I really need to try to restrict my eating by time. I've a bad habit of taking 3 pieces of chocolate up to bed with me. I read for an hour or so before bed and it becomes mindless eating to shovel those three pieces in my mouth like I'm never going to have chocolate again. Especially since I keep chocolate at work (Hershey's miniatures, usually) and nibble a few throughout the course of the day. It all adds up.

I have a bag of dark chocolate M&Ms by the bed. If my stomach is very empty, I'll have 3 or 4, otherwise I have trouble sleeping.

I vaguely try to only eat between 7-7, but that falls out the window if I'm up late grading. Otherwise it's become the norm for me. That said, I eat pretty much whatever I want between those hours. I wish I were more motivated to take the next couple steps to improve my diet, but I think I've set the bar too high (drop the wine most nights to only rarely, regular fasting) and I just don't want to jump.

Frankly more important right now is getting back to regular physical exercise, which I'm also dragging my tail on for some reason.

I've caught the cold that's been going round the family. bah! Luckily, I have ibuprofen and I'm not afraid to use it, so headache is kept at bay and I can do groceries and go to work.

Yay for no surgery, shrift.

I will never cut sugar completely from my diet. Reduce it, sure, and severely. But artificial sweeteners are out, stevia sucks, and as with butter, small amounts aren't truly harmful as long as those amounts *stay* small.

We have done a radical diet change, even though the shift has been gradual. The things I love are bad for me in the quantities I'd like to eat them, and I'd never eat the stuff that's good for me. I've learned to make veg the major portion of my diet, whether I like them or not, just as good fuel. Things I like--that don't cause adverse reactions--I still eat. Just in much smaller proportion.

I've been doing crazy Medifast diet for about 7 weeks now. It's been working ok for me in part because it cuts down on my choices. With something like weight watchers I still have to plan and decide and figure out what I can eat and how much I can eat the rest of the day, etc etc. with this, I eat five of their bars/puffs/packets a day, and one "lean and green" (protein and veggies) meal. It's not too bad. Though my roommate made blondies and seeing them on the counter has been impossible to resist. I did eat one yesterday.

I go through such ups and downs with what I eat. Right now I'm in a crap phase.

I did find a sweetener that I like -- monkfruit extract or whatever they call it. It's SO much better than stevia to my tastebuds. It's OK in coffee, fine in tea, and great in iced tea. I did a cursory google, and it seems not horrible for a body. I mean, this week, anyway. It's natural don't ya' know? Yeah. So is a lot of crap.

Frankly more important right now is getting back to regular physical exercise, which I'm also dragging my tail on for some reason.

This is what I'm concentrating on. I've cut way way back on sugar/soda and mac-n-cheese (my easy go-to meal) and crackers, none of which are good in the quantities I was consuming them. That allowed me to lose about 14 pounds since Halloween. I still need to start thinking of fruit and vegetables as "food", because even if they're in the house, I ignore them and go for something bread-based. An omelette for breakfast makes a big difference in how the rest of the day goes. But exercise is the big thing. I've become almost completely sedentary, thanks mainly to the depression I got hit with last summer. It's an easy habit to break and a hard one to pick back up again, for me. The treadmill isn't just there for the cats to lounge on, Self.

A couple years ago, I lost fifty pounds after reading "Intuitive Eating", can't remember the authors' names, it's two dieticians. The approach is, you eat what you want, when you want, as much as you want - but the trick is, you pay careful attention to cues from your body as to each of those. Eating when you are a little hungry rather than waiting until you are ready to gnaw a limb off, and then you stop when you first begin to feel satisfied rather than continue face-stuffing until full.

I got tripped up after my doctor was soooooo congratulatory. It felt like such a slap in the face. Decades of following whatever diet crossed my path, hoping to earn the priviledge of being thin, only to get fatter and fatter; then I quit dieting and start losing serious weight? Yeah, no. Cause and effect have come untethered, and I am ill-prepared to face such an illogical world. Also since there is no chance I will get my turn to be young and pretty and skinny, there is also no chance I can treat this body with the care and respect it requires to practice mindful eating.

WindSparrow, I've read that - it's a great book. Another good one is Health at Every Size.

Andi, is it okay if I respond to something in your whitefont, or would you prefer I don't? I 100% understand if this is something you are through discussing/thinking about.