I mentioned a week ago that I had given up white sugar. I'm now one week in and still sugar free. A couple of days were tough. But there is beauty in the word, "No." I wrote something about two years ago. I'll quote it here: We humans have a great advantage over the rest of the animal kingdom. Know what it is?It's choice. Animals run on instinct. They do what they do because their very nature tells them that they should. They don't really have a choice. There are no second thoughts. There is no guilt. Ambiguity? Not a chance. Not so with us humans. We have second thoughts and guilt and indecision. But wait - I did say that this was an advantage... Like animals, we also have instinct. It may be our genes driving our impulses. Maybe it's how we grew up. Whatever drives our baser instincts, there are natural tendencies that we all have. Some are beneficial, and some are not. But unlike animals, we have choice. Choice can allow us to select our way. We don't have to be a slave to instinct. At many moments throughout our day, we make small choices, almost imperceptible choices that determine what it is that we do each day. And I found that I would check myself at these moments and stop what had become my habit. Whew! Today, it's easier to say, "No." It's more obvious to me that I don't lick the jelly off my finger when I make PBJ for the boys. There is beauty in the word, "No."And thank god for orange-banana smoothies. Because there is beauty in the word, "Yes," too. The next step for me is daily exercise. And then portion sizes. Here's me about 8 years ago.  That's the first goal. The second goal is drop further, down to about the weight that I was in the Army, which looked something like this:  Hopefully next summer, I can post pictures that show serious achievement toward these goals. I don't need the food. Life is delicious all on its own, and I want to be a glutton of it. | 
