It's not my fun day.

I actually like Mondays. It's the day I get back to the gym after two days off. I get to check my progress on the scale. I get back to the challenges and opportunities of work. I, well, you know the drill.

I stepped on the scale today and discovered I had lost a little over half a pound since Friday. That is definitely not a bad thing considering that our garden is really starting to put out now and I went a nuts with the figs and salsa over the weekend.

Since I started down this road, I've come to appreciate a number of different foods and flavors. Peanut butter has become one of my favorites treats now- whereas before, I really couldn't stand it- not even in a Reese's cup. Celery too has become a favorite, and the two together? Forget about it! Brocolli? Superfood! Plain yogurt? Awesome! The list goes on.

I believe what has truly helped are the associations I've come to make with certains foods. I think about all the misery being fat has caused me over the years and how it truly has made me feel. Then I mentally and emotionally make the connection between overeating- and especially overeating things like sweets, pizza, fast food, and the like- really acknowledge the pain.

No more will I pig out on pizza or fast food; never again will I ask for that second enormous hunk of cake or bowl of ice cream, never a second pile of spaghetti or lasagne, and never, ever, will I agree to a super-sized anything. It's just too painful.

On the other side of the coin are the rewards of a healthy lifestyle; the pointer on the scale moving counter-clockwize, fitting into a pair of pants I haven't worn in years, climbing a set of stairs without feeling winded, seeing the difference in the mirror, and just feeling BETTER. The road to health is fantastic.