Plan of Attack

My basic plan:

Allow myself 4 bites of whatever may be for dinner – but fill up on veggies, salad and/or other ‘approved’ food for the rest of my meal.  

 
Why 4 bites?
Well, everyone defaults to “3” – so already that ‘extra’ bite feels like a little indulgence. (Yes, I often play such mental games with myself – sometimes successfully!)
 
Also, it’s easier to split up – if I want to have 2 bites before all the healthy filler and 2 bites after, so be it. Could be that I won’t even want the other 2 bites after all and I’ll be satisfied. If so, I’ll be able to congratulate myself on being even further ahead of the curve (all about helping me to feel good about succeeding in my goals to cut back)!
 
And, for those who know about my strange affinity for the number 8, this is self explanatory. Just look at how it balanced out my blog title! ; )

Why not just implement a strict diet?
First of all – it's not fair to my hubby to deprive him of all the things a strict “low cholesterol” diet omits. Plus, I need to be able to feed my 18-month old things like grilled cheese and pasta on occasion. So I can’t remove ALL items of temptation from our household.

Plus…well, I’ve never done well with any sort of strict rules. They always seem to be there just to challenge me to find a way around them!

Also – I truly enjoy cooking for my family. And I make a mean cobbler. Not to mention biscuits…chicken and dumplings…fettuccine alfredo…(you get the picture, I’m sure).

You think just that is going to make you lose 50 lbs. and drop your cholesterol 60+ points? [yes, my #’s are THAT high]
No. There are other elements to my plan of attack – including the other thing I’ve never done well with: an exercise regimen. Also going to incorporate some specific foods and products suggested for lowering cholesterol, after I do a little research. More about all that later. I’m thinking this is enough to ‘digest’ for now!