Is there a vegetable shortage?

If there is a vegetable shortage in SE Michigan, it is all my fault. I think I've eaten more veggies in two and a half weeks than the previous two and half months or longer.

I realize now how lazy I had become about vegetables. Dinner was often meat and a potato or pasta side, frequently from a box. I don't dislike vegetables or fruit, so why did this happen? Bad habits. I look around and see other families are doing the same thing.

My husband is very supportive of what I am doing but doesn't necessarily want to eat the same things. I ask what he would like in the house before I go shopping. Many nights we have both been in the kitchen, making our separate meals side by side. I hope that my successes will rub off on him and that he will eat better too but I am not going to nag. We don't do that in this house. If we did, he would have had reasons to nag me for years.

Following my leader's advice, I am not weighing in at home. I hope that I will show a loss on Monday, but even if I don't for whatever reason, I know I am making good choices and it will show up sooner or later. I feel better already and it isn't just the smug feeling I've had during the honeymoon spell of being back on program before. My body feels better. I've realized that my headaches have been fewer. I am going to record when I do have one because I've attributed most of them in the past to the weather. We have high humidity this week and storms, both have triggered headaches in the past. While I've felt some pressure in my frontal sinuses, I haven't had to take any medication. If this isn't just a coincidence, this alone should keep me on program!

To be honest, I haven't become a purist about what I eat. I had a Smart Ones turkey and mashed potatoes for lunch and didn't care for the taste of the potatoes or gravy. One evening we had Betty Crocker's au gratin potatoes, something I've enjoyed in the past. I measured and tracked them without feeling guilty. It was definitely a smaller quantity than before, but I find myself eating with the emphasis of food as fuel, not something to keep eating just because it tastes good.

My next challenge comes tomorrow. I will be an hour from home in classes from mid morning until late afternoon. This happens once a month. We typically run over a bit in the morning class and sometimes have new people in the afternoon session so we can't just extend our lunch time without delaying others. The group places an order at Jimmy John's which delivers promptly and we eat in the classroom. None of the sub choices are as low as I could make at home but I don't want to worry about keeping my lunch chilled. I've planned what I will order and will enjoy lunch as well as the classes.