I've been adjusting to my new WOE for several months now. There are alot of
things I'm still learning, and for me, it has been a slow progress. I'm sure
alot of you have gone through this already, so maybe you can enjoy my
musings. ;) (however long lol)

I picked up some stevia last night- and was looking very forward to using it
in my tea and plain, no sugar yogurt this morning. Maybe it's the brand and
type I picked up, but it left such an aftertaste. The actual taste is
delicious, but ugh... the aftertaste. Maybe I'll have to find another brand-
anyone else experience this?

I've been slowly changing some of my foods over- things like; I don't buy
the average store bought yogurt anymore, but I get the plain suger free one,
which I mix all kinds of things into! I enjoy this quite a bit, and makes
for a very satisfying breakfast. I even went ahead and bought some granola
(sugar free) to throw in- the bulk place down the street has a wonderful
selection of goodies. I bought some steel cut oatmeal and finished off the
little sugar-filled packages for good. I made a banana smoothie last night
that I think I slurped up in 5 minutes, lol! (One frozen banana, half cup of
low fat milk, some oatmeal and threw in some whole flax seed for good
measure- now blend until smoooooth.)

I cook alot better now. I've made some wonderful vegetarian soups- I make a
tomato and spinach soup that I just love. I've almost eliminated butter from
my diet, and replaced it with olive oil when I absolutely have to. I've
found that I love having just balsamic vinegar on my salads, without any
oil. Trying new recipes had been rather intimidating at first because I
didn't know where to start, but every now and then I find one that I really
like- and the BF likes too. Next on my list is to find some nice whole grain
rice, and a decent bread that I can have some nice tuna fish on.

Eating smart takes alot more time. Shopping smart takes alot more time too.
I scanned the yellow pages last night to find a health food store close to
my place, and I found a Nutrition House that advertised groceries. Very,
very much to my disappointment they had mostly pills and such, and the
groceries they did have was some soy drinks. I'm still on the lookout for a
good health food store, but I'm sure I'll find one. Funny, there was one a
bit of a ways away that I never went to and had closed down almost 2 years
ago- now I really wish it was open!

Eating healthy is alot more expensive, too. Admittedly, I'm buying things
that I'll use for a long time, like the bag of flax, but I'm still finding a
small selection of goods at a considerably higher markup. I've found I need
to keep out of the 'Organic' sections of the local supermarkets- those
prices are HIGH. But a little at a time seems to be working for me.

I've hit my first plateau. For two weeks now I've leveled off at 140, and
I've noticed no significant change in the way my clothes fit. This is very
disheartening. I need to pull out those pictures of me at nearly 160 and get
out my old jeans to remind me of how far I've come. So if there's an advice
I can offer you folks who are lurking and just starting out- take pictures!
They will come in handy for times like this!

Anyway, these are all things I've been through over the last few months.
It's more than a diet. It's more than cutting back for a few months to fit
into a size smaller. I was so tired of putting crap into my mouth and
overeating to the point of hurting. So tired of being fat. I'm so glad I
found this little place on Usenet. :)

Cooper aka Kim
(I'm 5'4" btw... ok 5'3 1/2)