but not in a positive way. I was mad...mad at myself for having to be there...mad at the insurance company for making me jump through hoops...and mad at the world because I had this problem with my weight. But I also knew that I had no choice but to attend those meetings...but I sure wasn't going to like it!

My journal for the first week is full of corn chips, pie, candy and the like, but it was an honest accounting of my intake and I did stay within those points limits that had been set for me. I went to the second meeting and I had lost six pounds. The food plan had not been so terrible...I had managed to eat foods that even I had to admit weren't the best for me and had still managed to lose weight. So, I decided since I had to attend the meetings anyway, I might as well try to lose enough that I would be more comfortable or, at least, not gain any more.

So, I've lost seventy pounds. I no longer want bariatric surgery...it's the last thing on my mind. Eighteen months is a long time...the longest I've ever held myself accountable for what I eat or tried to change my lifestyle. I don't think I had ever gone to more than three or four WW meetings before I dropped out in the past. I had never given more than lip-service to a long term change in my eating habits.

My younger daughter told me the other day that she had come across a picture of me taken a few years ago when she was receiving her Masters degree and she was blown away by how much I had changed since then. And I know that it is not only my appearance that has changed...I've had a change in my attitude. I don't feel like a victim of my weight problem today...I know I will always have to deal with that...but I also know that I have the strength and the will to deal with it. Some days are better than others, but I work at it every day. No more giving in or giving up.

I could probably be having that surgery right now...I just forgot to fail.

"THE REVOLUTIONER"

I take pride in the fact that I am descended from a man who fought in the American Revolution. His name was John Simpson Aldridge and his gravestone has "The Revolutioner" engraved on it. He was descended from Nicholas and Martha Aldridge who were the first of our family to arrive here from England in the 1670's. The family settled in Maryland and almost 100 years later on February 9, 1761, John was born in Prince George County, Maryland.

His first enlistment was in 1776...that would have made him 15 years old. Incredible! His first term of service was for a period of six months and during that time he was in a battle near Fort Washington and the Battle of White Plains. He was discharged in Philadelphia and re-enlisted in the back woods of Virginia in 1777. This time he served three years.

During that time, his name appeared on Company Muster Rolls at Valley Forge, he fought at the Battle of Brandywine and served at both Fort Laurens and Fort McIntosh in Ohio. The men who served at these Forts were in as much danger from Indians as they were the English and many of them died terrible deaths at the hands of both enemies.

He was discharged from service in 1780 in Pittsburgh and made his way to Rush County, Indiana, where he purchased land and farmed until his death in 1842. He is buried in a little family cemetery there where his grave is marked with an American flag and the inscription.

I doubt if he considered himself a hero...many men served out of necessity for food and wages...just as they do now. I don't know if he considered himself a patriot...I doubt it. But all these years later, I recognize that it was humble young men like this who helped form this nation. They went about their service and then they went about becoming pioneers and farmers in these newly formed states in the middle of the country. My father's mother was also a descendant of a soldier in the Revolution who wound his way to Kentucky.

So, Independence Day is extra special to me. I feel a personal connection to the Revolution and I always stop to consider that young man who served while this country was being formed.

AND THEN I SAID TO MYSELF:

I've been having to argue with my "inner voice" all week that I am not on vacation, that my food plan need not differ from the norm, and I will not give in to the "holiday" atmosphere that surrounds this week when it comes to my food choices. It has been a struggle. No matter how many times I insist that nothing should change just because Hubby is gone this week, the truth is everything changes when I am home alone. And now I have to deal with that truth and come up with a plan to get through the rest of the week without messing up.

I already had a plan in place to be extra careful with points and journal everything so I could keep tabs on how much I ate and when. It was a plan...but my inner voice kept saying, "This week is different...loosen up a little...take a vacation from all that journaling and calculating!" So I've been struggling with myself all week...and that leads me straight to the ice cream...that's what I do when I have inner conflict...I eat.

Now, I'm not going crazy...I certainly have experienced that in the past...but, I am also not at ease with my eating like I have been since January. So now I need to come up with another plan for the remainder of the week...one that takes into account what my "inner voice" is trying to tell me.

