Notes From My Therapist

I am an all or nothing person, but I've done it in the past.  When it worked for me I would out to a restaurant and order grilled fish and a plain baked potato.  I'd put a little butter on the potato.  I didn't order desert when I went out unless it was a special occasion or I was sharing it with at least two people.  Now my mom is the type of person who (in the past) stuck to her plan of eating healthy all week and weekend dinners she had whatever she wanted.  I have to to be a little more disciplined.  You have to find motivation and a plan that works for you that you will stick with.  Everyone has creativity inside of them somewhere.  I taught art  and animation and students always used to tell me that they couldn't draw.  I always proved them wrong!  I really thinks it's the same with creativity. My dad lost a lot of weight too and he always uses the calories thing 15 calories for each pound of body weight.  Then he would look for ways to cut out calories.  When he cut out 3500 he would lose a pound.  He ate lots of salads.  That never worked for me, too mathematical.  He's doing that again now b/c he crept back up after he was in a plane crash.  He likes Burger King, but he's cutting that out now.

See, this is the **** I need to learn.  This mother grabbin' band has taught me nothing like this stuff and the nutritionist hooked up to my surgeon is younger than I am and to be honest, I don't take anything she says seriously.  I need to learn this crap from someone who's been successful at losing weight, not from some skinny minnie who went to school.

Thanks Shari, glad I saw this, great words of wisdom!

you funny girl...i WAS hoping for some naked Shari right in here. oh well,mebbe later, huh? I am on board at LONG LAST for #1...love the wedding analogy...where was Mr. Smart Therapist when I needed him about 20 years ago. I have it my head to treat it like the chronic disease that it is...it is not going away...NEVER will I be able to have food all ways...as much as i want, whenever i want, whatever i want. #2 & 3:  i think i have found a way to have my mini-vaca every day, or at least most days by having a normal meal at the end of my day. I 'll eat the steamed kale in hi protein soup, suck down the protein drink for breakfast, eat fresh fruit and veggies with cottage cheese all day to get to the destination supper each day.  The daily "price" for this way of travel:  I cannot eat however much i want of this stuff...ONE PORTION, except for fruits and veggies.  Real life out of town vacations...my goal is to maintain, but if it means coming home with an extra 2-3#, i can deal with that. I try to at least eat local cuisine that i cannot buy anywhere but there.  Make it unique without being a Roman holiday.  PS:  hey, yall...NEWSFLASH...most fat peeps are all or nothing types.  Why do you think they suck at losing and keeping it off? This change of mind is one of the early steps that must happen if you want success. Yes, we all have lost the same 100# over and over again by doing it that way...but then it came back...10..20...40..60 pounds back up on our asses. It doesn't work...so stubbornly saying that you are is a show stopper. YOU CAN CHANGE. YOU JUST NEED TO CHOOSE IT> #4:  I am finally at peace with the fact that I do love food. I love it...I was a foodie before it was cool to be one. I love to cook it, eat it, smell it, grow it, feel it, pay for it, talk about it, write about it, talk about it, read about it...i love IT. I read cook books. The fact that I once had a sick relationship with food is two stories.  hey , just like my men.  i've had sick relationships with them, but no more.  I CHANGED.

Shari, This is a great thread!  Thanks for starting it and thanks to the rest of you for some great contributions.  So much insight and thought-provoking info.