Heaven from Down Under!

This week we had a friend visit us from Australia!  It was his first time in America and we were thrilled to show him around.  He also brought gifts:  Cadbury chocolate and other chocolate treats from the land Down Under!!

I looked at Brent and we decided that we'd try a little of this rare treat.  And I have to tell you that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!!  The choice to eat a bite or two (or three or four) was a conscious decision yet there ARE times when it's overwhelmingly tempting to eat some high calorie unhealthy food placed in front of me without thinking about it.

Here is what I found from my "Habits of Health" that I've adopted.  

It's the STOP, CHALLENGE, and CHOOSE method.

STOP - and think about your goal

CHALLENGE - yourself as to what is more important

CHOOSE - the choice that supports your goal.

This is what I do when I attach a mental picture of myself to every food choice.  One picture is of the morbidly obese me, the other is of the me at my goal weight.  I choose the food that supports that "goal" of my mental picture.  Makes it an easy choice.  (It's hard to rationalize when it's a blatant choice like that)

Dr. Anderson also has these steps to follow:

1. Identify the foods, situations, and feelings that trigger your bad habits.  Write them down.
2. Decide that you are going to learn to control them. Only work on one trigger at a time.
3. Stop, Challenge, Choose

Be conscious that there are always moments of temptation and then the decision will be made. And the decision maker is you.  The choice is yours to make.  It is a great feeling to be in charge of your self and your choices.

This week I made Broiled Tilapia Parmesan and it was pretty good.  I substituted olive oil for the butter and used less and my family enjoyed it.  

Then with our Australian guest, we made taco salad.  I used 93% fat free ground beef mixed with ground turkey for the taco meat.  While our kids used whole grain tortilla shells - we used iceburg lettuce to wrap our taco's in.  Another time we just put it on our bed of lettuce and added some salsa.  Delicious!