congradulations Stephanie!

Once i gave myself permission to eat often, but eat well; I found a number of things happened. I could eat two cookies and stop - because I could have more later. I could have half a sandwich and some carrots - because hey, If I wanted more I could eat more later. I want to eat well, because I feel better when I eat well. but I also really like to eat. Once I stoped playing mind game s with the snacking- I really ate much better.

of course, I was really sick - I fell off the good eating AND the exercise bandwagon. But that is the way it is going to be for the rest of my life. I will be doing really well, and then I'll fall off . and I have to get back on . Unfortuately, when I fall off the band wagon, my body has a party and I have to struggle to get back into the better habits. I was meeting a friend for a walk today - but it was only a sorta plan. but I forced my self to go. neither one of us really wanted to go, but both of us felt way better after walking.

I fell off the wagon this winter...after getting into the best shape with the least struggle of my life. Sigh. Getting up before dawn and making breakfast featuring fabulous baked goods...plus the stress...did me in.

The good news is, now that I'm mostly on track again (still battling the mood swing/sugar blues a bit), I'm confident that I'll be back to my fighting weight in no time. (Okay, two months, but still not forever.) Having done it before, I'm able to give myself a break.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into my cuter clothes.

I fell off the wagon at Halloween, and still haven't gotten back on it. I am off the candy (mostly) but Scott's been doing the shopping, and although he'll stick largely to my list, I get healthy inspiration from walking around the supermarket.

I'm learning to make my sandwiches with one slice of bread, cut in half. But I don't know what to do with the pan of shells & cheese that are left over from lunch besides eat them.

Cindy's exactly right. It isn't necessarily how much bread you have, it's more what type. You can have two bread slices for your sandwich, just use dense whole grain bread. It will fill you up better, take longer to digest, which leaves you feeling "fed" for longer, it won't trigger the fast burn that refined starches=sugars do, so you don't get hungry again as fast.

I've found that while I slip every once in a while and have a piece of cake, or a bite of chocolate, that sugar triggers sugar cravings, just as salt triggers salt cravings. Once I'm eating in a way that satisfies my hunger and keeps my blood sugar level, the cravings taper off. It takes a while to get there, but it's amazing to be able to stand at the grocery checkout, look at the ranked candy bars and go, "...um. No." Like, that *ever* happened before. The word "binge" was invented for my unsatisfiable chocolate jones. Now, if I want cake, I'll have dense carrot cake instead of yellow cake with chocolate icing. It's still cake, but it has nuts and carrot and pineapple instead of *only* flour and sugar. It's satisfying, and in moderation, it doesn't trigger a sugar binge. If I have a chocolate craving, I buy two or three pieces of fabulous dark bittersweet chocolate and luxuriate in every bite, between sips of some red and yummy wine. It's a whole different thing from inhaling a half-pound bag of peanut M&Ms or a Baby Ruth, a Snickers and a large York patty all at the same time. After which I go around vibrating and glowering and snapping.

But, mileage does vary. This is just mine.

No low carb diet. EVER. No way, no how. I love bread too much. And potatoes. And pasta. And Dr Pepper. Take away carbs, you take away all the pleasure of eating, AFAIC.

Substitue Diet Coke for the Dr. Pepper and Susan is me. I HAVE to have carbs/sugar otherwise, like some others, I get snippity.

diet Coke has no carbs. The dietician at the diabetes center said, "I drink lots of diet Coke, don't worry about it. Did you know the aspartame studies were funded by the Sugar Board?"

Heh. The people who were in SF for Nillyfest got to witness me getting my low-blood-sugar bitch on at a restaurant hostess who wouldn't seat us at the *completely empty* tables. Tep + low blood sugar = smiting

I understand a low blood sugar cranky feeling (I don't get them, but one of my best friends-who will be in NO with me-does) but, I feel a little defensive about the hostess. I was a hostess for a long time while in school- even though the tables are empty, they may not have servers for them. They cut down on waitstaff at certain times so that there's an overlap. Waiters who come in at say 9 will have certain sections, leaving one or two open for the people who come in at maybe noon (when those will open up) and then the 9 people will leave at 2 when lunch is dying down and their sections will be empty to be filled by those who come in for the dinner rush. If the place got an unexpected bump from a large group coming in at one of the times when one shift was gone, there may be empty tables, but they're not open in the sense that the section is unmanned.

t /service industry bug

My dentist told me to knock off the diet coke habit. I've been doing really well - one or two a week instead of one or two a day - but it's not easy.

people always say that eating higher fiber makes you feel fuller longer- I don't actually notice that. but i can say that mood swings for blood sugar swings - that I do notice. I can eat some sugar. It is just that I need to think about it. - or maybe more importantly Notice what I eat.

When I had the GD, it helped me establish what an acceptable amount of carbs per meal/snack actually is. I always eat whole grain bread, anyway--but if I only use one piece, I can also have a half an apple or a handful of chips with my sandwich. It's a matter of figuring out what I want to blow my carbs on for any particular meal.

This is my ideal, of course. It doesn't happen every meal or even every day.

Portion control is my biggest battle. I suffer from portion creep. It keeps getting slightly bigger until I realize I've gone over the edge and getting back down is difficult.