All about eating!

188.5. HA! Take that Sandi! you may be 22 years younger than me, but I am going to beat you!

We have a bet, extra motivation for us. Whoever loses the most weight by May 31st gets bragging rights. And when it is your kids, that is the best bet of all.  I was 194 the day we started, that would be 5.5 pounds! Gives me a little extra motivation to keep on track.

All about the food.  All about having my head on straight. I can't be feeling deprived if I don't eat the chips or whatever. I need to know it was my choice and I am happy about it. My choice for my health. My choice for my life. If I am dieting and avoiding that stuff, it is a punishment and I will FAIL!!!  If it is a decision that I am happy about, I will succeed, even if I falter at times. And that is exactly what is happening.

I am NOT dieting. I am eating healthy. I am not restricting how much I eat. That is a big deal to me. I need to not feel restricted. I can eat all I want of what I want. I just need to want the right stuff. I am not hungry.

I feel like I have found the greatest secret of all times! I know I have heard it many times before, it just never sank in.

The other part of this is I really needed to find what would work for me with my lifestyle and schedule.

Normally for lunch I try to take about a 3 oz piece of steak that we have cooked up on the weekend. We put them in ziplock bags and freeze them. By lunch they are thawed and I warm them up and just eat that. It works for me. That kick of protein gets me through the afternoon with plenty of energy and no thoughts of food at all.

That does not always work. At times I forget or I have a lunch appointment. In those cases, I have a salad usually. Point is, I always have a plan and a backup plan. The fridge at home is filled with salad stuff. We try to make up a huge bowl just of salad greens each week and then just add shrimp or whatever when we want that salad during the week. Quick and easy. And the salad does not get yucky with all the other stuff in it.

I do eat pork, chicken, beef, eggs and a small amount of cheese at times.  I also have lots of other veggies and fruit. I don't eat canned fruit, just fresh if possible.

Today is very busy and running in the car all day. LOVE working I really do. I do need to make sure I have water in the car and that I have veggies to munch on all day. May take a banana too.

The other thing I have noticed is when I "dieted", I was totally obsessed with food. Doing this, I am not. I am not stressed. I know even if I don't take something with me, I can find something. And even if it is not perfect, I am doing so well the majority of the time that it does not matter.

So three important points:
1. You have to get your mind into your health. Without this first step, it is a deprivation diet and you will fail. With it, you can't fail. Might have setbacks, but you will succeed.
2. You cannot starve, under calorie or deprive yourself. Your body needs food to keep you healthy. No reason to do this unless you end up healthier. If you feed yourself what you need, the cravings will go away.
3. Do what works for you and plan ahead. Takes out most of the temptations and makes it easy.

Have a great day!