Day 175: Thanksgiving Pie

We had a late Thanksgiving meal because SS was at his father's Thanksgiving weekend and Monday wasn't a holiday here. I made roast beef for the first time because SS wanted to try it. I didn't think it was worth all the chewing. I didn't see a pumpkin here so I made our ”pumpkin” pie from carrots. If I hadn't known it myself then I wouldn't have noticed the difference.

174 days without chips. I can't believe it. Not much good happening with the rest of my eating though. I should work more with this blog.

Day 132: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well still no potato chips but my eyes have been wandering in their direction! I was on a course for 2 weeks and I didn't do much new cooking.

I did make these vegan cookies. I have never put cinnamon in chocolate cookies before. I don't know if I like it or not. I might try it again but only using ½ tsp. I used regular sugar, syrup and oil. I look for recipes that don't use vegan margarine as I can't get it here and I would rather use oil anyway.

Day 110: I'm Still Here

I haven't been very active! I also haven't been very productive with my steps! Though I still haven't eaten any chips and it has been 110 days! Good for me.

I've been baking though. Here are some coconut oatmeal cookies.








SS takes a snack to school everyday because his day is so long. I've been trying to come up with things that will last out of the fridge for about 9 – 10 hours before he can eat them on the way home. I've been making muffins and loaves. This is a pineapple loaf.





This is black currant jam. I didn't want to make any jam as we still have some from last year but I felt bad that the owner of the black currant bushes isn't able to freeze them herself because she still hasn't bought a new freezer because she is going to remodel her kitchen and doesn't know yet what color scheme she will use. Last year I made two batches. One had water as the recipes called for but when I noticed that the berries had so much juice I didn't use any in the second batch. I didn't use any this year either. But I did use jam sugar because the strawberry jam turned out so well with it but the black currant jam didn't taste as nice as last year's.

Day 78: More Spelt in Our Food

I tried out the spelt again. Someone kindly sent me Dreena Burton's Peanut Butter Cookie recipe. She mentioned that she had use spelt instead of the flour called for in the recipe. So I did too but I didn't add the extra spelt flour as she recommended, and I suppose I should have because they didn't hold together too well. I also left out the molasses because we don't have that here. I only used ½ dl maple syrup (I couldn't make myself use more, it's so expensive) and ½ dl of regular syrup. We didn't notice the maple syrup, so I'll try just regular syrup next time and leave out the sugar. I made 8 cookies but they were so big that I'll try making 16 next time.

I made cinnamon raisin bread. I substituted 1 dl of spelt flour for the regular flour and next time I'll try 2 dl. Taking the bread out 5 minutes early wasn't enough because it was a bit burnt on top.

I need to get outside more!

Day 74: Banana Loaf

Not much to report. SS is still going here and there, so he hasn't eaten at home very often, and I'm just eating sandwiches and leftovers.

I used the spelt again. SS's grandmother sent home 2 bananas. She likes them almost starting to spot whereas I like them just turning completely yellow. By the next day they were quite spotty and I had no desire to eat them. So I made a banana oatmeal spelt loaf. I'm still using white wheat flour as we ease into using the spelt. I took my trusty old high school home ec banana loaf recipe and adapted it. Turned out quite well.

This week's journey step is not eating more than one row of chocolate a day. Will be difficult to remember!

Day 68: Experiments

I finally bought some spelt flour. I have been wanting/waiting to try it. I made some carrot bread in my bread machine but I only used 1.5 dl of spelt because I haven't used the machine for so long and I wasn't sure how it would work. And even though the breadpan fit and looked the same as the original, who knows what could have happened. The bread turned out great, but, as you can see in the picture, the crust was quite crummy. I stopped the machine 4 minutes earlier, but I'll have to experiment how much earlier I need to stop it. We didn't notice the taste of the spelt or the carrot for that matter.

I made some homemade margarine (1 part butter, 1 part oil and 1 part water). It was edible but I don't know how versatile it is. I also tried to make a homemade cheese spread (the one with the knife) from quark. I think it is too dilly and SS thinks it tastes too much like quark. I will keep experimenting with it.

Day 66: Strawberry Jam

I can't even remember if I went to the market last year but a friend was going to buy strawberries and I asked if I could go with. I thought that if I bought a box it would be much easier to bring them home by her car rather than on the back of my bike. I ended up buying a 5 kilo box.

