We spend a lot of time thinking about the changes we need to make - which is good! Every now and again, I do a little happy dance because I realize that I didn't have THAT particular bad habit, and so I don't have to break it or work around it. Not just eating habits, either; some are other lifestyle habits.

For example,
- I have never been a pastaholic and really don't care for anything alfredo.
- I never liked beer, either, so I don't have to mourn the loss or figure out how to make room for it.
- Only one of the four us likes fast food, so that is usually a non-issue.
- And we've always used olive oil for cooking, so even our fried eggs had/have an up side.
- I'm our snow shoveler and always have been. I've always been our lawn mower, too.

What are some of yours? What good things do you want to keep, and what things did you find (to your surprise, perhaps) were actually not so bad? How do you leverage them to help you out now?

Only the last one is really helpful to me, as my problems lie elsewhere, but I still am happy that there are some challenges I don't have to worry about.

I have always loved fresh, healthy cooking (I just ate too much of it).

I am a HUGE water drinker. Never anything but water or the occasional milk/soymilk.

I eat a solid breakfast every day.

I knew how to cook very well, and always tended to use whole foods. Don't get me wrong, I ate a lot of rubbish (hard to get as fat as I did without doing that) and I ate too much of the good stuff as well, but I at least didn't have to teach myself to cook, or break a dependency on convenience foods.

I've never consumed much in the way of alcoholic beverages, so there was one source of empty calories I didn't have to eliminate. I still drink about as much as I ever did, which is, on average, maybe two glasses of wine a month.

I already walked a lot, although it did get tiring pretty quickly at my high weight.

I almost began typing that I had none!

However, I've always LOVED water. Many times I made it my drink of choice when I could have whatever I wanted. Majority of my family hates water, so I'm glad I don't have to get used to it or force it down.

Vegetables...I have always loved vegetables. I have never liked fatty meats. Also, when I lived in the city I walked everywhere, but since I now live in a rural area, I have succumed to car culture. Lately, despite the weather, I have been getting to the supermarket on foot again....it feels pretty good !

I know how to cook - I can usually make a high calorie/fat meal in a healthier manner.

I already know how to show gratitude for life and the things in it!

1. I was, and still am, pretty good at getting plenty of sleep/rest.
2. I always eat breakfast. I just had to change what I was eating.
3. I've always enjoyed exercise and how it makes me feel.
4. I've usually not relied on convenience/processed foods and I'm a pretty good basic cook. I enjoy cooking from scratch. I love trying new things/recipes in my crockpot and bread maker.

I have always loved salads, fruits and veggies and chicken as well. I just didn't try to encorporate them into my life as much as I needed to. So that was a slight adjustment. Also I have only drank diet pop for the last 3 or 4 years lol that helped as well!

1) I gave up drinking alcohol shortly after my 21st birthday. It just wasn't interesting anymore. I say I have maybe 1 glass of wine/year.

2) Always hated fast food. Thought it was disgusting looking and tasting. I do have a hard time understanding people who say they are addicted to it but understand we all have our own addictions.

3) Don't like pasta. I do have my carb of choice though which is bread. Some people are fanatical about pasta which I don't understand but again we all have our own addictions.

4) Didn't like pizza until after I started losing weight. I always thought pizza was just a greasy mess. When we found a good pizza shop that had a nice light crust and sauce with a variety of veggies on top, I did like going there. In college, we always got free food from companies looking to hire and I always dreaded the days when they said they were bringing pizza in.

5) Always hated buffets. I never understood the attraction to gobs of food that had been sitting out for hours. My only exception were salad buffets and also lunchtime Indian buffets (you know where they make the food fresh and put out fresh food every 10 minutes).

6) Always liked vegetables although I do admit that cheese was often on cooked vegetables I ate and ranch dressing was often on salads. I never understood butter on vegetables though. I learned later to like veggies without anything on them although some olive oil is good

7) Always loved walking. Even at my highest weight, I'd go for a 5 mile walk. I did have some difficulty with hills but I loved hiking so I would hike hills as best I could with rests when possible.

8) Always loved weight training. I don't know what it is about weights but they have attracted me since I was a teenager.

9) Always loved fruit, actually loved fruit too much. It wasn't unusual for me to eat a bag of plums for dinner and in college, canned pineapple was a common meal of mine.

10) Hate eating before bed. I have always been the type that if I'm hungry and it is close to bed time, I'll go to bed without snacking. I also don't like having food in my bedroom.

11) Never cared for eating at the movies. I go to a movie to see a movie not to eat. Although I have done some of those dinner movie places before as a novelty but even then, not my favorite thing.

I have drank water instead of soft drinks for years thanks to kidney issues.
I didnt grow up eating alot of salt and never hardly use it in cooking.
I love being outside and walking.
Never been a night time snacker.

I have always eaten whole grains and whole-grain pasta/bread.
I've always eaten minimal amounts of meat.
I cook well, and can come up with a lot of good-tasting, healthy dishes.
I grow a lot of my own produce.
My eating habits can be very inexpensive (if I'm cooking at home).
I am a walker, and I currently live in a very walkable community (when the snow melts).
I drink a lot of water, and I don't drink complicated coffee drinks.

I've always been more of a natural girl, so whole foods already fits my personality. I'd already been experimenting with homemade nut butters, pastas, breads, cream of chicken soups, soups, etc.

I too never drink alcohol. I think I'm allergic to it anyway. It does NOT make me feel good in any way and makes my face BURN.

I like healthy foods like salmon, cod, (heck...all seafood), broccoli, asparagus, fruits, etc. I just also like all the bad stuff.

I love exercise. I'm at my best when I remember that.

I'm a morning person. I don't know...somehow that helps me. It's when I get my best workouts in. Adjusting to waking up an hour earlier is no big deal. It would not work if I had to stay up an hour later though.

I already had a supportive family.

I've never had difficulty changing my habits once I get started. However the down side to that is that I'm an all or nothing person so I'm either all in or I'm back to old habits full force.

The boxed/canned food one is something I forgot. My mom always cooked/baked growing up so we never had things that came out of a box/can other than the occasional campbells soup when sick. Food that came out of a box or can just isn't appealing although I do stock cans of some staples like beans.

As a chef and pastry chef I always knew what choices to make when I went out to dinner. I've always preferred water over soda and been a fan of veggies.