Well, I am 4 months in and navigated my first true minefield of temptation: our favorite Southern restaurant that offers my favorite Texas Size Chicken Fried Steak and from-scratch mashed potatoes drenched in cream gravy, mac n cheese and giant warm rolls. *drool*

I have avoided this restaurant like the plague because although my willpower has been excellent, I feared that I would talk myself into "budgeting" this meal into my day (I used to be excellent at "budgeting" - ya know, eat it today, pay for it tomorrow with nothing but water and salad, although the pay-back day never came ).

So hubs and I went there for lunch and I gave serious thought to ordering my old fave. I felt like I could, but asked myself if I really wanted to. Did I really want to waste 3 days of not being in ketosis just for this meal? In the end, I didn't. I happily ordered grilled fish, green beans, and okra & tomatoes. The fish was great while the two sides tasted canned and nasty. Oh, how my taste buds have become so sensitive to food that is not freshly killed or harvested!

I am SO proud of myself!!!! The waitress also brought me a dinner roll and a cornbread muffin, but they actually sat there unnoticed. If only y'all could understand what a complete 180° turn this is for me. I have NEVER denied myself something delicious, even when doing different diets before. Oh boy, when I would start a new diet with the mindset of absolutism (thinking I absolutely could never eat [insert food here] again), rebellion would rear its ugly head and ultimately sabotage me. This past weekend was our 3rd planned Cheat Day so I honestly do not feel deprived of anything (we have a Cheat Day every 40 days), and I was able to say, "No, thank you" to the Chicken Fried Steak. I am deeply grateful that my Cheat Days have not resulted in any kind of cravings or weakness of will. They have also taught me that the foods that I used to think were so foodgasmic...really aren't.

These have been the most insightful 4 months of my life as far as food is concerned - as well as learning how much inner strength I really do have.

Thanks for reading!

Oh, I almost missed this. Congratulations!

It gets bashed a lot here, but I LOVE going out to eat. Especially to lunch. It is simply a very enjoyable experience. It is a nice "time out" in the middle of the day. And I don't like to eat large dinners. I have never had trouble finding low carb options. Thank you for posting!