I just wanted to toss this up here because maybe someone can take something away from it and use it, I got a large response with this post on another board that I post on and thought I would share.
This morning I woke up to the most fantabulous day that you could ever imagine, its 70 degrees the breeze is blowing into the window as fat white clouds float silently through the sky and no humidity in sight. spending the day out in the yard will likely happen after the am cartoons, breakfast and a shower, ok enough about that. My weight loss to date has been out of this world and when I made the decision to eat better and take the extra poundage off of my body I did not expect to be this far along in this short time and I am extremely happy with my results thus far. I was reading some of my older posts last night and I realize just how far I have come in the way of recipes, how often I eat and just the amount of weight loss knowledge and experience that I have now compared to then, now remember we're talking about just a little more than five months ago. right now I can walk into a restaurant or go to someones home for dinner and pretty much know what amount of food I can eat that is reasonable and healthy for me, I now know that eating a can of tuna 5 slices of white bread with two table spoons of mayonnaise with the better part of a bag of Sun chips and literally a quart of milk is not a healthy lunch, well the tuna is good for ya right? and the Sun chips are after all baked aren't they? and I am using 2% milk, thats gotta count for something doesn't it? that is honestly how I rationalized it in my head when I was making lunch for myself, and then wondered why I seemed to be blowing up in size, I mean I was eating good wasn't I? everything I just listed adds up to 1480 calories and thats using 2oz of sun chips as the amount that I ate on any given day with that lunch, 1480? seriously I eat less than that in a whole day at times now! that was just my lunch and I honestly in my heart felt that I was not eating bad because there was Tuna in there and the sun chips are baked and it was 2% milk, that example is an actual lunch meal that I would make, and often I might add.
Let me tell you its eye opening to me when I reflect on things like this, I can remember making BBQ chicken for dinner which would consist of a package of thighs/legs and a package of breasts, skin on bone in and more than a bottle of BBQ sauce dumped over it, cooked and served with corn bread, mashed potatoes and corn along with my huge glass of milk. typically I would have 3 thighs, I am a thigh man what can I say, a huge portion of mashed potatoes that when I made them used almost a whole stick of butter, two or three pieces of corn bread and a serving of corn that would feed two people, then when everyone else had eaten I would grab another thigh and possibly more corn bread on the way to the living room. there was usually one or two pieces of chicken left for lunch the next day, I don't even want to attempt to figure out what the calories in that add up to and to be quite honest, I don't want to know. now when I make the same meal? yes can you believe I make the same meal now and lose weight? we use skinless boneless chicken breast seasoned with Mccormick BBQ spices, the mashed potato is replaced with baked sweet potato the corn stays the same, there is no corn bread involved and my more than a quart of milk has been replaced with green tea, ahhhh there now doesn't that sound better? typically I will eat roughly 6oz of the chicken, 6oz sweet potato, 1 serving of corn and as much green tea as my little heart desires and when all is said and done there is left overs from three chicken breasts that were cooked so were actually spending less money because of this whole losing weight thing as well so its a win win.
That pint of Ben and Jerry's is still in my freezer from New years eve and its not getting eaten until Dec 31st 2008 because as I have posted before, if I am eating it, its going to be on my terms not because I could not control myself, that alone is something that I did not believe I would stick to, I honestly thought that I would have eaten it within the first week if not the first day on this new way of eating. I often wonder about that small insignificant pint of goodness sitting just feet from me every day and think about how I used it to not eat the wrong things early on in this trip by opening the freezer and saying "if I do not eat that for just one more day I have proven that willpower works" and the few times I have done that it proved to me that it was just a matter of willpower and there really is nothing else to it.
One hundred and eleven pounds later I don't even think about what I eat for the most part, its just natural for me to reach into the fridge for a snack and grab a pear now and I honestly don't even think about cake or cookies or any of that as an option on most days, we have some cookies and treats for the kids in the house and I couldn't tell ya if the cookies are good or not because I haven't had one. does this mean that I cannot have a treat when I want one? not at all, in fact just last night we went out to Dairy Queen and got cones for everyone, the only difference is that I did not order the triple hot fudge brownie thingy and I counted the 230 calories from the small vanilla cone into my daily allowance and moved on.
