Substitutions

I've been at a loss as to what exactly to call this whole journey I'm on.  Typically, when we think of a "diet" we think of a starting point and an end goal.  My end goal is to weigh 125 lbs.  But this is so much more than a "diet".  It's not something I can check off and then move on with life.  Lose weight?  Check.  Did it, don't have to worry about food again.  Well, yes and no.  I may not live the rest of my life consuming only 1,500 calories a day, but it certainly doesn't mean I get to go back to eating whatever I want again.  Especially given that I am in my mid-30s now, about to turn 36---the last year of my mid-30s.  Next year, I'll officially be in my "late 30s", with 40 knocking on the door.  So this is more of a diet/lifestyle change I'm working to affect.

One of the lessons I've learned over the last (almost) two weeks is that I need to be extremely picky about what I put in my mouth.  Do I really want to expend my calories on X when I can have Y?  For example, today we went to a pool party.  The menu was hotdogs, which are high in calories and are not my favorite food anyway.  So I had to decide if I wanted to spend my calories on something I don't love or not.  And I chose not.  Before we left, I packed myself a peanut-butter sandwich on honey wheat bread, a baggie of sweet pepper slices, and a couple 100-calorie packs.  For munching at the pool, I packed baby carrots (instead of the chips everyone else had) and plenty of water.  Doing this enabled me to have a Rice Krispie treat square.  When I got home and figured up my calories, I realized I had a little less than 500 calories left for the day--which made dinner kind of interesting.  I just figured I'd probably be over on my calories for the day.  However, instead of being upside down, I got out my book of fast food nutrition information, looked up Burger King, and found something to eat that was less than my remaining calories.  Yes, it meant that I had a salad instead of a burger.  But that's okay.  The salad was tasty, filling, and I have the added satisfaction of knowing that I remained within my allotted calories for the day even while at a party, and even while eating out! 

And that is far more satisfying than any cheeseburger could ever be.