Hi Everyone,

Well, it is the 4^th of July and I am celebrating the loss of 40 pounds so far to-date!

As you can see, I have added a lot of recipes. Some I have tried and some I have not tried. There are some that do not indicate low fat products so you can substitute the low fat products. That’s what I have been doing. For instance, when it calls for Parmesan cheese I use the Reduced fat kind. So I’m cutting fat anywhere I can.

The only thing I have not found is a good low fat salad dressing—I like the cream style dressings (1000 Island, Ranch, etc.). If anyone has found some that don’t seem watered down please let me know. So I have not been eating very many salads, but when I do I’m using regular salad dressing, only I use a little less of it now. In fact, I may add some low fat cottage cheese to a salad to spread the dressing around a bit more.

I want to thank all who are supporting me and helping me with recipes and helpful hints.

Here is one big change in my eating habits. I was buying and using about 2 lbs. of butter a week. I do love real butter and have now heard that it is okay to eat—just not too much. Since I have been out of the hospital (May 5^th) I have used 1 lb. of butter—that’s one pound of butter in 9 weeks! Wow! I’m impressed with myself!!! About the only thing I use it on is Sweet Potatoes and Toast, Broccoli or Brussels Sprouts. And I use much less on these than I used to.

I still haven’t done that much exercises, but I am walking more, since it is hurting less.

I do feel that I am listening more within as to what to eat and how to fix it. The only thing that I have craved is Olives. I have no idea why. I rarely ate them before. But I find that they are okay to eat—I usually take the pimento out and eat maybe 6 or 7 at a time.

I had a gallon of Breyer’s Ice Cream (Butter Pecan) in the freezer before I went in the hospital and I have not thrown it out. I have eaten about 3 tablespoons of it since then. Just once in awhile I decide to have a teaspoon or maybe a tablespoon full for a desert.

I still feel as if I am not depriving myself of anything. And when something comes up either because I am smelling it (in a restaurant or if someone brings it to lunch at work) or someone offers me some and I know it isn’t on my list of okay things I simply say no thank you and do not feel like I wished I could have it.

When I made this commitment to change my eating for Life, I felt it was made in partnership with God, you might say. So it feels so entirely different than I have ever experienced in a diet in previous years. Before it took a lot of “will-power” and there was a feeling of missing out on food I would rather be eating, etc. I also used to have a splurge day and sometimes would go overboard on that day and end up gaining some weight.

I have experienced none of that this time. In fact, once I lose a few pounds they stay off. The only thing I don’t like is that, it then seems to be a long time before I lose some more pounds—the lull periods, I call them. But I don’t get discouraged at these times—that’s what I would have done before.

I also have been getting on the scale everyday—sometimes more than once. I believe that they tell you not to get on it that often and maybe only once a week. But those lull periods sometimes last two or three weeks. So if I only got on once a week and didn’t lose anything then I might feel disappointed. But when I get on everyday looking to see if I lost a pound yet, even if I haven’t it feels good just knowing that I didn’t gain anything. In fact, once it looked like I gained one pound, so I cut back my eating for a day to get it back down. So in a way it might be safer to get on the scale everyday to make sure you don’t go overboard and start gaining again before reaching your goal. I also think it would be good to do once I have lost my desired weight. I know when I was gaining weight I wanted to avoid the scale because I didn’t want to see how much I was gaining—or maybe I was thinking I could deny it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes (even though I was fearing I was gaining all along).

So there you have it. Some of my hints as to how this is working for me. And a big heart-felt thanks to all of your love and support.