Question...

The biggest change for me has been the EFFORT that it now takes to plan meals and think about the choices on the menu at a restaurant, the label reading, the measuring, the searching for new food ideas, keeping the food logs, etc.  For me, gone are the days of mindless eating.  Sometimes I miss the freedom of the mindlessness.  That being said, the amazing results I'm seeing from being mindful in my planning have been 100% worth it......its still the best decision i've ever made!    

mmm...i'm in love with the Sobe Lifewater 0!  You totally introduced them to me at your jewelry party. =)    The Dundalk Giant has them 10 for $10....i haven't found them cheaper anywhere else.  I do my grocery shopping every 2 weeks and buy 10 of them each time.  I keep all 10 in my car and take one into work each day and make myself drink 24 oz of water before I can drink my Lifewater........i get in that 24 oz. pretty quickly knowing that I get my "treat" afterwards.   Its definitely helped with fluid intake. 

I recently bought them at the Safeway where they were 7.50 for 10! So I purchased 20 of them. Other than that, I get them from the Giant for 10/10.  When I go to the Giant, I also pick up the Greek Yogurt. It's much cheaper there than the other grocery stores.

That is a really good idea on getting the fluid in. I may try to do something similiar to that.... rewarding myself with a Sobe Lifewater. 

I went out for dinner Saturday night and was really irritated, they had no SF Iced Tea, only sweet Tea and carbonated drinks.  Even my favorite pizza place Pizza Johns has nothing SF and non-carbonated. When we go there, we usually stop at McD's and get an unsweetened tea or I at times will have a Sobe in my car.   I'm not sure how well that will work out in the summertime though... whether the heat will affect the taste.

I'm glad I was able to introduce you to something good. SF Candy introduced them to me on the boards.

~hugs~
Ren

Ren,

I think that the hardest adjustment was for my family!!  I have a new way of eating and they really seemed to have a harder time than I did. Also, they are very conscious about where we go out to eat, to make sure it's a place where I ahve options on the menu too.

Thanks Jo. I never really thought about it, but yes, there was definitely an adjustment for my family when we went out.

Also, one thing I remember is to always have a paper napkin handy at the table... sometimes once I chewed the food, it just did not want to be swallowed and it would have to be removed.

I have thought about this question for a long time. Most of the things that I thought were hard, turned out not to be that hard at all. They may have been a little challenging in the beginning. But before long, the changes became routine. So for many of these, giving up carbonation, giving up fried foods, having to plan, I experienced many of these as well. It all turned out to be temporary.

The one thing that has been the toughest for me is learning to live without food as a favorite activity, as a tool to help me through stress, and all of the other complex reasons as to why I ate the way I used to eat.  There are times when these urges still come back. If I give in to them, I usually pay for it one way or the other. The difference now from other weight loss methods I have tried in the past, is that I have finally learned that i will never go back to the person I was. Yes, I will struggle some times. But that is part of the ongoing management of weight and health that many "normal" folks practice. So it is all good.