Fair to Middling

Had a close call today. Got home, made myself my measured out lunch, then found myself opening up the foil with yesterday's leftover pizza inside. I looked at it, and looked at it, then took out the smallest piece. As I warmed it up I deliberately packed up the rest and put it back in the refrigerator.

Some might say, "Shame on you. You paused, yet you still ate it. You had a chance to put it back, or even throw it away. But you ate it."

But I can't put myself in that perfectionist mode right now. I'm happy I picked out the smallest piece. I'm glad I put the rest away. And I'm relieved the rest of the day went without incident. Eating the one piece didn't give me the WANTS and drive me to eat everything in the house. Instead I seemed pacified with the morsel I allowed myself. I wasn't jonesing at supper time, and I had a portioned, planned snack this evening. And I feel satisfied that I didn't "ruin" the day with one piece of cheese pizza.

Yep, I'm not perfect, but under the circumstances, I'm okay with "fair to middling." It's what's going to get me through the next few stressful weeks. And from what I'm reading, this is what helps keep the big weight gains off in the long run. No one can live in "diet" mode forever; studies have shown it causes rebounding binge eating and changes personality. It's the lifestyle changes, the behavioral changes and emotional coping skills that get to the root of the problem.

I'll have to post more about this tomorrow. I got my Oprah magazine today and there are some pretty interesting articles in there about this subject. But it's time to get the pipsqueak to bed and finish up my chores for the evening.