Real Weight Loss

I've been content with my own skin this week more than ever before. It feels really nice to be less self-conscious. I guess I didn't realize what an unnecessary pressure I was putting on myself. Negative thoughts about physical body weigh a lot. I didn't know how heavy they were until I dropped a few pounds from my thinking this week. Discontentment is a heavy thinking issue. Here I have subconsciously thought for years that changing my external will bring me peace. Nope. I'm more content with my appearance at this moment than I ever have been. I always thought that when I get to that "goal" weight, I would be happy with myself. I remember being thin and dissatisfied always aware of things I'd like to change and weight I could lose to improve myself. I can honestly say that the peace I have with myself at this moment will be the same peace I have with myself when I'm at a more healthy physical weight. This feels like freedom. Nothing has really changed except my perception of who I was identifying with. The more I identify with the real me, who I really am, the me that God sees, the less aware I seem to be with my own skin. Everyday it becomes less about physical weight loss and more about dropping the weight from stinkin' thinkin'. I'm finding that I like this getting skinny on the inside best. The physical weight loss that follows is an added bonus only because it feels effortless. Behavior always follows belief. I used to think it was the other way around. I used to think if I was good enough, I would believe I was good. Now that I feel satisfied on the inside, it takes less food to satisfy my outside. I can already tell I've lost physical weight this week too. I've got more energy. I get excited to exercise. I run up the stairs. I dance to pathetic Barney songs just because I feel like moving. I can hardly tell I'm doing these physical "improvements" just because it just seems to happen without thinking about it.

FLOG
Homemade Southern Style Breakfast: Gravy & Biscuit, sausage, eggs, bacon, orange juice, and homemade jelly. (smaller portions of all.) (So happy this journey is not about the food....this meal is not something I would recommend on a weight loss program except that I ate small portions. I knew deep down that I would be just as happy with a bowl of Fiber One. Because of that, I enjoyed what I ate even more.)
1 Tangerine.
coffee
1 cup spaghetti with meat sauce and a piece of garlic bread.
water water and more water

Nutritional Nugget:
More simple tips from

Switch to fat-free or low-fat milk.

* Fat-free and low-fat milk have the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients as whole milk, but less fat and fewer calories.
* If you are lactose intolerant, try lactose-free milk or a calcium-fortified soy beverage.

Vary your protein choices.

* Eat a variety of foods each week from the protein food group like seafood, nuts and beans, as well as lean meat, poultry and eggs.
* Eat more plant-based proteins such as nuts, beans, whole grains and whole soy foods like tofu and edamame.
* At least twice a week, make fish and seafood the protein on your plate.
* Keep meat and poultry portions lean and limit to three ounces per meal.