The weight loss analogy

I've got a personal analogy to share with you that might not seem obvious right away.  By way of background, I've been dieting since December 30th, 2011.  I've dropped from 201 lbs. to 181 lbs. and for the last two weeks I've been stuck there.  I've hit a plateau for the time being.  Heading into my diet during the Christmas season I knew the time was coming that I'd have to change.  I wasn't terribly overweight at 201 lbs.  I'm 5'11" and I didn't look too bad.  I wasn't in heart attack territory or anything like that.  But I felt sluggish, less than energetic and not in certainly not in peak physical condition.  So I knew I had to do something.  I decided to eliminate certain foods from my diet: pasta, potatoes, rice and flour-based foods like breads.  Everything else was/is fair game*.

I need a cheeseburger. Or a pizza.

Over the Christmas holidays I ate. Not excessively at any one point in time - gluttony is not good - but I did eat often, and more than normal, and richer foods.  So, I'm doing my gastronomical penance now - I'm dieting.  I'm not doing the full on Atkins diet, but I have drastically reduced my carbohydrate intake.  No potatoes, no rice, no pasta and no flour (bread and baked goods).  I've done it before.  About 10 years ago I did the same thing and I lost 33 lbs. in 6 weeks, and I'm not a big guy.  In fact, I went down to 155 lbs.  So it worked.

I remember waking up one night at about 2 a.m. wanting to go to the kitchen to make a lasagna.  But after about a week, the cravings went away. I'm hoping that this time it will be as effective and that the cravings will fade.  I've been dieting since January 30th, and I've lost 10 lbs.  That's not bad but I am soooo craving pizza and a cheeseburger right now.

Nevertheless, I do have perseverance.  You'd probably know that if you've been reading my blog over the last three years...