this is a tough thing to discuss and an important one, I think. Even today, when there is plenty I still go into the kitchen and look in the fridge and pantry and I feel good when it is full.

I was the eldest of seven kids and my family was in the military. My father was enlisted (he later became an officer and money got better but i was older then) and my mother didn't work. We sure didn't have much of anything.

My parents always dished my plate and we had to eat what there was even if we didn't like it. We could have seconds if there were seconds available. I was underweight as a child and I am shocked to see some photos of myself. The kids teased me at school for being skinny. I just didn't get enough to eat. I spent my childhood stealing food and I got very good at it. I stole other kid's lunches, shoplifted food, stole food in other people's houses, and even broke into cars that had visible candy or snacks on the dash. I would eat my lunch on the way to school and then not have anything.

The good news is that as an adult I have always had enough and too much!! Once I got out on my own I discovered the wonderful world of eating everything I ever wanted. I think I ate myself right into insulin resistence and yo-yo dieting added to my problems. I love to eat and I forgive myself for that!

I have to be really careful when on this WOE that I constantly remind myself that I COULD have anything I wanted. No one will stop me and I have my own checkbook now! Right now, I know that I can drive to Albertson's and buy $100 of nothing but sugarey crap and eat it all myself.

So I remind myself of that and I feel fine and stick with my low-carbing pretty easily. This WOL agrees with me because I do not deal with deprivation well. I also remind me that food is fuel not a hobby. I have pretty well addressed my emotional pull to food over my lifetime and when the issues still come up, I understand what it means to me. I say to myself "there is plenty and you can always CHOOSE to eat anything and everything you want". As long as I remember that, I do fine. Orchid