Digest Diet Part 2

I'm going to admit that I was being a big baby last night.  I feel a ton better today.  Maybe it's because I got to eat a burger (a burger!) today.  It was sooooo yummy.  It's a Turkey Mushroom burger with garlic, broiled and topped with tomato paste.  YUM!!!  (I also learned that I like tomato paste as well as ketchup, and I only lose the salt, sugar and additives.)

I'm also going to fess up that I've cheated a little.  I ate some trail mix that included dried cranberries and dried blueberries and a couple of chocolate chips.  Like, 10 chocolate chips. (It also included peanuts and cashews which are phase three foods.)  At snack time, instead of eating my favorite Wasa crackers topped with natural peanut butter or laughing cow cheese (Wendell just found a laughing cow that has cinnamon!), I had a SOFT piece of white bread, my same natural PB and some honey.  It was divine.

Tonight we made Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls.  I don't actually like cinnamon rolls so I ate a couple bites of Wendell's that had frosting (I do like frosting) and I was OK.

I feel so much less deprived.  I remember when I started on this path (the Digest Diet way to healthy eating) I thought knew that it would be a hard plan for me.  So, my agreement to myself was that I would do a "modified" version--a term I got from a friend who's been super successful at Weight Watchers.

When this friend and I went out to lunch, I asked her what she was doing.  She'd dropped a lot of weight and looked fantastic and seemed like she felt really healthy.  "I'm doing a modified version of Weight Watchers," she told me.

I never did get out of her how she was modifying the program, but when I saw this plan, I felt pretty sure I'd need some modifications as well.

A few years ago, my kids' elementary school principal lost a shocking 100 lbs.  I don't know what plan he was doing, but he'd gotten a serious scare at the doctor's and was told that unless he did something, he wouldn't be around to enjoy his grandchildren, yet unborn.

His weight loss was so rapid and so impressive that you felt compelled to study what he ate.  I remember the end-of-year PTA luncheon.  He loaded up with fruits and veggies, but he also took a single Doritos chip.  One.  (This reminds me of the Lays commercials that said, "I bet you can't eat just one.")  I remember being impressed 1) that he could have a treat--or something bonafide bad for you and 2) that he did it with such moderation.

That, I guess, is the key to this whole thing.  It's not that I'll never get another treat again, but can I enjoy just a bite or two and stick with this healthier lifestyle.

I must admit that I feel physically better than I have in a while.  I feel more energetic, more limber, I've been able to cut down on my arthritis meds and I've become optimistic that I might actually be able to reduce my anti-depressant dose.

I'm definitely not sugar coating or gushing about this program.  It's hard to get off sugar and bleached flour.  But it seems worth it.