TOMORROWS A CLEAN SLATE

[robert42]

I may get yelled at for saying this, but being allowed to fail gracefully is one thing I really like about LDL.  Roger says in the book, if you absolutely *must*, go with the least fattening option available.  This isn't a green light to eat whatever you want in as much quantity, but if you're stuck someplace and you have to eat, do the best you can and get back to it the next day/next meal, etc.  I usually feel proud that I ate as well as I did under the circumstances.  If I felt guilty, it would be too easy to turn around and wallow in my failure rather than just continuing to do the best I can.

I had a relatively bad weekend.  I had some California Pizza Kitchen pizza for lunch on Sunday.  We were out, we were all starving, and I couldn't persuade anyone to go anywhere else (not that there were any more healthy options near the mall we were at).  I couldn't find a salad that I really wanted to eat that wasn't a bad cheat and would have had to modify too much to make it LDL so I had a pizza.  The crust was very thin and it had chicken and beans and not very much cheese.  I also had some soup that was somewhat ok that also had some beans in it.

Could have done better but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.  I figure that at least for the first while, as long as I'm doing better than I was and as long as I'm not eating bad food due to cravings but less bad (possibly modified) food due to conscious choice, I should stay on track.  This is similar to having the hamburger and eating it open face or ripping out the inside of a sub roll or having a snyders pretzel, etc.  I haven't had to do that as I'm not craving breads so I should be safe. 

I do have to avoid potatos like the plague, however as that is my trigger food....

[Grammasuz]

Certainly not gonna find me yellin at ya.  I love this board in that we can share our true feelings--we may slip and fall, but our extended family is here to help us back up and encourage us to get back with the program.  Thats why in my post I said that YES that slice of dessert (which by the way was Kahlua Cheesecake Pie from Marie Callenders) was WORTH IT.  I couldn't say ooh I felt awful after eating it, it didn't really taste good.  HECK NO IT TASTED WONDERFUL.  But the good thing is I only had one very small slice.  When there was pie left and it was offered to me to take home I quickly said NO TAKE IT AWAY.  I knew I would have gone home and pigged out on it   But that one little slice didn't open up a lot of cravings for me.  I certainly am not here to recommend others to give in to temptation.  For some it might trigger a problem.  But for me this one time was just a nice treat.  I went right back on program the next day. 

[niki]

debbie and tara.........did i never mention that it was the two of you i was determined to watchdog?.....my plan was to give you both until after new years...i can't even tell you why the two of you...maybe the Lord put it on my heart...i don't know....but,JUST SO YOU KNOW,i don't plan on giving up any time soon.....SO,you're really stuck with me........
  suz...have a great time on your cruise....enjoy the music and the fellowship...enjoy all that fruit and whatever else you eat............ENJOY...............
  this thread is just the kind of thread i enjoy(UNLESS we're talking about the ranch)where everyone really talks about their feelings....you know,it's all well and good for everything to look nice and shiny on the outside when there are issues on the inside....and they don't resolve unless you talk about them.....God bless you guys.........niki
 

[Grammasuz]

Thanks Niki-  I am really looking forward to the cruise.  And I know there will be lots of good things for me to choose from.  I've already told my girlfriend that I travel with that I may not go to the fancy dining room every night.  We'll play by ear.  And when we find some "free" time, when there's not a group playing, we'll get in some walking or maybe we can even visit the gym.  I'm sure we'll have time in the mornings as we both rise early!!  Thats the good thing about us travelling together.  We both get up with the chickens!! 

[robnveronica]

yeah...she rises w/ the chickens...but she goes to bed w/ the SON! (PUN Intended!) and just in case you're wondering...except in summer..dont ever think you'll find her up past about 9pm! shes fast on her way to dreamland about then!.... me on the other hand I'm up til cows come home then up again w/ chickens!

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Hmmm Niki, that explains why for the last month  I feel your presence everytime I put something bad into my mouth ROFL  I'm sorry I tricked you and Veronica into thinking I was doing good, I didnt mean to.  I REALLY WAS DOING AWESOME till last sunday.  And I think you see a pattern with me now......if Im not posting like an idiot, Im not doing good.  If Im posting like CRAZY Im still on Track lol.  I am trying to break that cycle.  As I said before I cant stand being all EXCITED only to FALL FLAT ON MY FACE.  I am a very middlegrounded person and all this SUCCESS and FAILURE with all its UPS and DOWNS is unsettling to me.   I would have slinked off into the abyss never to be seen again had it not been for a few well timed personal messages by the LDL angels.  This is so funny I have to share it with you guys.  Super Tom had emailed me with some encouragement and when I emailed him back it occurred to me whats different about LDL than anything else Id ever tried before.....I explained to him that everytime I just try to quietly dissapear from the boards I get emails dragging me back by my hair.  Ive never been on a diet before that TALKS BACK TO ME!!! ROFL.  LDL challenges my brain everytime it wants to revert to its old ways of eating.  It doesnt allow me to just slide back into old habits cause I am accountable to the friends I have made here.  This is such a personalize plan.  I have met such wonderful friends on here who have struggles and successes and who think its important for me to find my way back to good health.  I SWEAR THERE IS NO PLACE ELSE ON THE PLANET CAN YOU FIND THIS.  If I went to weightwatchers or LA weightloss....once they got my money noone would call and say....HOW ARE YOU???? DEBBIE YOURE NOT EATING ENOUGH!!!!!! YOU CAN DO THIS SWEETIE!!!!!

