Are you in "Food Calm Zen Zone" yet? It's Nice To Be Here...An Inspiring 6 Month Blogger's Update...Day 69 (?) of Phase 5

My official weigh-in for the Challenge is 210, 2 lbs down from last Sunday.

Tanita-san said: 210.2, 210.0, 210.2.
So,  210.2 it is for me and rounded for the challenge weigh-in. It's what I asked my body to be when I went to bed. I had put my hands on my abdomen and just told my brain and my belly to give me 210.2 or less, so I could have a nice weigh-in. We done it.

I keep feeling a bit astonished at how, day in and day out, for several months now, I've just felt pretty much FOOD CALM.

I don't obsess about ordering this or that, though I will have particular cravings. The cravings tend to be lighter and more passing than in the past 20+ years. I'll think, "Oh, a veggie lasagna sounds mighty nice." And then it'll pass and I have whatever is on my plan.

Before, I'd feel semi-frantic preparing food, cause I wanted to eat it RIGHT NOW.

Now, I take my time fixing my meals. No rush. I'll pop a piece of melon or chew a chunk of celery or a few spinach leaves when making stuff, but no sense of , " I must eat now or I will DIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."

I can get up feeling normal, not famished for breakfast. I crave fresh food. More and more I look at packages and cans and think, "I need to give these away to the local food pantry." Every day, it's the freshest stuff that seems to call my  name. I'm leery more and more of all these fake foods, even the handy diet fake foods that I used to begin my journey last summer and whose use has dwindled more and more as the months have gone on.

Even my beloved WS hot cakes (lower carb, low calorie) don't have the allure they used to. They are there as a "If I get a hot cake craving" thing, but I default to fresh stuff more. We weren't created to eat little packets of fake food. Whether it's MediFast, WonderSlim, BariWise, ProtiDiet or whatever. That's really an unnatural way to eat. And while they may serve a purpose, I am very leery mentally of relying on these too long. It's fake. It's often salty. It's often packed with not-that-high-quality stuff (hey, they want profit, remember).

I wish there was an organic Farmer's Market ACROSS THE STREET so I could go every day, blithely, with a basket or my Baggus and just get new, beautiful produce daily. Whatever is freshest and most beautiful.

Ah, well. One can dream.

I'd rather have fresh watermelon than chocolate cake or an Oreo these days. I'd rather have lightly sauteed baby bok choy than an egg roll or sweet n sour pork. I'd rather have a fresh herbed cut of meat well-grilled than a salty preserved sausage or hot dog (packed with who knows what crap). I want to keep feeling this way.

I can go to bed feeling lighter, not overstuffed from dinner.

I can go to restaurants and not freak when I see chocolate mousse or cheese souffle on the menu, or baby back ribs or pizza, or anything. I'm fine. I zoom in and target on what I CAN HAVE that will make me feel BETTER....and continue the appetite calm.

I take a page from Gillian Riley. When confronted by that menu of delights, I tell myself I can have it if I want it, but then I think of the sequence of consequences: insulin spike, increased hunger, bloating, possible a binge.

"Is it worth the chain reaction that MIGHT possibly destroy this nice flow of FOOD CALM?"

Usually, mostly, the answer is NO WAY.

I like appetite zen zone. :)

It feels good, right?

And on a side note: Anyone know what's up with Kristen of KREATING KRISTEN blog. Looks like she went private, but I don't recall seeing a post saying she was doing so. Oh, well. Hope she's okay. Too many folks gone private or whose blogs gone missing altogether this year. Bummer.

Need some inspiration: HERE YA GO.  In 6 months--SIX months--a loss of 97 lbs and status change from couch potato to half-marathoner. Yes, baby. That's motivational!

Happy Sunday, People. Choose wisely today when you choose what goes into your mouth.