So, I'm not really comforted with the feeling I have that this time is "the" time. In past attempts, I've thought to myself "Why this time? Why am I sticking to my plan this time after so many false starts?" The only answer I was ever able to give myself was that something just "clicked".
And this time, like the others, all I can say is that something clicked. There was an internal bell that sounded, and off I went. It made me think of the movie "A Christmas Story". Remember that iconic scene where that kid sticks his tongue to the frozen pole on the playground?
The kid gets his tongue stuck, chaos starts to ensue, and as they're all trying to figure out what to do, the bell rings. Ralphie starts to head inside, and his friend says "What are we going to do? We can't just leave him here!", and Ralphie replies with "I don't know, the bell rang." Both kids just kind of shrug and head inside, leaving their friend stuck to the pole.
As a side note, I find it amazing at how programmed we can be, especially as kids. Nearly every kid obeys that playground bell like it's an irresistible force. I remember once in 3rd grade, my buddy and I were building a snow fort. It was going to be epic. We had just gotten a shit-ton of snow, and it was packing perfectly. We planned the fort the entire morning before recess with detailed schematics. Once we were finally out there, we completely threw ourselves into our work. We were so engrossed that we didn't even hear the bell when it rang. At some point, we noticed an eerie stillness, looked up, and realized we were the only 2 souls still out on the playground. My buddy said "What are we going to do now?" Neither of us had an answer, we were completely in uncharted territory. If we had heard the bell, I'm sure we would have dropped everything, and headed back into school like all the other good little zombies. We came to the conclusion that we would head inside, put our stuff away, and just go sit in our desks like nothing was wrong. Amazingly, it pretty much worked. We got a double-take from the teacher, and a couple of kids saying "Didn't you hear the bell ring????", but no further repercussions.
So anyway, if this time is for real, I'm looking for some evidence that sets it apart from all my previous ventures. Something that goes beyond just "the bell rang". I'm doing a lot of things that I've done in the past - drinking lots of water, counting calories, exercising (both cardio and strength), keeping a food log...but there is one specific thing I can think of that is different this time.
The plate on the left is a meal that I recently put together for myself the other day:
It consisted of green beans with a little cheddar cheese, corn, and cottage cheese - about 480 calories. The box on the right contains about the same calorie amount of some leftover boneless wings from BW3 that I had been saving to put on a salad I was planning on making later in the week. It's not hard to imagine how the plate on the left is going to make me feel more full and satisfied for a much longer period of time.
In the past, I would almost never eat vegetables. If I were counting calories, I would always choose to have a smaller amount of something really yummy (like the leftover wings) and just power through the hunger that came later. This time, I'm making sure that I have a decent amount of some type of veggie with any main, sit-down meal I make for myself, and even though the veggies aren't blow-your-mind yummy, I have noticed that I would rather forgo that pleasure hit you get from eating something that tastes really good in order to stay feeling full longer.
I'm down another 2 lbs this week, with another 1/2" off my waist.
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