“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” -Shaw

So, I've come to realize that I've let too many not-so-great food items creep back into my life. In the beginning, I ate only healthy things. I rarely ever ate bread, I didn't eat sweets, I just ate really healthy foods. Over time, I began to discover low-calorie options for foods that I used to eat, such as bread, cereal, prepared meals, etc. My weight loss progress has slowed significantly, and yes, a lot of that can be contributed to the fact that I'm smaller and pounds come off more slowly towards the end, but that's not all it is. I've talked about eating a good calorie diet versus a low calorie diet and I've somehow let myself slip into just a low calorie diet....

My big issue item lately is bread. I love bread. I've always loved bread and I'll always have issues with it. I eat way too many sandwiches, too many sweets, too many bad choices. Yes, I eat a low amount of calories, but what I'm eating is not necessarily good for me. When I found that reduced-calorie sliced bread at Publix, I almost cried because I had missed eating sandwiches so badly. Unfortunately, I've let eating them become too routine. I eat way too much bread these days and am not focusing on slow carbs like I should be. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that what I've been eating is affecting my progress. I think I've gotten so caught up in enjoying eating "normal" food. What I mean by that is for so long in the beginning, I was eating specialized meals, certain foods, and cutting out things like bread because I didn't know about some of the foods I now eat. When I discovered them, I let it take over. I let these things become too precious in my mind and then enjoyed them too often...

From now on, I'm going to limit myself to eating bread in only one meal a day, if that. I'd like to cut it out like I did in the beginning, but I just don't think I can completely. Its too good...BUT I will limit it much more strictly now. I'm going to cut out sweets, I'm going to cut out so many things that I've enjoyed too often lately. No more late-night snacks, no more eating out and giving in to bad things, no more splurges. The splurges have become too commonplace and are honestly no longer splurges. I'VE GOT TO STOP! I'm better than this and I know from experience that I am capable of this. I know I've said that I hate when people ask me if I should be eating something, but at this point, if you see me out, about to eat something that you and I both know that I shouldn't be eating, slap it outta my hand. Period. I need your help as much as you seek mine. I'm not perfect, I've said it a million times, and it remains to be true and always will be. I AM NOT PERFECT. And I don't have to be, no one does.

It is OK to make mistakes. As long as you're trying, as long as you're putting forth the effort, you're succeeding. I haven't been putting forth as much effort as I could or should be. I don't feel good about myself right now. Like I said yesterday, if you do the right thing, you'll feel better and I can tell you that from the experiences I've had over the past couple of weeks. Because I've been sick, been out of town, or still having back problems (by the way, I have a sinus infection...headaches don't make for a productive run :-/ ) the exercise has been light this week. I also skipped Monday night's run because of a bad headache...and... I absolutely HAD to watch the Giants game...I know, I know its no excuse, but it was game 7 of the NLCS! I got to see them destroy their way into the World Series! Which reminds me, I have to run before the first game starts tonight....Anyway, I'm trying hard to get back into the habit and back on track. Its hard and I wish I had never had to fall off of track, but sometimes you can't control what comes up. Illness is annoying and I wish that I hadn't gotten sick, but hey, what can ya do?

I hope you'll trust me to right myself and you'll have faith in me to get myself back to where I was, back to the girl you can look up to and seek motivation and inspiration from. You guys are great and have gotten my blog up to almost 2,000 pageviews! Just a few more! Thank you all!