305 the Lace Curtain

My favorite weight-loss blogger, Sean Anderson, often talks about his "steel curtain" zone. It's the commitment  he made to himself and it kept him safe and on track all the way from 505 pounds to 230 and still protects him today. I admire him hugely, but you know, I don't trust that steel curtain. I've had too many experiences where I set similar rigid standards and did great until the one day something went wrong and the curtain crashed. After that I never could find the energy and desire to erect the steel curtain again--usually, deep down, I was relieved that it was gone. It seems to me that if the changes in a person's life are so drastic that you need psychological protection to maintain them, then the changes are too extreme no matter if the change is healthy or not. Every blue moon or so there comes along a Sean or a Richard Simmons who can actually turn things around overnight and maintain the change, but it seems that the rest of us simply can't do that--and there's a good reason, going from out of control eating to rigidly controlled eating is simply the flip side of the same coin. Both are extreme. One of the big problems with any diet is that the "steel curtain" is implied. Obviously if you stick to the diet, you'll  have success, if you don't you won't. And since virtually no one (certainly not me!) can stick to any diet perfectly people are always either "on" or "off" whatever plan. Getting on and off the diet wagon is exhausting--I think that energy is much better spent moving along on the journey.

Anyway--when I get to goal weight it will be because THIS time was different--I deliberatley DID NOT erect a steel curtain. Just the opposite. I have a lace curtain. It provides guidelines and I can feel it if I cross those guidelines, but it has many holes and allows me through. I'm suceeding this time specifically because I CAN and DO eat as I like quite often. The piece of cheesecake the other night didn't destroy me because it was the only poor choice among many more good choices that day. Lapses like that are actually part of my plan.  Sure, it would have been better if I hadn't eaten it, but I maintained a willingness to try again the next day. And THAT I think, is the real key to success.

Ok--enough preaching. I'm grateful today for---
blackberries on my cream of wheat
homemade rolls for lunch
That work is the perfect distance for me to walk to
laughing cow cheese
deli meat with cream cheese
Hungry Girl receipies--I'll be trying a turtle cheesecake this weekend!
That there are plenty of people out there who would be THRILLED to wake up at my weight today.