We aren't big jam eaters. A jar can easily be in the fridge until the best before date has long gone. I had planned to just cut up what we didn't eat and put them in the freezer. But I had a bag of jam sugar that I didn't use last year when I was going to make black currant jam (which we eat on our peanut butter sandwiches). I wouldn't have made that either but the owner of the bushes didn't want the berries to go to waste because her freezer was broken and the berries were ripe.

Anyway I decided to make some jam. Only half of the recipe (1 kilo of berries) because I didn't know how it would turn out or if we would like it or eat it. And look what I got. It was still quite liquidy at this stage but after being in the fridge overnight it thicken up well and tastes great. Next year I will consider making the whole recipe if the jam survives being in the freezer.

Day 64: Nuts

SS hasn't been home very much, so I've been trying to eat up bits and pieces and things that he doesn't want to eat anymore (cheese spreads, etc.) so I don't need to waste them by throwing them away.

We both need more vegetable fat so I'm going to add 5 walnuts and 5 almonds each day to our diets. That is if I can find walnuts and they are a reasonable price.

Day 59: Look What I Bought

I have been meaning to repair my bread machine pan (either get the bread pan seal in myself but if it didn't work then buy a new one) but I was sure that if I try to find someone who stocks parts for this old machine that they would be expensive. I don't like kneading and have used the bread machine for that also.

I was at the recycling centre, looking for a glass lid for 2 of my casserole dishes that have never had lids, when what do I see on the floor? It looked like the correct size and felt like the same weight. They don't have prices on things there, so I went to ask. The man looked at it for a while and then asked what it was. After I told him he looked at it for a long time and I was thinking €€€€. Then he said € 0,30. Can you believe that! That's about 38 cents American and 43 cents Canadian and the tax is included. When I got home I looked up the price for a breadpan seal and one site had them for $USD 17.99. Repeat JUST FOR THE SEAL! Doesn't take much to make me happy! Of course I'm left with the extra pan, but I might need it too.

This week's step is to stop buying blue cheese. I don't even know why I really buy it because, though I like the first few bites each time, the rest of the package tastes so strong

Day 53: Macaroni Casserole

If I wasn't the one who 'developed' the recipe I would have said that there was something missing from it. I was right there interfering overseeing advising my SS on how to make the macaroni casserole but somehow it turned out different! It was good though. He would prefer to have a written recipe to follow rather than a verbal recipe. (Also he didn't seem to like it when I would stir, or mix, or something)

We have talked about trying to eat healthier. He doesn't need to be any skinnier, but though we don't eat too much junk processed food compared to most people we know, there are additives and preservatives in some of our food. This will be a struggle because finding suitable food in this city that we can afford will be a challenge.

To start off with something easy I suggested crackers because we don't really eat them that often, and usually the ones that we buy are just for snacking. We will finish the ones we have. If we 'need' crackers I would like to try to make some.

I jokingly started listing all of the foods that we would need to give up and that we could try deleting something once a month. He thought that that was a bit slow so we will also finish off the sugar free drink concentrate and not buy more. I think that this will be harder for him as he drinks it daily. He didn't like the idea of giving up white flour so I guess that that will be further down the line, if at all.

Day 51: Eating A Date

Nothing interesting food wise because my SS has had friends here, so I have had to serve meals that we think that they will eat. Also SS's grandmother sent some food home with him so we have been eating that up too. Hopefully SS will make today's supper, as I have bought the ingredients and I would like that he would make meals more often (rather than 1-2 times a year). This dish is something he recently asked for more often, so I thought that he could make it himself.

I missed yesterday's new step because the computer was, for some reason, occupied. (Something to do with the owner (SS) and his friend using it. I don't know much about computers, so I 'll just have to take his word for it.) I know that one of my most difficult foods to consume less of is chocolate. I can't image never eating it again, but I should reduce the amount I eat. Or at least I tell myself that I should. So for this week's step, I'm going to add eating a date before any chocolate. It's quite sweet, so maybe it will help.

Day 45: English Muffins

I haven't been able to be on the computer very much, so this week's step is late. What can I take away? There are so many things but I think I need to work more on the steps that I have already taken. So I think that I will avoid sugared soft drinks (which I already do, but I'll try harder).

I made English Muffins. I don't know if it was the recipe, or that I wasn't able to make them when the rising time was over, but they were quite dense. But as you can see, we ate them anyway. Or at least I ate them anyway because my SS doesn't know what they are suppose to be like!

Day 40: Rhubarb, Part Two

This time I stayed in the kitchen when I made the rhubarb ”stew”. It was tart, tasteless and watery. I was quite disappointed.

