Cheers to you!!

Monique, here's to you, girl!!! You spend entirely too much time beating yourself up, so I decided to take this time to uplift YOU!!! There are things that you do WELL!! Pat yourself on the back once in a while.

Let's start with food. What did you used to keep in the house that you don't anymore and what have you replaced it with?

• Sugar. I used to KEEP sugar. Why? Kool-Aid. I LOVE Kool-Aid. I stopped drinking it because of the sugar. I don't buy ANY sugar at all. What sweeteners do I currently have at home? A few packets of Sugar in the Raw and honey. That's all I need!
• Flour. This was also a staple. I only realized yesterday that I didn't buy this anymore. Why? I stopped frying stuff. That was the only time I used flour. Oh, and to flour cake pans. But mostly to fry chicken. No more deep frying, no more flour. Monique, for someone who used to LIVE in grease, this is a HUGE accomplishment.
• Grease/Oils. The only oil in my apartment is Olive Oil. I try to use a couple tablespoons each day, but it's not so easy. I probably use it more for my hair than anything. But I'm going to get better. Maybe I'll make some homemade vinaigrette. We'll see. But the point is, I'm not frying anything!!!!! That was the only reason I'd have vegetable oil, to fry chicken, fish, french fries, pork chops (back when I ate swine), etc.
  
• Milk. I stopped drinking milk for a whole host of different reasons. I was drinking skim milk. Well, not drinking it, only in cereal. I don't drink milk to often. Anyway, I stopped mostly because it jacked up my sinuses. Now I drink Silk light Soy milk.
• Snacks. Cheetos, cookies, ice cream, fudgesicles, CHEEZITS (i love cheezits), etc. I never buy this stuff to keep in the house anymore. I'll only buy small bags (one serving) if I have to have it at all. Instead I snack on pretzels or 94% fat-free popcorn. I also love those 100 calorie snack packs from Nabisco. The cinnamon grahams are my favorites!!!
• Fruit juice. A doctor once told me, "If God had meant for us to drink juice, he would have put it in the tree!!! If you want juice, get it directly from the fruit; don't buy fruit juice." I have tried to do better with this, but every once in a while (every few months), I have to have some Minute Maid Fruit Punch. I'm planning on investing in a juicer, but in the meantime, I'm going to use my friend's about once a week. Hey, she offered! :)

Well, Monique, I think that's about it, but DANG!!! Look at how much you've changed your habits over the past few years!!! I bet if you really put your mind to it, you could see how you've changed in lots of ways with regard to this journey. You spend so much time on what you DON'T do well. You need to start congratulating yourself on what you DO do well. The better you feel about yourself along this journey, the more apt you are to stick to it.