My experience is pretty much like yours. I was served an opened faced sandwich yesterday, on a nice looking piece of toasted sourdough bread. My sister asked, 'that probably doesn't even look good to you anymore'. Ummm, no, actually it looks pretty good, and I'm sure it would taste good. But not that good, and it's simply not worth the consequences. I realized that I've made peace with the idea of never eating a piece of bread again.

For me an important part of the process was learning how it is that that piece of bread messes with my system. If someone tells me, 'that's bad for you', but can't explain the mechanics of why, I just roll my eyes. I have to know how it's bad for me, I have to be able to believe it. Reading good books about metabolic syndrome, along with experiencing some of my own health scares, has really made the difference.

Now it's entirely possible (likely?) that once I've reached my goal I will backslide, this is what past experience suggests. But it is different this time. I feel a sense of relief and closure, a sense that I can live this way, that the sacrifices are trivial compared to what I'm gaining.