The rhubarb upside-down cake was much better. I'll have to try to find another rhubarb cake recipe because it seemed such a waste when the melted margarine and brown sugar stayed on the dish. It wasn't easy to scrape it off.


I was so pleased with myself when I got home from the store and realized that I had walked down the chip aisle and hadn't even looked at them. The only problem is that now I can't think of eating anything else! I wonder how the different grocery store chains decide on how to organize their stores. There are four grocery stores near by. One store has their chips across from tinned and jarred goods, another frozen pizzas and breads, another juices and the last frozen vegetables.

Day 37: Rhubarb

Nobody else in our apartment building seems to use the rhubarb that is growing in the backyard, so I've decided to use it all up (not that there is too much of it). I made rhubarb mead for the first time. Usually we make our mead with lemons and oranges but a friend, who has a citrus allergy in the family, mentioned that she makes hers with rhubarb, so I thought I'd try it. Unfortunately when I added the brown sugar the lovely pink color disappeared. If it is any good I'll try using less (or no) brown sugar. We still have to wait some days before we can try it.

Then I decided to stew some rhubarb but, as in my usual fashion, I was careless. I left it on high and this was the result. (This is just water in the pot, so the burnt bottom can soak.)

Day 36: More Sleep

I can't believe that I've been 5 weeks without chips. I am proud of myself. I didn't think I could do it.

I need to add something today for my healthy journey. More sleep. In bed by midnight. If I can't fall asleep then up for 15 minutes and then try again.

Day 35: Hummus

I made some hummus over the weekend (on the right). I've wanted to try it for years. First I had to make my own tahini (roasting the sesame seeds in the oven and then blending them with oil in the food processor). I didn't get the pourable consistency I was suppose to get and I didn't want to add more oil as I already had had to add more than the recipe called for. So I just used the paste I got (on the left). I don't know what I'll use the rest of it for.

Of course after I made the ”tahini” I found a recipe for hummus that calls for toasting the exact amount of sesame seeds needed in the frying pan and adding them to the rest of the ingredients. I might prefer it this way because I like sesame seeds as they are. This teaches me the lesson of checking out my own cookbooks before searching the internet.

I've never used garlic in the raw before and it sure was strong. Next time I make hummus I 'll try it without using any garlic. And then I'll try toasting the garlic with the seeds in the frying pan. And then I don't know if I'll make hummus again, as I like chick peas as they are.

Day 32: Munchies

So what's the problem? All I want to do is munch on stuff. I've been eating crackers, popcorn, etc. and I still want more. Is it my mind's protest against the reduction on snacking?

This week's legume dish was minestrone (thanks for the correct spelling) soup (I haven't yet looked up how to pronounce that.) It wasn't anything exciting, and I don't know why. I didn't add any zucchini because I didn't remember that it needed it and we also seldom eat it, maybe once a year.

Day 29: Scraping

Sometimes simple things give me pleasure. Like today's date. 06.06.06.

Anyway my newest step is to use less margarine on my bread. I don't use much anyway (the left side ) but I will try to cut down (to the right side). I actually don't eat much bread, but I am still having problems with not eating extra snacks so I am trying something easy for this step.

Day 27: I Didn't Eat Any Chips!

I'm just struggling along. I thought that I was doing so well not eating chips until we were in the car. My SS and his grandfather were sitting in the front seat eating a big bag of chips. It was difficult not to automatically take some when they were offered to me, but I didn't. I'm proud of myself for that but I don't know how well I would have done if they hadn't been the flavor I don't care for!

I made this yoghurt cake though I did substitute buttermilk for the yoghurt because that's what I had. Also my fruit cake whiskey for the rum because I don't have anything else.

Day 24: Water Overload

I didn't think that it would happen so soon. I'm starting to hate the thought of drinking water. Maybe if it were warmer then it would be easier to drink it. The no extra snacking is going a bit better but only because I haven't really felt like eating. And that is unusual!

Day 22: Next Step

I almost forgot that today I should add a new step. Seeing that last week I took something away – which I still need a lot of work on, this week I'll add something and that is drinking more water. At least 1.3 litres a day. I know that it isn't much but when it's cold out, I don't drink much and just the thought of that much drowns me.

I'm making pea soup for this week's legume (are dried peas legumes?). I like to buy bags of dried peas with hopes of making pea soup because my SS's grandmother makes such good pea soup. Unfortunately I usually end up noticing that the best before date has gone (which tells you how long the bag is in the cupboard) and I have to throw them away. Today I just took a recipe from the internet and will try it so that I don't have to throw this package away too.

