I seem to be blessed with an easier ability than many other people to replace an eating habit with a "not-eating" habit. But I suspect it isn't just a matter of replacing one habit with another, but also a matter of mindfulness.
For example, last night before I went to bed I toasted three very thin slices of Pepperridge Farm white bread, buttered the toast lightly, and ate it with Smuckers strawberry preserves. Delicious, of course. However, I noticed this morning that I felt less well than I would have felt if I had not had a snack. In the past, I would have shrugged this off as "the cost of pleasure" (or some such rationalization), but now, under my new "eat as little as possible" discipline, I file this away to consider when deciding whether to have such a snack on a future occasion.
And, finally, I have invested in the sense of well-being that I derive from knowing that I am "eating wisely." Sort of a self-image thing, I guess. I like myself better as someone who can button his pants easily, bend over comfortably to tie his shoes, move lithely (or as lithely as an aging, virtually one-eyed guy can expect), than as...well, what I had been for several years leading up to that fateful day I tipped the doctor's scale at 180.
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