I need to sign off and get a good nights sleep so I can make good food choices tomorrow.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL
I VOW TO KEEP YOU  ALL IN MY DAILY PRAYERS
LOVE
DEBBIE

[jerio]

Ms Debbie, I just wanted to say that I sure hope that you keep posting..cause you are absolutely funny and inspiring...Im brand new here, but it helps me a lot to read the posts...oh and also I want to thank you for that fake potato salad recipe..see you have no idea how important that recipe is to me...I thought well I'll have to go the rest of my life without my all time favorite dish..but not so...I just love the fake recipe..so see you do so much good without even being aware of it...like all the nice people here..this plan is where it's at...I've done all of the others..and I do mean all....do you remember when Oprah did the Optifast starvation thing..came on stage with all that fat in a wheelbarrow  ha ha...I did that one too...and just like it didn't last for Oprah..it didn't last for me...gained back more than I'd lost..
Im gettin windy here..but..I just wanted you to know that you do help others just by being here..so..keep on posting...

[EnJae]

Hey Debbie!
I'm glad you're choosing to go full steam ahead!
You can DO THIS!!!!

niki; you keep 'sitting on her shoulder'. lol

I've been doing great. I haven't been on the boards much because I've been working on my brother's new house. (Old house, new to us.) But the hard work is good for me. Builds character, I've heard. 

NJ

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Hey Annie,
I remember that optifast diet.  I think I was younger and it was too expensive for me and I didnt try it so in that case Ive probably been on everything but that or Jenny Craig.  That one never appealed to me for some reason either.  Probably the money factor again.  Im glad you feel like you get something from my posts too.  I often feel bad around here cause I seem to be taking more than giving most days.  I understand the plan but not having had more than 15 lbs of success I dont feel that confident in giving advice just yet.  For the meantime I guess all I can do it document my journey and someday when I finally stop losing whatever Im meant to lose it will all be here to help someone else who needs it.  Someday I hope to be as encouraging around here as Miss Niki but its like the oxygen on the airplane....you have to get some for yourself first before you can help others. 
Love
Debbie

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Miss Enjae,
Words cannot express HOW VERY PROUD I AM OF YOU.  Unlike you who has continued quietly, I have come on here and made a fool of myself while you have quietly forged ahead!!!!  I am going to take a step back and possibly journal a little less publicly to get out all of the emotional stuff.  My plan is to take some of what Niki proposed to me and let it sink in and try to make this journey here a little less of a roller coaster ride and more of a Sunny Sunday ride in the country.  Robert42 also made me realize that although a clean slate is nice.....its just a matter of time before someone messes it up.  (ahemmmm ME lol)  I am going to try and coordinate cementing my new habits around the 40 days of lent.  Sort of like a Promise Driven Life  only this will be my LDL Driven Life or LDLDL for short lol  I figure if I want to make a permanent change into a reality which has been said to take 28 days to form a habit.......if I can committ to LDL for the  40 days of lent it will be a managable goal for me.  This will include rereading the book to erase any edits I have accidentally made in my own mind lol  I have many times given up sweets or snacks at this time so doing LDL would certainly be a positive change in my life.  LDL is important for me and I will make this lifestyle work for me, even if it takes 40 lents to do it.  I will get up brush myself off and continue  walking in the right direction.   
Love
Debbie

[joecaracappa]

Speaking of which, some years ago I stopped "giving up" something during Lent and "took up" something instead. This year I am going to add 3 meals of fresh fish (the kind with fins, salmon, trout, catfish......) to my diet per week. Now that may not seem like much but I am not a fish eater (well tuna maybe). The best fish dinner I ever had was not much better than the worse one! As long as I don't have to eat it poached, I think I can get it down.

I'm doing this because I know it is a healthy way to eat and it works well with the LDL philosophy of "eat until you are full"...........ever try eating a pound of fish?.

The one exception to my resistance to fish was the spaghetti with tuna sauce that my mother used to make during Lent and in the old meatless Friday days............THAT was good eating!

Joe

[robnveronica]

Debbie...day 3 of behaving 1 meal at a time! I've been working closer to home for a little over 1 week (and have been horribly spoiled!!) and have actually made it home for lunch several times. I just call hubby and he has a nice big salad with NF cottage cheese on it, beans of my choice, corn (if I ask) and FF Italian dressing on it ready and waiting for me! Today I added some canned chicken. So am eating better!
Veronica

[jerio]

Im really greatful that tomorrow is always a clean slate..well, I know that because of what I've done in the past that I won't do things as well always, as I could..to me , being my own worst enemy, ha ha...I try to consider that.  What I mean is that I know how I am, and in the past, I would have used a lot of excuses to give up and to not do this eating plan...I didn't understand that I might feel like crap while I was getting all of that sugar out of my body...or if my tummy got a little upset..then I would have said...well..can't do this...but because I can come here and see other people going thru the normal things that are going to happen ...and seeing them deal with it..I was very encouraged...it's been about a month now for me, and I am just so happy that  I can come here and get that encouragement...LDL is my way of eating..and if I should slip..then I'll just go right back to it..but so far, I just love all of the food I can have..even my favorites..imagine that...potato salad and pumpkin pie...I couldn't ask for more...

[niki]

my bottom line to all you guys(including you,robert) is EAT MORE BEANS....get out your biggest pots..get out your crock pots....make a gigantic pot of soup and eat ALL YOU WANT......i made a big pot of lentil soup for the dinner i made for my family(for my grandson's birthday) because my father loves it...i added meatballs that i ALWAYS have already made in the freezer and got my all time favorite soup....meatball lentil........EAT AND ENJOY...forget about shrinking..focus on improving the quality of your lives............sincerely,niki