Day 20: White Bread

I've been thinking of trying to stop eating wheat, or at least cut it down a lot, because I have noticed that my stomach feels a bit upset after eating it. And sometimes even the thought of how it will feel after eating it puts me off.

The problem is that I like having a sandwich for lunch. I suppose that I could try not using any other wheat products that day but then we couldn't, for example, have pasta on the same day. It might be that the processed wheat doesn't agree with me but I have never seen 100% whole wheat bread here. It is usually used as an added ingredient. I seldom buy 100% white bread anyway. I should keep a bread diary and see how my stomach feels after each type of flour product.

Yesterday all I could do was eat. Or think about it, so I would give in. I know that this is a progress that I have to go through before I will accept not snacking when I shouldn't, but it feels so hopeless at the moment. I shouldn't think that way, as I have only just added this step, but it's fun to beat oneself up. (Not really.)

Day 18: Struggling

It's been difficult not to snack when I shouldn't. I suppose it has become a habit. Just like eating after my evening snack and I was able to stop doing that. So I can conquer this too.

This week's legume dish was basically taken from the back of the lentil package. I couldn't find any info about the company on the package nor on the internet. Strange. This is my adaptation.

Green Lentil Dish

2 dl green lentils, rinsed
6 dl water
Cook with lid for 25-30 minutes or until done.

2 tbsp oil, for cooking
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped (size depends on how much you want to eat)
2 carrots, chopped (size depends on how much you want to eat)
Cook vegetables in oil until potatoes are almost done. Add
2 - 2.5 dl corn
white pepper, to taste
herb salt, to taste
cooked lentils
Continue cooking until potatoes are done. May need to add more oil.

Day 15: Pancakes

Seeing that I'm going to try to add and subtract things from my life on this quest to a healthier life, I should subtract something this week. So no snacking between scheduled meals and snacks.

None of this taking a slice of cheese here, a few nuts there, or chocolate anytime, anyplace. It will be difficult with chocolate because this means that I have to eat it with a meal or scheduled snack. No sneaking it on the sly and eating chewing gum after to hide the smell. (Hmm, what kind of person does that sound like.) Of course now that I've come to this decision and should start today it is only 9.25 and my tummy is grumbling, which it very seldom does. Maybe I'll have to start having a mid-morning snack, which I very seldom do.

Yesterday, because my SS had a stressful evening, I decided to make pancakes, which I don't do very often because I can't be bothered to stand in front of the frying pan for that long. (Oh yeah, I just realized that I hadn't told him why I made them.) I wanted them to be a bit healthy and we hadn't had our fruit for the day (don't worry I'm planning to add more fruit to our diet when I get around to it and find enough fruits that are edible).

I tend to gather a few (well maybe 10, or 20) cookbooks and/or recipes from the internet and tweak them so I end up with a recipe I'll make. I often have to change them because they include ingredients that I can't get here or they have stuff that I don't eat (like onions) or don't want to eat (like added salt) or we don't need to eat (like 3 cups of sugar). But yesterday I was lazy so I just googled blueberry buttermilk oatmeal pancakes and basically just used the first recipe I got. OK without the salt, sugar, butter (I used oil – couldn't be bothered to melt the butter) or blueberries. I used black currents instead of the blueberries. Not a good choice, but I'm trying to get rid of last year's stash. Word to the wise – consider very carefully how many black currants you will want to eat when someone tells you that you can pick them all because their freezer is broken.

Day 14: I've Found Food Blogs

I had been mainly reading knitting blogs but somehow went to somebody's recipe somewhere and started looking at a few links that were mentioned, and you can guess the rest. I tend to start reading a blog from the beginning, which may take awhile, depending on when they started it. So I'm trying not to do that with the food blogs I've found. Looking at the pictures they show helps in this. If it isn't something I'm likely to make, then I try to skip that entry.

So I was thinking that I could add recipes to my own blog. I know that I already have one for red lentil soup but I put that partially so that I would remember myself how I had made it.

Yesterday I made mushy potatoes. I guess they could be called lumpy potatoes but that wouldn't sound as appetizing. The idea is not to mash them until smooth.


Mushed Potatoes
Amounts and sizes depend on how much you want to end up with.

