I am not deprived - I am liberated :)

Hi MFP family & friends

I am not deprived - I am liberated from my old fattening food choices.

For me to be deprived, - and going cold turkey is not deprivation - , it is not restricting my foods in a bad way, it is having a new relationship with food - for nutrition, not for self esteem comfort, not for stuffing myself till i am so full it hurts; not as a reward for a hard day's work, etc.

if I am starving at 9:00 pm, almost bedtime, deprivation would be not to have that bowl of cereal because some people think i should not eat past 6:00.

If i want 2% milk on my cereal, I wont deprive myself of that and put skim milk on just because its less calories - it tastes like watery cereal. So i will choose the 2% for better taste.

if i am out for the day, I will choose the best restaurant to get lunch, Red Lobster if im having a taste for it, and I fit it in my MFP macros, but I might settle for Subway where I can have a better choice and more food with less calories and sodium than Popeyes chicken which will deplete my MFP calorie budget for the day; depriving myself would be eating only sushi or watercress sandwiches.

Deprivation would be if i had a taste for some ice cream from Michigan and I want to go to the historic Sherman's Ice Cream, i will have some, because i hear its very tasty full fat ice cream, but i will have a scoop or a cone, not a whole fudge sundae.

When i started this, i went cold turkey on some items for the first couple months, till the cravings and reward I got for those delicious foods, went away. At first I had to do this because it was the way to detach from them. As i had a somewhat food addiction and once I started, the taste would make me overeat or want more. Even now, I live in a neighborhood where its :"Restaurant Row" where every cuisine imaginable is within walking distance from my house, or drivable in the car. right now i dont think i have the strength to go to my fave all you can eat buffet because i know i would overdo it.. however, if i decide to go to the buffet, i would have to make the effort to eat one plate and enjoy more healthy food rather than the desserts. I dont want to take the chance on it, but I did last month go to a buffet because it was a wedding receiption and my appetite went down and i just ate one plate. but i would not put myself in danger becaust I dont think i can resist, and Im doing well loseing weight, not worth it to screw up my running toward my goals.

now, if i ever indulge in some fattening food, it really tastes good. I dont crucify myself while eating it, I savor it and I enjoy it, and thats it. I dont make it a regular part of my diet. Why? because its too expensive caloriewise. I can eat 1600 calories and I'd rather spend those precious calories on good solid food like a big steak and asparagus with lemon and a pat of butter.

i'd rather fill myself up with a package of spinach with lemon pepper than a cheap pop tart .. my preference. I dont feel deprived coz im not eating a poptart. if im going to have some dessert, I'd have a slice of key lime pie, or a scoop of full fat ice cream or a skinny crust veggie pizza easy cheese if i want something, it better be THE best!

Well so far I've lost almost 40 pounds in three months, when i tend to overeat, it slows my progress, why would i want to slow my progress? why would i want to eat the food that got me fat in the first place? its not worth it. whats worth it to me is not that pop tart, or ice cream all the time, or pizza slices regularly or Taco Bell several times a week, if i ate all that, i would be on maintenance , not losing.

What i do is try to find the best choices to eat, the most nutrition for the calories, to budget for the times when i do want an indulgence, and this works out. if it does not i tweak as i go along.

Just eating what i really need to eat, i dont have many calories, only 1600 and even when i restrict myself, its not much, so I choose wisely.

In order for me to stay on this healthy way of eating, I need to find a way I can live with it the rest of my life. if I can find something that tastes great while being less calories, you better believe Im going to eat it. I'm not going to waste my calorie budget on crap like soda pop, pop tarts, ice cream, pizza, taco bell and sandwiches that have 1,000 grams of sodium, and 1500 calories just for one item.

I know we are not supposed to have food obsessions or eat anorexically, or have food idiocyncracies where we eat "the watermelon diet" where we just eat watermelon and nothing else. And not to binge and purge, and not to starve ourselves. I understand the principles of MFP.

But like I would not tell a vegan to go eat meat because he is depriving himself of a nice juicy steak, while I would not tell someone training for a marathon just to eat a little bit of whatever they are told not to eat, just like I wouldn't tell someone exercising 4 times a week, to just indulge in a little bit of goofing off rather than going to the gym, i would not discourage someone who wants to go cold turkey to jump start their diet not to do it.

i would find a way to encourage them what to eat instead.

And just because "you" can eat all that, it doesn't mean I can.. who knows.. maybe you do more exercise than me and can eat it. maybe you are at a different weight than me, etc etc. we are all different.

But I am not deprived just coz i choose not to eat what you choose to eat. I'm doing ok I love seeing the pounds come off and for that result, its worth it! Because - THIN TASTES BETTER.