Breakfast, Day Sixty-Four

• 1 Eggo whole grain waffle with 1 tbsp lite syrup
• 1/2 oz soy nuts
• 2 Morningstar Farms veggie bacon strips
• 1/4 cup dried pineapple
• 3/4 cup vanilla soy milk

Just after weighing in, I was very hungry and wanted a nice, satisfying meal. I remembered liking this one so much in the past, and I was pleased to have all the ingredients on hand.

I was very careful about portions, making sure the servings I used were measured properly and were accurate - for example, the meal plan says "2 servings" of the bacon, by which I think they mean 2 strips, since it is supposed to be 60 calories. Previously I've always interpreted 2 servings to mean 4 strips, which is 120 calories. A small mistake, but in the long run those extra 60 calories add up. I also measured out the 1/4 cup of dried pineapple to make sure I wasn't overestimating.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, though I always find the soy nuts daunting, since they take so much longer to eat than all the rest of the food. I snacked on them while I watched virtual meeting presentations from the diet website.

These presentations were suprisingly eye-opening and made me think a lot about my dieting progress and the psychological stuff going on behind my food choices. One of the particularly useful exercises was an assignment to complete the sentence "I am afraid to be thin because _________" 25 times in writing. I was rather surprised by some of my answers and realize that I really am holding myself back.

I also watched a presentation about perfectionism, which I realize is a huge issue with me. One of the very interesting points is that perfectionists often start out that way very young and their self-esteem develops to be dependent on external approval or admiration. I did another writing exercise listing the consequences of depending on others for my sense of self-worth, as well as examining the ways I seek external approval in my life. Very eye-opening indeed.