"Will Power"

"Will Power", "Self Control", "Discipline" - these are all words that I associate with "diet", and all imply a certain strength with regard to food that I find considerably lacking in myself.

In fact, I had hoped that I had elimianted the need for "will power" by the way I structured my diet - that is, allocacting an entirely reasonable calorie target for the day, and not being too upset if it was exceeded by 100 or 200 calories or so because, well, even thin people like my wife eat a little extra now and then.

And it seemed to work well, even pizzas and dinner out seemed to fit in the plan.

But then came the picnics and business luncheons.

I had already learned to never ever eat the desert, and to keep any alcohol consumption to 2 drinks max. But I was unprepared for the fact that even the most asprin sized cheeseburger is still 450 calories, that catered business luncheons could have delicious sandwiches on the best small hardrolls I ever tasted, etc.

In every case, there has always been a nice salad and or fruit cup available, and I ate some of that, but nevertheless when I got home and tried to tally up total calories for everything I ate- well 2000-2500 seemed to be the rule.

The results weren't devasting - even though I was as much as 1300 calories over my daily target, I was still under the calories needed to maintain my weight at it's current level, so I wasn't gaining weight or anything. But it was still disheartening.

I guess that I am finally realizing that the big three -"Will Power", "Self Control", "Discipline" - are going to be required under circumstance outside of home - a realization that's on par with the discovery that I actually had to count calories. Thank goodness it didn't take me 10 years to figure it out this time.