FOB wrote:
I find it helps to think of sugar and flour and their yummy products as
poison to me. If you eat some and it doesn't hurt you then you think you
can eat more. I confess I slip once in a while, like a little left over
Halloween candy, but it's better to just keep the attitude that "I don't eat
that."

I understand how that all-or-nothing approach helps people, but it intimidates
and discourages me. My goal in life is not to be the kind of eater who avoids
carbs at all costs. There are plenty of culturally and aesthetically
significant situations in which carbs form a vital part of the foods consumed;
I don't want to be excluded from those situations. In other words, it doesn't
help my weight loss to resolve never to eat cake, bread, potatoes, pasta or
rice. On the contrary, it helps to know that I can have these treats
occasionally and in limited portions, while I can eat as many proteins and low
glycemic vegetables as I need to satiate my hunger. But allowing myself the
occasional carby treat doesn't translate to inattention about portion sizes and
meal balances. For instance, I don't eat carbs by themselves and never let the
portion of carbs exceed protein and vegetables. I also don't include carbs in
one set daily meal as the CAD or Heller diet advocates. Rather, I become
judicious about which carby delicacies will get my attention. Whereas before, I
would scarf down nearly any food I could find that didn't contain melted
cheese, cream or most fish, I'm now much pickier. So, at the original poster's
work party, I would have scoped out the cake and tried to ascertain where or
how it was baked and if quality ingredients were used. I wouldn't have wasted
my carbs on a mass produced factory cake from a box store. I similarly don't
waste carbs on fast foods, convenience foods or foods from questionable
establishments that don't prepare them with any care for quality.

Orlando