Choice is not liberating!!

This is my first insight for this week.  Usually one would think that having choices gives us more freedom and that would be liberating.  To have more control to decide what to do, what to eat, what to buy, etc.  I remember once going with Seth to a huge housewares store in New York.  We needed to buy a spatula that could be used with a teflon pan.  How difficult could that be?  Well, this store had no less than 20 variations of said spatulas.  We stood dumbstruck for a while, I got a stomach ache, and eventually we just grabbed something and left.  Had there been only 3 varieties of spatulas then the choice would have been so much easier.  Sometimes less is more.

Sadly, food poses the same challenges for me as did that spatula so many years ago.  As soon as I am given choice in my diet options I start to lose control.  The freedom is frightening, not liberating.  As long as my list of foods was limited, I stuck to the plan 100%.  True, last week I was fantasizing about having some fish (which I did, and it was yummy), part of me longs for "stage 1" and all of the restrictions that go along with it.

However, that is not realistic for the long term.  So I need to learn to deal with the freedom.  Choice doesn't have to mean anarchy.  It can mean good choices within the rules of the system. (OMG, I sound like I go to the Democratic school!!!).  In a way, I am learning to be a responsible citizen in the world of food choices. 

I had some challenges this week--mostly around amounts and portion size.  I have not been tempted by sugar and sweets of which there are plently wherever you go.  I have indulged in coffee, but significantly less than before.  While I have refrained from all diet sodas, I have been spotted stalking total strangers who are carrying a bottle of diet coke in their hands.

Exercise!!! Wish I was doing more.  Here are 2 photos to prove that I do work out.  One machine works on the quadriceps (legs), and the other on the pecs and deltoids (arms/shoulder).  The one for the shoulder has helped me with my bursitis:  my range is better and I have less pain.  I hate to admit it, but exercise works.

(Not the most flattering photos, but still better than 7 kilos ago!)