I am planning to start the diet tomorrow morning. I am going to do everything in my power to keep from cheating, but it is going to be really hard. I am surrounded by bad foods all day.
Any suggestions on motivation? I am hoping to just take it one day at a time and see it as, if I can get through it today, I have made progress. I hope that works, anyway.
I started Wed., and my motivation is my health. One of my friends has a sister in law who had open heart surgery after bouts with very high blood pressure. I never want to get to that situation, and I am doing everything I can to prevent it. I feel like I have my own private cardiologist with the Dr. and his SBD book.
I find that I am expending more energy deciding about recipes and shopping for food, cooking, and cleaning up pots and pans, etc. It's starting to feel like work! But I think I packed on the weight by too much restaurant eating and by not being mindful of what I was shoving in my mouth.
I take my blood pressure with a small wrist cuff monitor, and I am very pleased with the results. So I think I could be surrounded by, let's say one of those wonderful buffets in Vegas like the Bellagio, but I will stick with the plan. Hmm. They have king crab legs!!
Good luck Gottastop. Find your biggest motivator and keep it in mind. Mine was to feel more energized and before i knew it I did. I could not imagine going back to my old ways ever again.
You will see pretty good results in the first two weeks which is a good motivator. I bought some new clothes that I could fit but were tight and now I am wearing them and some are already quite loose. That seemed to work for me.
Hi Gottastop
You could do yourself a favour by getting a huge bin bag and throwing out all food in your house which is not OP. Or give it away if you prefer. But the idea is to get it out of your house. Then when you want a snack, you will be confronted with lovely OP food to eat, and it makes it much easier.
This is only my second day on this day but I've tried them all before. I really feel this time is different for me because my attitude has changed. We've all heard about making it a "lifestyle change" and a "little at a time." What has really changed for me is my feeling about the foods I CAN'T have. When I go on a diet I usually think about all the yummy food that I see others eat that aren't on my diet. Now, when my cousin sits down with her chicken fingers and fries (I know this is naughty) I think about how much weight SHE is packing on and how good I'm being to my body. Sounds corny but it has made me more optimistic and feel better about limiting what I can eat. Welcome and good luck!
Well, here goes...
One day at at time is the best way. Good luck! 
