When did this become me?!

I came across a lovely blog post today written by a SparkPeep, INTOTHESOUTH, a little over a month ago.

She wrote out a list of things that she's not, but is working towards. A personal wish list of sorts.

As I read it, I realized that I *am* that person!

-who will go jogging for fun. (not only did I start doing it on my own, I'm now PAYING for the privilege of doing it with other people.)

-who will pick the red sauce over the cream sauce without serious cognitive struggle (it's a preference thing for me, but sometimes the cream sauce still wins... because it's usually REALLY tasty! ;)

-who will ever crave a salad that doesn't have candied something in it and isn't covered in cheese (mmm... candied nuts add a lovely crunch to the salad, but I can do with out either.)

-who won't be self-conscious about working out in front of people in better shape than me (this is still a struggle at times, but for the most part, if I want to be one of those "in better shape" people, I have to suck it up and get'er done.)

-who can give up bread (::eyes the loaf of oatmeal wheat in her fridge:: Still have it, just in limited quantities. I got to the point where I saw the value for me and my goals in cutting back on the starches)

-who can eat broccoli, asparagus or brussel sprouts without some sort of firearm providing my motivation (Doode... roasted brussel sprouts. N-U-M! Why did no one tell me about this before?!)

-who can stop at one bite of dessert (::blush:: I actually left 2/3 of my b-day dessert behind at lunch yesterday. First bite: OMG don't need my hubby any more. 2nd bite: Y-U-M, 3rd: mmm. good. 4th: yeah, that's enough.)

-who prefers the grilled over breaded version (Yeah... no particular reason - either habit or something, but I generally go with grilled)

-who will pick the fruit cup side over fries (depends on the fruit, but usually will pick the salad/veggie/fruit side.)

-who won't make ridiculously bad food choices on vacation without regret (I'm going mostly with the "Without regret" part here. Sometimes I will make ridiculously bad choices, sometimes there's not much choice. It happens, move more later and move on.)

-who can make good choices at fast food restaurants (I defer to the previous response)

-who can slip up over one meal and not ruin the rest of the day (ditto)

-who thinks fat free dressing is better than full fat (this is the only one I will flat out disagree with. Fat/sugar free ANYTHING will never, ever, ever be better [nutritionally, taste, texture, etc.] than full fat. Period. I refuse to eat low fat/fat free dressings because I think they taste disgusting and have ingredients I can't pronounce.* If you're going to do partake, partake in the real stuff.)

-who can relax and not worry that the seat belt on a flight won't fit (I'm very grateful that this hasn't really been an issue for me. At the same time, I don't have to worry about being wedged into the already too small seat, with the arm rests digging into my hips.)

So... yeah. WOW. I *am* that person. It happened slowly, gradually, and took many mindful baby steps to achieve, but I'm there. And 'there' is a very nice place to be.

Care to join me?

*This is where I insert the big "but" to cover my, *ahem* [snicker. pun intended.]: The only lower fat dressing I've found that is tolerable, and doesn't have funky chemicals is Newman's Own Balsamic. I only share this in case someone sees me eating it - you can still mock me, but at least I added my caveat. ;)