Just went to doctor for check-up

@smkondy, I think I just decided to be real with myself and admit that I wasn't going to be content with carrot sticks when there was cake around. Mostly, I've been pre-logging treats and getting out of the mindset that any time I have anything the least bit sugary or oily, the weight I lost will come rushing back. I'd have to say that I eat fewer treats than I did pre-MFP, but I fit in some more calorie-dense choices once or twice a week.

And when I recognize that yes, I do want a piece of cake, and I'm going to budget for it, and it's okay to have, 1) I can stick to the one piece 2) all I have is the cake, not the guilt and negativity that always came free on the side and told me that the day was blown and I might as well keep loading my plate.

I don't have cheat days or cheat meals. I haven't once gone over my daily calories, though it took me a couple of months to start eating back some of my exercise calories. My starting limit was 1720 and I'm now down to 1520. But that was 1720 when my daily exercise goal was at least 30 minutes of walking at a leisurely pace. I didn't feel a need to eat anything back. Now it's at least 60 OR 45 minutes on a Nordic track ski machine. If I don't eat back some of the calories, I do get hungry now.

And on a sadder and more serious note, I found MFP when my doctor told me I needed to lose weight after I was diagnosed with poor lower-body circulation/refluxed veins, which let to cellulitus, which led to lymph edema, which meant months with a weeping wound on my leg and daily visits from home-care nurses. Losing weight means my ankles don't have to support the same load, so my circulation improves (with the aid of compression stockings) and I hopefully don't need more nursing visits. I really want to avoid those if I can.