Water to cook vegetables in
salt (optional)
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped finely (sometimes I add this, sometimes I don't)
I put these into the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Potatoes, enough for how many servings you want, peeled and chopped.
I add the potatoes after the other vegetables have been cooking a bit.
Once the potatoes are done, drain the water.
Add (salt and) pepper, to taste.
Add your dairy product(s): milk or sour cream or something like that (and butter if you want), not too much because this is suppose to be thickish.
Mush as much as you like and serve.

Day 13: Chewing Chocolate

I don't know about you other chocoholics out there but I tend to put chocolate in my mouth, give it a bite or two and swallow. Now you would think that keeping in one's mouth as long as possible would be the aim if all you want to eat is chocolate, but no. I can't imagine actually chewing chocolate so because I'm suppose to be focusing on chewing my food, I've been letting it dissolve in my mouth. This is really hard to do. Any suggestions besides not eating it?

Day 12: Catching Up

OK so I've missed a few entries but who cares? Who else would be interested in my chewing? I must admit that I feel silly praising myself an hour or so after I have finished eating for remembering that I'm suppose to chew more. Though I did remember to chew while I was eating yesterday's supper. Progress!

I made red lentil soup. It was scrumptious. I could image being a vegetarian if all my meals tasted like this (without the chicken broth, of course). Why then does chocolate dominate my brain? Why can't I eat healthy things like this instead of junk?





Red Lentil Soup
1 litre water
1 vegetable broth cube
1 chicken broth cube
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 large potatoes, chopped
1 garlic clove (or more if you like)
1 large mushroom, chopped
Cook these for awhile and then add
2.5 dl red lentils
curry to taste
chili to taste
black pepper to taste
Cook until carrots and red lentils are done.

I went to the chip section in the store because my SS told me that he had seen salt and vinegar there. I was sure that he was mistaken because they haven't had it in a few years but I had to find out. I don't know if I would have bought them if they had had some, but fortunately they didn't. Confession time – I checked out all of the grocery stores around. I couldn't get the taste out of my mind.

Day 9: Ho Hum

It's not like I have to think about what I am going to eat because it is there in front of me. It is automatic by now to pick up said food and put it into my mouth. So why is it so difficult to remember to chew more!

Chew, chew, chew! I will silently praise myself when I remember to chew more rather than berate myself for forgetting. Positive reinforcement!

Day 8: Biting Off More Than One Can Chew

Actually I don't bite off more than I can chew, it was just a nice title. Have you ever seen someone stuff so much into their mouth that you wonder how on earth they are going to get their jaws to move so that they can chew?

Anyway my new goal has to do with chewing though. I need to start chewing my food more. Not only will it slow down my eating but it will be good for my digestive system. I found this page about chewing. I woke up this morning remembering that I should focus on chewing more, but it never entered my mind when I ate breakfast. I need to find a way to remember.

Today I measured my waist (as I will try to do weekly) and it was 1 cm smaller. Though I know that my waist size doesn't correspond with my weight (I can be the same weight and have different waist measurements), it is the most noticible area of fat and I would like to get rid of as much as I can.

Day 7: Midnight Feast

Sometimes I have difficulties falling asleep, so after an hour of turning I got up to read. Usually by the time I feel tired enough to try to sleep, I'm also hungry. So I had a mouthful of today's lunch, (well two mouthfuls, OK, OK it was three!) before deciding that I wouldn't have anything left for lunch if I kept eating.

I ate a satsuma. Then it hit me. All I could think of was eating. I wasn't hungry anymore, I just wanted to eat. It's the times like these when I remember how addicted I am to eating and I wonder how I will work on that.

So I ate whole wheat crackers and garlic cream cheese. And then I went to bed with an avenging stomach. Sigh.

Day 6: I Have My Cake And Eat It Too

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

When I started this I decided that I would do it quite slowly. One step at a time so that I can get used to things. (I don't like changes very much.) So very, very far down along the line will be reducing sugars, (maybe) white flour and things of that nature.

In other words, I'm going to eat the Mother's Day coconut coffee cake that my SS made for me. Well, not all of it of course, he'll want some too. I doubt that I will ever be that type of person who will pass on all sweets (how could I live without chocolate?). When I add portion control, I can start dealing with it then. (ROFL!)

Day 5: The Trouble With Skinny Teenagers

My teenager is quite skinny, so he doesn't need to think about his weight. Which makes it difficult when he wants something that I shouldn't have. Like chips. OK I know that cheese snacks (or whatever they are called) aren't chips but I put them in the same category. (Because if I have one I have to have the whole bag. Or half the bag if I am sharing them with my SS (skinny son)).

