Now that I'm at the other end of the tunnel...

Now that I've met my goal, here are a few things I've learned over the last couple of months.

Things I'll do differently from now on:

• No dessert after breakfast



• No dessert instead of breakfast



• No finishing the foods on my kids' plates just because it's there



• Eat real fruit instead of drinking juice



• Stop my habit of studiously avoiding the nutrition facts on the side of the box. If I'm scared to look, I probably shouldn't be eating it anyway.



• Stop thinking that if I put in 30 minutes a day on the treadmill I can eat whatever I want with no consequences.



• Suck on chocolate rather than chew it. It lasts longer that way and then I don't need to eat as much. But I still need chocolate in my diet every day-- a couple of months on weight watchers isn't going to change that for me.



• I still want to weigh myself every week. Prior to this experience, the only time I ever got on the scale was at the doctor's office. I'd just look at the one in my bathroom (hidden away in a closet) and start to feel panicky. Over the last few weeks, I've started feeling sort of pumped for my weekly weigh-ins, and I want to be able to catch any excesses before they get out of control.



• Stop thinking that I'm skinny if I only look at myself in the mirror while sucking it in. I really don't think I look all that different than I did 15 pounds ago, I just have to suck it in less than I used to to look the same.



• Add less cheese, nuts and salad dressing to the things I make. Now I'll often half the amount of cheese or nuts a recipe calls for and I hardly notice the difference.



• Stop eating here (check out those nutritionals!)



• There are definitely times to splurge-- like when you're in New Orleans. I say splurge and be proud of it!

Foods that rock:

• A smoothie made from 1 carton of yogurt, 1 banana, a big handful of frozen berries and a splash of crystal light.



• Fiber One Bars (only the chocolate ones, the peanut butter ones don't do it for me)



• Fiber One Clusters Cereal



• Edy's and Breyer's Churn Style Ice Cream (my favorite is still Breyer's Light Mint Chocolate Chip)



• Anything Skinny Cow



• Carrot sticks, carrot sticks, and even more carrot sticks



• Chick-fil-a's Southwestern Chicken Salad (even better if you forgo the dressing and use a salsa/fat-free ranch combo on top)

Normal foods I'm excited to eat again (in moderation, of course):

• Chocolate milk (at 4pts for a glass of skim, I haven't been able to justify it, but oh how I've missed it!)



• Peanut butter



• Scrambled eggs



• Leftovers for lunch



• french fries (I had some on Saturday night and they were worth every fat gram!)



• chocolate chips eaten straight from the bag (yes, I do realize that I'm probably going to gain all of the weight right back if I start in on this list)

Diet foods I never want to see again:

• Tofu noodles



• Soy milk



• Fat-free cheese



• Jello pudding snacks (I think I od'ed on these because I can't even stand the look of them anymore)

--originally published 4/11/07