Two years of "Stateless Dieting"

It's been 2 years. Two years since I started this healthy lifestyle of mine. I was getting ready to post a comment on Roni's blog that mentioned my 2 years, and I actually had to stop and consult my Calorie Count (.about.com) weight loss chart to make sure I was right about it being two years since I started this thing.

There it is: proof. I started logging my progress in June of 2009, and here I am in August of 2011 still going like the Energizer Bunny. 

--Well, not exactly like the Energizer Bunny. You can see quite a few ups and downs there in the 2011 period, and you can see that I'm still right around where I was in August 2010, weightwise. I have given this issue quite a bit of thought, but we'll leave that for another day.

The point is, I'm still doing it! That's a heckuva long way that I've come down... the slope is such that this image is in "portrait" rather than "landscape." It stands up on its own, living proof that I've done it and I'm still doing it. I haven't gone back up, and I won't ever. 

The single biggest reason that I've been able to make it this long...? I'll tell you: it's the concept of the "stateless diet," which I learned from Roni. The idea is that I am not "on a diet." I am merely living my life one day, one meal at a time. Some meals are great because they are super healthy, tasty, and they get me through to the next meal like gangbusters. Some meals are great because they are sufficiently high in carbs... and fat... and joy... that they allow my brain the freedom to enjoy food and life at the same time. Some meals just really suck, because I wasn't prepared, I didn't have the right food, or I was just lazy. None of these meals have to affect future ones. I eat them and I move on. I live my life. 

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As a side note, I was standing in a Sheetz the other day with two cups of ice and a pack of Butterscotch Krimpets in my hand (they were for Bryan, not me). It was after 9pm, and I had 3 hours of driving home to look forward to. It had been an awesome day full of birthday party at my mom's house. I was in a very long line to buy this confection for Bryan, and I started to lament my circumstances. "Why do I need to be here in this line right now? Why don't they have another lane open? It's so LATE already!" I started to become a sourpuss, but then I quickly turned it all around with this thought: "This is life... right now... and I am in it. I am here, with all these interesting people to look at, who are buying their late night snacks, and I get to get into my car with 2 sleeping kids and my husband, and drive home tonight." In that store, in that long line, arms full of stuff, I smiled. I was happy, and it lasted the rest of the night. Bryan and I talked all the way home like dating teenagers.