I’m sitting here at my computer, experiencing a feeling that I’ve known many, many times in my life, too many times to count.  It’s a vaguely uncomfortable feeling, yet oh-so-pleasurable too.  Usually when I’m experiencing this particular feeling, I have six words to say.  Yep, six.  The same six words every time…
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Oh my God, I’m SOOOO FULL!
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Ha!  I *am* full!  How cool is that?!?  Even cooler is this:  The sensation of being full is EXACTLY the same, whether one eats a greasy burger, fries, and a big chocolate milkshake — or if one eats a healthy lowfat meal like I just did.  Woohooo!!  I ate healthy!  Now there’s a newsworthy change!  :) 
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Okay, so I know this isn’t exactly earthshaking stuff here, but for me, it’s really really different.  I mean when I THINK about it, it is 6:47 pm (my time) and I just finished dinner.  I didn’t mean to, but I skipped breakfast this morning, so my total caloric intake today as of right now is 869.  And I am able to say those six words and MEAN THEM.  Every other “diet” I’ve ever tried has made me feel like I was being punished for my past sins, slowly starving to death to atone for my weak will and my grossly overblown appetite.  Every other diet made me feel BAD.  Bad/hungry and also bad/guilty/depressed/persecuted.  None of those other diets EVER made me feel FULL.  Well, unless I cheated.
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I’m really excited about this, can ya tell?  This morning I went grocery shopping and after I emptied the cart at the cashier, I said, “That was fun!”  The lady that was bagging said, jokingly, “Yeah, I’m sure it was the highlight of your week.”  I said, Yes!  Actually it was!  Both the cashier and the bagger lady looked at me like I was nuts.
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Last night I did some more research and came up with a real grocery list.  Yeah earlier in the week I bought a few things, but I really wanted to surround myself with healthy foods to choose from.  Healthy foods that I like.  Wow, what a freakin’ concept!!  So today I shopped for me.  Only me!  I didn’t buy stuff for the rest of the family, I bought stuff for me.  (Well, except for the toilet paper, we all needed that).
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Now this is not to say that I’m never going to share my healthy food with my husband or children because of course it’s going to be there and they’re going to be around when I cook or prepare meals.  But the purpose of today’s shopping trip was for me and only me, and that in itself made it special.  When I got home from shopping, I did what I said I wanted to do:  I made a big ol’ bowl of salad so I can start each meal with it, and made a big bowl of mixed fresh fruit to use as a healthy snack.  Strawberries, blueberries, oranges, apples, and bananas with a bit of lemon juice - oh my is that delicious!  All for just 50 calories for a half-cup.
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Okay, so tonight - I made smoky broiled chicken breasts (used a liquid smoke marinade, m-m-m), and with a little side helping of stovetop stuffing (which I’ve had a taste for, I don’t know why) and a big ol’ plate of romaine/spinach/broccoli salad with cottage cheese - I AM STUFFED.  Woohooo!