• Loosen up...you're on vacation! Well, not really. I'm home...Hubby is on vacation...but there is a looser, less structured feel to this week and it is stupid of me not to recognize that. And all the arguing with myself isn't going to change that so I will "loosen up".
• Journaling will have to wait until next Monday. Hmmm. I don't want to let the dark side take over and I need to be accountable for my eating in some way. Let's face it...I don't act "normally" around food and if I lift the restrictions, I tend to go crazy.
• I want to "treat" myself to foods I wouldn't normally eat this week. Hmmm. Again...I could go crazy with this. I am actually wringing my hands over this. What to do?

Conflict resolution...a difficult task when the conflict is within your own body and the person you are wrestling with is yourself.

My plan for today is to recognize that I want to eat more often and in larger amounts when I'm alone, so I'm going to make up a pot of my favorite taco soup with lots of vegetables and spice...I like it, I can permit myself larger amounts of it without wrecking my food plan and it will make me happy. I'm also going to fix up a great salad for lunch...always like them. Maybe I will throw in some kidney beans for some extra fiber and flavor...and, just for today, I won't count them.

And, to give myself a feeling of being "in control", I'm declaring this "NO ICE CREAM TUESDAY". I really do need to get away from it for awhile...I think I'm eating it when I really just need to drink something cold, so today, that's what I'm going to do.

Then, I'm going to plan myself a great supper...maybe a stir-fry...I love them and you can really get a lot of volume with the vegetables.

And, to placate my vacationing self, I will do away with the journal for today. I feel better already. I have a plan that satisfies my need to stay in charge of my eating as well as my need to loosen up a little...so off to the kitchen for some slicing and dicing! And good luck staying on plan this week...long holidays are so much fun, but a definite challenge to the waistline!

NOT SO VIRTUOUS

I just began Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", and in it, the characters are discussing whether it is better to remove temptation and adversity from a child's enviorns in order to raise him to be a good man, or, if it is wiser to surround him with temptation from the beginning so he will learn to deny temptation and become a virtuous man. This discussion was a reflection of the times in which the book was written, but I think the same discussion could probably still be waged today...the proper raising of children is always a hot topic. But it also made me think about my own attitude toward temptation and the value of being virtuous where overeating is concerned...you see, at my age and temperament, overindulging in food is probably my greatest temptation...sad, isn't it?

There are a couple of schools of thought in this regard. One believes that this is the real world, that there will always be foods to tempt us...even "safe" or "diet" foods...and we should learn means of coping with those temptations in order to achieve long-term success at weight-loss. The second, that we should identify foods that are "triggers" for us to overeat and then remove them from our homes or put them in out-of-the-way spots where they will be harder to reach on a whim. I believe in both.

I try to keep foods that I recognize will tempt me out of the house, if possible, or out of sight when feasible. I try to eliminate foods that I overeat like salmon cakes...crazy, I know...or bacon...from the foods that I prepare at home where it would be easy to grab more than I should. If I really want them, I have them in a restaurant where I can specify how much I will be served before I get it. I place the foods I should be eating like fresh fruits and vegetables on the easy to get to shelves of the refrigerator...front and center...and the cheese and breads in drawers at the bottom.

But for all my preparation and planning, there are situations where I am not in charge of what foods are before me and I must stare temptation in the face. That is never easy. I try to role play how I will handle each situation. I try to ascertain from the hostess of whatever gathering I've been invited to just what is on the menu and then I plan ahead by telling myself what I will allow myself to eat. When we are going to an unfamiliar restaurant, I try to look at the menu on-line before we go so I can plan ahead what I will order and not be overwhelmed by the menu selections when I am sitting there hungry and vulnerable to the well-thought-out descriptions of good looking food that the restaurant has presented me with...I tend to get total nutritional amnesia in such circumstances and blurt out things like "deep-fried" and "breaded".

So, while I think, ideally, it may be good to be one of those people who have trained themselves to "act like a normal eater" around tempting foods, to "intuitively" know what is the best food to choose in any situation, I know myself well enough to realize that I am far from virtuous when it comes to food temptations, and it is probably best to either remove temptation from me or to remove myself from temptation.

Happy Canada Day to all of you north of the border!