I'm having some health problems right now, and my doctor and I are working together to try to figure out what is going on. I'm on an "elimination diet": no wheat, no dairy, no sugar, no carbonation, no fried foods. It severely limits my options for eating, which you would think would make me nuts. And sometimes it does. But interestingly, most of the time my response is this: okay, so what CAN I eat?

Oooh, I've got all the veggies I want (within reason, I must be careful of gas-producing foods), and all the fruits too. Cool, I like kiwis and apples and bananas and pineapple and pomegranates, let's stock up on fruit. And have lots of salads. I can have all the protein I want now that I'm not restricting beef for the colon cancer screen (haven't gotten the results back yet), yay! So salads...and protein...yum. Okay. I can have a *little* bit of dairy--like, salad dressing, or dips, or something minor--if I have a milk pill, but without advanced planning I can't count on having access to those. So, at any time I can easily have a huge salad with a mix of veggies, some grilled chicken or roast beef, and a nice oil-and-vinegar-ish dressing. Then I can have a lovely piece of fresh fruit to top it all off. Yum!

Wait a minute...this is the way I've been trying to convince myself to eat all along, and here I'm having FUN with it?? What's happening here?

When people ask me about how restricted my options are, I just shrug and say, "that's how I'm eating right now" and it's the end of the discussion. No arguments, no tricks, no game playing. I'm excited about figuring out what I can eat, rather than being miserable about trying to resist what I can't eat.

It seems an important shift in perspective, and I thought I would share.

Interesting idea. I had a similiar experience last year during Lent. I was challenged at church to fast. We could pick whichever fast we'd like. Some people gave up all solid food, some sweets, some just fasted their favorite food. I decided to fast all carbohydrates as I absolutely LOVE white sugar, flour, candy, fries, bread, cake, chocolate....I wasn't dieting. I was fasting for spiritual reasons.

I did something similar to you, I didn't think about what I couldn't eat but rather got very creative with everything I could eat.

I'd typically last about 3 days on a no carb "diet" but fasting...I lasted the full 3 weeks. Almost 0 carbs passed my lips in 21 days. I actually lost weight without trying and wasn't panicked like I usually am when I am dieting.

Odd what games our brains play on us.

You know, it's really all in how you look at it. Sometimes removing a food type opens up your mind to trying all kinds of new things!

Good for you!

Wonderful positive thinking!!! It's amazing what a different view on an old topic can do for us. You should be proud!

Sorry to hear about your problems, but way to go, putting a positive spin on it!!!

I have a similar reaction -- I spend time looking into "superfoods" and foods that are healthy for other reasons and end up with a long list of foods that I *want* to work into my diet regularly. Given everything that I want to cram into in, I just don't have much room in my diet for empty calories. Furthermore, as the list keeps getting longer, I now find myself planning my meals so that I can remember to cycle through all the foods I want to eat.

But, as you say, wait a minute! Planning my meals was the one hurdle I could never get over when my focus was on restricting my calories to lose weight! But planning meals so that I can optimize the variety of food and nutrients in my diet is more like fun... like I am giving to myself rather than taking away. Yet it's the same number of calories.

So, go figure! Whatever works .