Lets Talk Candy

I love candy.

I always have and will love candy. But I love it in small doses. I don't buy it often and typically I throw some of it away because I don't eat it all before it becomes stale/inedible. I don't buy regular sized candy bars, I prefer bags of minis and a bag can sometimes last me two or three months, because all I really want is a taste of the candy, not to be full from it.

Chocolate was never my true love, its yummy, but I don't need it, not the way some people do. I love fruity candies, sour patch kids, mike & ike's, gummy bears, skittles, and laughy-taffy. Before I started eating differently I would buy bags of these candies and they had Tupperware containers in my kitchen devoted just to holding my candy. A bag of sour patch kids could last two weeks, because I would grab a few and that was enough. When I changed the way I ate I stopped buying candy, I wanted to avoid temptation, since I figured being on the "diet" would be a shock to my system and I didn't want Jeeves to come home and find me in a sugar coma on a pile of wrappers.

Last week I got a box of Mike and Ike's in my stocking, Santa apparently remembered that they are one of my favorites. I looked at the calorie listing on the back and discovered that a portion (23 pieces of candy) was about 140 calories. I decided to do an experiment. I opened the box and put a serving into 4 little baggies. I put one baggie in my purse and put the rest in the cabinet. I brought one of the baggies to work yesterday and set it on my desk. I worked out my food for the day and worked in those 140 calories, for a total of less than 1700 for the day. I gave myself permission to eat an entire serving of my favorite candy. It was lovely, sweet, fruity, tart, and enough. It was enough to have that one serving. I didn't want anymore when I was done. Today I did not want any so I didn't bring any to work.

I look forward to the day when I don't have to plan candy, when I trust myself enough to eat intuitively all the time. That day may be a long way off, but I feel like I'm on the right track.

My food today is going to be light and warm. I've got a can of progresso light soup. I've already downed my slim fast latte and then I'll have a protein bar before I go to the gym. I brought an apple and a banana in case I need to munch, but even if I eat both of them I'll still be under 700 calories for the day, then tonight I'm making chicken stir fry with veggies and brown rice for dinner. Very low cal, around 500 for a serving, which is light on the rice and chicken and heavy on the veggies.

Hope everyone is feeling energized for the coming year and all the weight loss possibilities we will be presented with. I'm ready for it. I will be 28 in 22 days, and I have some wicked goals set for myself in the next two years. Watch out 30! here I come.