- A full glass of champagne at a nice restaurant, dining with my girlfriends
- Mini-Snickers ice-cream bars
- Pepperoni pizza
- Sprinkles cupcakes
- A frosty Bud Light after a long day
- The most delicious grilled chicken sandwich served at the cafe in my building
***
Giving up alcohol/meat/sweets hasn't been the hardest thing I've ever done, and it actually gets easier as time ticks on, but I still miss those indulgences, those treats, those delicious, delicious things.
But, it's just so helpful for me when I take gray things out of my weight-loss equation. Things that could trip-up my goals if I'm not really vigilant with eating them in very small amounts. So while I could certainly use one of the above when the weather freaks out and drops to six degrees or an author is being particularly horrible or breaking Kyle of his pacifier addiction has him waking up earlier than he is in A YEAR OMG, I know giving those things up is the key to weight-loss for me.
I've said I'm only going to give these things up for Biggest Blogging Loser, which runs until March 28th, but I've changed my mind. I'll give them up until I reach my goal weight (of 132 pounds). I hope that's around the same time, but it gives me extra motivation (on top of all that cold hard cash) over the next two months.
I don't want to live a life without things I enjoy. I don't want to give up chocolate cake or a glass of cold white wine on a summer porch forever, I just want to learn to make these things a smaller part of my diet and healthier things a larger part. I want the balance to be smarter, and I want to have more control over that balance.
This last month has been really nice in terms of eating a lot less, but also eating a lot better. No frozen lunches. No 100-calorie packs. No high-processed but low-calorie things. Fruits, veggies, handmade dinners. Wholer, better foods.
***
Something I've been trying to do more of is to ask more questions across the board. I can be too trusting with everything. I need to ask, to be aware, to verbalize things rattling around in my head no matter who those questions make uncomfortable. A few of those questions when it comes to food: What am I eating? Where is it from? Why am I eating it? Do I love it? Can I make this instead of buying it?
I think these questions are important to me, to help me find more freedom in the kitchen and with my diet, actually, and definitely more control.
Last year, I kicked off a healthier, thinner me, but this year I feel I'm kicking off a healthier lifestyle.
Feels good.
***
(Although, yes, there's a bottle of champagne in the fridge, chilling nicely in anticipation.)