Dedication Not Deprivation

I wrote in an earlier post that I thought that any diet needed to have a certain amount of deprivation. It seemed true especially if you look at the menus posted on many diet blogs. For example, here is my menu for today:

Breakfast: Cup of Oatmeal for Breakfast w/ unsweetened apple sauce and fat free milk.

Snack: Apple and a glass of fat free milk.

Lunch: Left over Texas hash (Brown rice, tomatoes, Lean ground turkey)

Snack: Salad w/ a measure of olive garden dressing.

Dinner: Taco Salad (Shredded Chicken over a bed of lettuce with salsa)

Snack: Pop Corn (98 % Fat Free)

In the past I would have saw this as deprivation because it didn't include my two favorite food groups of Pizza and ice cream. However, in actuality it doesn't feel like deprivation because the Texas Hash and Taco salad are really delicious. The only draw back is that both of them take some time to cook. Yesterday, when it was two hours before class, I had to decide whether to make Texas Hash or to just wing it after school. Winging it would have meant I would have had to eat another salad for dinner which would have left me hungry and would have forced my family to have hot dogs. Or worse it would have left me open to making a terrible dinner choice like pizza. So despite the time crunch, and that I was exhausted from a long day, I was dedicated enough to cook healthy food before I left for class. It was worth it yesterday, and it's worth it every day that I do it. This weeks worth came in the loss of three pounds for me. However, the prize is much more than weight loss it is about a new health consciousness that makes me me feel good about my self because I know that I'm finally succeeding where in the past the struggle was filled with pain and failure.