Repost of a Letter

I was asked today via a very nice  PM on the 3fc boards how I was doing so well on losing weight.  I took some time and wrote out some thoughts I have been having knocking about and haven't put anywhere else.  Since I am lazy as all get out, I am doing a cut 'n' paste job here :)
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What isn't in the blog is that I don't "cheat". At all.  I haven't been tempted even.  When I decided to lose this weight, I went for it 100%.  I don't see the point of doing all of this work but then allowing slips when it is inconvenient for me to stay on my plan.  I started calling this my "sheer force of will diet plan" and I guess that that is how it is turning out.

I think that two of the HUGE reasons that this is really working for me is two-fold (besides not cheating) and that is 1) there is no refined sugar in my diet anymore and 2) I took processed flour products and other refined and starchy carbs out of my diet [ie, plain potatoes and white rice].

The sugar bit is really important; there are tons of studies about sugar in general and about High Fructose Corn Syrup in particular out there that are proving without a shadow of a doubt that they don't burn in the body the same way that other sugars burn.  In essence (and I'm making up the numbers here) 5 calories of HFCS is more like 10 calories.  On top of that, it makes you hungrier!

Sadly, HFCS is in almost everything these days [my husband got a box of mac n cheese and the second freakin' ingredient was HFCS -crazy!].  The fact that I don't eat processed foods (other than yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, and diet soda) helps me to stay away from it without having to read any labels.

In 2009 I gave up 95% of my sugar intake with the exception of special occasions. In 2009 I gained about 20 pounds.  I looked back and I realized I was replacing sugar in bloodstream with carbs from bread.  When I made that realization, I decided that I had an addiction to the blood-sugar high, so quitting cold turkey was the only way I was going to be able to do this, which is the same way I quit a 16 year smoking habit back in 05. 

Bread is the hardest part for me still.  I have a place I order whole grain, sprouted seed super nutrient loaves of bread from.  I have it very sparingly, but I don't deny it to myself when I have a bread craving coming on.  I think I have been going through 1 small loaf every 2.5 weeks.

That is another way that I don't cheat: I feed all my cravings, in a HEALTHY and REASONABLE way.  When I have a sweet tooth, I make my Banana Nice Cream (I'll add the recipe in a bit so you can have it; it will be under sweet treats), or have a bowl of strawberries with Stevia sweetener drizzled with 1 tablespoon of almond or coconut butter.  If I am crazy freaking hungry and want to eat the whole house, I will make a HUGENORMOUS pot of soup (really easy broth/water/collard greens/lemon/garlic mix) which is mega super tasty, and makes my stomach just ache with how full I can get for 150 calories.  

I get full on veggies; you can eat A LOT of veggies and stay within a set calorie range.  I limit my meat (4 oz or less a day, if I have it at all), fats (less than 7grams when cooking), and grains (usually 1/2 a portion instead of a full portion, or I will skip a few days of grains) to a small percentage of my overall meals (except breakfast where I always have my oatmeal nomnomnom).

Finally, I love to cook, I am good at it, and I have the time to do so.  This would be a lot harder (but not impossible) if that wasn't the case.  But even on limited time you can make healthy choices.