Jan 1st 2008 I woke up and was determined to do this, I will admit I did think that it would be just the next thing that I tried to lose weight but the difference was, one, I was scared that I was going to have to get a WLS surgery and two, the more I thought about how easy it really is to eat correctly the more I wondered why it took so long to realize this little fact and actually felt weak for letting food for lack of a better term control me to the point of weighing five hundred plus pounds. the bottom line is that its just a willpower thing, no one needs a 1480 calorie lunch, nobody. a persons body does not need that cookie or that piece of cake, no one needs to drink soda or a gallon of milk in a day none of those things are needed to sustain life, none of those things are needed in my body or yours period. once a person can get over the mental part of it the rest is easy, don't believe me? I have lost one hundred eleven pound in just over 5 months and the only thing that I do is eat following a 1500 calorie per day limit and moderate exercise which honestly consists mostly of some walks and riding a stationary bike every now and again. This is My life and it will not be controlled by anyone but me from here on out. the bottom line is that You are the one that decides what you eat or do not eat, its not Ronald McDonalds fault, its not the Canoli's fault and its not even your Auntie Margie's fault for making the most mind blowing peanut butter fudge that man has ever seen, take a look in that mirror and say Hi to the person that makes the decisions, whether the decision is to stuff a Del Taco double cheeseburger down your neck on the ride home from work or to choose the pear over the cake as a desert to your Salmon dinner. The opinions contained within this post are not only that of the author but they are fact as well, if you choose to use any of the techniques mentioned above be aware, weight loss WILL occur, you have been warned. if you made it this far down the page I thank you for reading.
Wow! You are inspirational as ever! The changes in your eating and your DETERMINATION are truly amazing -- as are your results. Like I told me before, I'll be looking for your book to come out soon after you reach goal! Thanks for sharing and keep on truckin'!!!!
Wow!!! What an inspirational thread. It makes me feel so much better about NOT going into our conference room and grabbing a slice of Papa Johns Pizza (which is my most absolute favorite pizza). And i had PLANNED on having that slice too. But i don't need it. My lunch didn't go quite as i had expected ....my tuna sucked (it was all mushy and i couldn't drain the water out of it properly) so i had a healthy choice panini. Not the worst choice but not the best either (if i were planning to have that slice of pizza today). I can always order a papa johns pizza when i'm having a really good day and have the calories and fat grams to support it. But i don't think that day is going to be today.
Wow...way to go on losing all that weight already. I have no doubt that you will definately reach your goals. And you have such a way of writing, i dont doubt you couldn't write and sell a best seller. Way to go!!!!
Botzz - Thanks for posting Your progress and experiences are very inspirational.
I remember thinking similar things about the "healthy" foods I used to eat. "At least the cheese is fat free..." Like that made any difference in the end...
I'm much more satisfied with a meal now. Satisfied on a level I don't believe I ever knew existed before.
Glad to have you still keeping us up to date on your work! Fantastic job!
WOW! Thank you for posting this. First of all CONGRATS to you and all your success. I have been really slacking off the past few weeks. GAined 7 lbs and though i was upset didnt really care to do anything about it. Im using being sick as an excuse to not eat healthy or get out of bed besides to go to work. For some reason this blog was kind of a slap in the face. It made me want to go to the gym and cook a healthy meal tonight even if i am sick im not dying and i need to suck it up and get over it. (just a head cold, sore throat, and ear infection) im not vomiting or having a fever or anything serious. CONGRATS and good luck
That folks is a brilliant example of how TRUTH will "set you free" and the reward you will get when you have the COURAGE to try and change the TRUTH for your greater good.
Wow...... that is amazing!!! All on one day waking up and making the choice! Good for you! I would say good luck but your on a roll... please inspires us whenever!!!!!
The concept of empowering ones self can be lost so easily. Yet it is always looking for a way to be found. I am proud of you that you found the way to empower yourself with knowledge. Sometimes we say "well I don't want to know, what good is it to know? It will only make me feel bad?" sometimes those are emotions we should key in on. If our subconscious is telling us it's wrong maybe we should listen? (Then again if you have a food phobia, maybe not so good).
My journey started a long time ago with a diabetes scare, and ever since then I'm just amazed at how out of control I had allowed life to get (at least on the eating front). You are living breathing proof that we can get control again.
An entry from my blog that I wanted to share.
Your progress and experiences are very inspirational. 
Wow...... that is amazing!!! All on one day waking up and making the choice! Good for you!