When I asked him if he wanted anything from the store, he said that we hadn't had chips for awhile. I gave him the news that I wasn't going to buy any because I would want to eat them. Being the smart teenager that he is, he said that he could eat them in his room and hide the rest. Like I don't know every place in his room where a bag of chips would fit.

I was at the store and I saw these, and they were on sale and really cheap. So I gave in and bought him a bag. I told him though that he couldn't eat them at home but could take them with him when he went to his friend's on Sunday. Well, one of his friends came over yesterday and SS wanted something to munch on, so I suggested they could eat the cheese snacks.

I have never noticed before how strong smelling they are. And they were so tempting when I was taking their photo. Just lying there waiting for me to stuff put them in my mouth. But I didn't eat one! Not a single one. But I am wondering where the bag is hidden...

I should also think of his health in the future too, and not buy them for him either. (He can get them elsewhere and I won't be contributing to his eating as much junk food.)

Day 4: Mirror, Mirror

We don't have a full-length mirror. The only time I see the 'real me' (as apposed to what I can see in the bathroom mirror, which is nothing below the chest) is when I am in a clothing store. My son is over 190 cm tall. Yesterday when I caught him contorting his body about in front of the bathroom mirror trying to see what a shirt looked like on him, I decided that maybe it is time to get a full-length mirror.

The obvious problem (to me) is where to put it so that 1) He can see his full length and, which is totally more important (to me) is, 2) I am not constantly seeing an image of the really fat 'real' me. I so seldom go to clothing stores that it is always a shock what I really look like. Do I want to see myself everyday? Would it be a good thing (reminder of what I need to do) or a bad thing (reminder of what I haven't done)? Also the reality in my head doesn't meet the reality of mirrors!

Day 3: Titles

I had decided that I would just use 'Day #' as my title because that's what interests me, but then I thought that if anyone every finds their way here, it wouldn't be very inviting to them. So I'm going to add a heading to it too.

I like Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays because I rarely go to the store on those days. That means that if I don't have something that I must have to eat, then that's too bad. I hadn't thought about it but my chip eating habit has changed. There used to be a time when I would go to the store just to buy a bag of chips. Then I had my son, and somewhere along the way I guess I just dropped it.

Now why did I have to start writing about chips!

Day 2: Cheddar Cheese

I'm pleased with myself. I went to two grocery stores today and I didn't even think of chips. I must confess that it had nothing to do with my decision to stop eating chips. I hadn't made a grocery list, so I was focusing on what on earth do we need and for some reason chips didn't even enter my mind.

It's a good thing though that I am just starting on this journey because I bought some cheddar cheese. It wasn't until I started to write this entry that I thought that I would check the fat content of said cheddar. 34.4%! I'm glad that I didn't examine the fat content in the store because I might not have bought it have had to go back to the cheese section after thinking about it.

Well you think, why doesn't she just go out and buy some fat free cheddar? It does, after all exist. (I had to check that it does, so I googled it.) It isn't so simple. I'm amazed if I even see cheddar in a grocery store because some stores don't even carry it here. I suppose it is good in a way, because then I CAN'T BUY IT. I have never found fat free cheese here. The lowest I've seen is 5%.

Day 1: Step One

I hadn't thought about it, but my son has never seen my waist. Instead he has grown up looking at all the fat that conceals it. If I think more about it, it has been so long since I have seen my waist, I have no idea what shape it is. As far back as I can remember it has been barrel shaped. No indentations on the sides, only between the rolls.

Health-wise I have to loose weight if I don't want to start taking insulin.I have known this for some time, and so I haven't been to have my blood sugar tested (I have my own tester.). Last year I was able to loose 6 kilos by cutting out eating after my evening snack. It took about 5 months to not think about eating later in the evening. I don't even think about it anymore, except when my stomach growls, which isn't very often, and then I eat something small. If I could find more steps like that, then it would be easier. I don't want to be on a diet, I want to make life changes. Blah! Giving up chocolate will probably be the last thing.

I am going to try to make a life change once a week. There are so many changes that have to be made that I don't want to try to many at a time. I think that I will alternate between withdrawals (not eating something) and additions (adding something to my diet or life). Too many withdrawals might be too torturous.

For now I am only going to try to loose a total of 10 kilos, so that I can go to the diabetes nurse, with a 10 kilo weight loss! After that I'll try to get it down to the next goal, but I haven't decided what it will be yet. I have a lot to loose, so this will be some process! Probably quite slow too.