Maybe It's Time - and Not Just for Me

Is it just me, or are there more non-diet blogs every day? It's been a couple of months since I decided to stop dieting and nearly a month since I started this blog. At the time, I felt like a very small voice. I gradually found a few of the 'names' in the diet-free world. I started reading their blogs and following them on Twitter.

The last couple of weeks, though, I've started to see more 'regular' people ditching diets and starting blogs about it. It's certainly been a learning experience for me, and it's great to read others' experiences and solutions to the unique issues we face. It's also nice to not feel so alone.

If you have a non-dieting blog, or know anyone who does, please share.

Way to Bring a Conversation to a Rapid Conclusion

I was recently talking to a group of women when the talk turned - as it so often does - to their diets. One proudly showed her lunch of salmon and salad (with low fat dressing of course) and a diet cola, saying she was being 'good' today. The other frowned in embarrassment saying how much she admired the other woman and wished she could be like that.

Since I didn't have anything to say I stood nearby waiting for the diet discussion to end. Okay, maybe there was a LOT I wanted to say, but nothing I could say. My silence did not go unnoticed, though. One of the women said 'You're not saying anything. What about you?'

Of course, now I had to say something. It took me by surprise, so I didn't have any brilliant response. Not that I would have if I had more time to think. I don't recall the exact words, but it was along the lines of  'I don't diet anymore, so I don't really have anything to say'. Talk about a conversation stopper.

But if they ever decide they want to break up with diets, they know where to find me.

Moments

Making a pinhole 'camera' to watch the eclipse. And it actually worked :)

The Snickerdoodle of Enlightenment

One of the things I have been known to say is that 'Life is too short to eat food you don't like'. Sometimes I'm referring to fake or 'diet food' like margarine or fat free cheese, other times I'm talking about food that's cold or burnt or otherwise not the way you like it, and then there are times you just aren't hungry anymore so you just don't want to eat anymore.

Then there are the times when the food is just plain not good. This time it was a lousy cookie. I don't mean lousy as in 'measly'. I mean lousy as in 'What do you have to do to a Snickerdoodle to make it taste this bad?',  and the obvious follow up question 'People actually pay for cookies this bad? Why?'. (yes, it was a storebought cookie. I'm not going to malign anyone's baking skills)

Eternal questions such as this aside,  I managed to follow my own advice for a change. I tossed it in the trash and didn't look back.

Somehow I think I'll be making cookies of my own later this week.

My Moments

We're had a lot of rainy weekends lately that have kept us indoors. Rain which, sure enough, cleared up just in time to go back to work.

Much as I love a rainy day, I love warm sunshine on my skin, fresh air and spending time outside. So after work I went for a walk in one of my favorite places. I didn't listen to music or anything but the sounds of the wind in the trees and the birds calling to each other. I watched ducks paddling in the lake and stopped for a family of geese crossing the path.  I'm looking forward to going back to see how they've grown.

Another Break-up

 I'm a bit ambivalent about today's post, but I've decided to go with it.

Yes, I want to focus on health and enjoying life, but I'd be dishonest if I said I didn't hope to lose weight, too. I also know that people reading who are considering abandoning diets will be interested to know if it's possible to lose weight without dieting.

So, today I weighed myself. I don't intend to do this every day. Daily weighing and then fretting over the number it shows is something I am hoping to break free from. I've tried to just weigh myself and not let the number affect me, but I've yet to achieve that. I'd like to reach the point where I can stop weighing all together, but I've decided I'm not ready to stop weighing all together. I've settled on a compromise - weighing twice a month, starting today.

It should be simple, right?

So, What Do You Eat?

One of the questions I get asked frequently, is 'What do you eat?' The general answer is 'Anything I want'.

Really. 

It sounds like a flip response, but it isn't. I really do eat whatever I want. It took me a while to learn to trust it,  but I believe my body has a much better idea what fuel and nutrients it needs at any given time than any external source. My job is to listen and trust it.

But here for a more specific answer is a snapshot of a typical day. This particular day was a Saturday. I woke up early so I baked a loaf of bread for breakfast. I also had a couple of pieces of bacon and an egg fried in the bacon fat.

We were out shopping at lunchtime, so we stopped at a mexican chain restaurant for lunch. It was rainy day, so I had a bowl of tortilla soup topped with cheese and sour cream. When we got home, I had a cup of tea.

Dinner was leftovers from earlier in the week. I had a bowl of chili with cheese and sour cream on top, and a slice of cornbread with butter. That was very similar to lunch, but I'm not the kind of person who's bothered by that. I had planned on having popcorn after dinner, but was too full so I didn't.

I don't plan how much I'm going to eat or how often. I tend to eat more at weekend meals, so don't need to eat as often as I do during the week when my meals tend to be smaller. I don't plan it that way, I think just being busy there isn't as much time to eat a large meal.

As to what I eat, as closely as possible I eat what I like and what sounds good to me at the time. Whatever it is it will not be low fat 'diet' food, and very seldom 'junk food'. Neither appeals to me from either a taste or health standpoint.

I'm working to find a balance between planning ahead and eating what and when I like. It's also important to me personally to be hungry for dinner time with my family which is another area I'm working on.  It's early days, though, and I believe as time goes on I will find that balance.

Turning Point

Like many women, I have a history that includes dieting in various forms. Someday maybe I'll go into that history and how and why I decided to change it, but not now. Suffice it to say that at some point I decided life was too short for dieting. Too short to spend any more time judging myself by the number on the scale or the tag inside my clothing. Too short to count calories or grams or points or percentages or anything else the latest 'notadiet' declares is the item to watch.

Instead I intend to focus on improving my health, accepting myself and counting the things that matter. It's a long list. Life, love, family, happiness, health, peace - all the moments that bring joy to my life.

Fill in the Blank

Life's too short to _______