I am liking my life right now. I am liking that I feel like I’m back in control, that I can make good choices, that I feel healthier and that I will eventually lose weight again.

I’ve just spent about 2 hours in the kitchen cooking. I have work to do tonight but knew I also had some time I could spend doing a number of different things… I could have gone for a walk, but I didn’t. I bought a ton of vegetables at the market this weekend, and was pretty anxious to make some veggie dishes that I can eat for snacks or with meals. I was feeling like listening to some podcasts and doing something somewhat creative and so I attacked the kitchen.

I really enjoyed the process of thinking of ideas for the beets, the cauliflower and the veal my DH had brought home yesterday from the butcher. Veal? Why? Well, his answer was that “chicken breast or turkey breast are just too sad”. Was it for him? No. He was responding to the request I made for him to pick up some chicken so I could have some good protein tonight (since he’s working late). He finds chicken breasts a diet choice on par with plain iceberg lettuce leaves, but I actually love chicken (and don’t eat it nearly as often since we’ve been together!).

So I find myself w the challenge of making something with veal. It turns out it’s like a veal steak - no visible fat, no visible marbling, pretty much the same thing as a chicken breast. I found a recipe for veal paprikash which sounded good, and cut up an onion, a red pepper and threw in most of a can of tomatoes along w the cubed veal steak. I swirled in a few spoonfuls of ricotta along w two tablespoons of paprika - it was GREAT (I ate it over spaghetti squash)!

I also have roasted maple beets and roasted curried cauliflower in the fridge for the rest of the week, along w the leftover veal paprikash.

Choices at lunch were easier today (a Chinese buffet, where I took no rice or noodles, and had small portions). I had muesli for breakfast and a smoothie as a snack. Coupled with the temptation-laden meetings on Monday and Tuesday, I’ve made really good choices and it hasn’t been hard - this is the first week since I’ve been back on track that the good choices have been natural and easy. Nothing is off limits - last night I had a small piece of bread and butter, and I’ve been nursing a lollipop all week as I read my book to get the sugar / desire to eat thing met without damage or deprivation.

I’m starting to see that exercise will be coming into the picture too, although it’s not currently the case. It took me several weeks (months?) of preparation to get ready to go back to dieting, and it’s worked out well, so I’m trusting myself that exercise will follow a similar low-stress path to find it’s way back into my life.

I am so SO happy to be able to share that I’m at peace and happy being back on track right now.