I learned two valuable lessons this past week and I will share them with you because you may be able to relate. As I write this article, I can smell someone cooking in one of the neighboring apartments and it smells delicious, but since I am not hungry, it is just a smell. It's gone now, thank you timely breeze .

Ok, here we go with the first lesson. My friend agreed to ride with me as I went to see a friend who lived about an hour away. I was glad to have the company; however on the way she asked if we could stop at Jack-in-the-Box because she wanted to get a vanilla shake and a chocolate cake (aka "chocolate overload"). I felt a little funny that she would ask me, knowing that I was on Jenny Craig, but we went and I survived, sitting next to her as she slurped and stirred the thick shake and then moved on to the chocolate cake. My friend does not have a weight issue and we used to go and get this combo together and equally enjoyed slurping and stirring.

I had a lot of time to think as she ate and at first I was a little angry thinking, "She is really going to eat this chocolate cake in front of me, really?" It almost seemed as though she was taunting me. I never looked in her direction as I continued to drive. What I learned is that my change to Jenny Craig has not only affected me, it has also affected my late night, fast-food run buddy and my friends that I use to tag along with as I went from one fast food place to another. What are they to do now that I no long visit these grease pits? I also realized that only "my" eating has changed, not theirs. They can still have whatever they want and I either have to be absent when they eat the stuff that I have chosen not to eat or find another way to deal with the situation. So here is what I came up with.

When I am driving, we are not going to places that tempt me...period! I am also not going to ride with friends who want to make late night fast food runs. That is how I will deal with it! My success is important to me and I have to stand up for myself.

The next circumstance showed me something very important about my relationship with food. I was asleep and I received a call at 2:30 a.m. from someone I know who was stranded and needed me to come get them. They were hysterical. Against the advice of my best friend, I went. I did not see them at the designated spot so I came back home. What was important is what happened before and after the event. Before I went, I was feeling reluctant about having them stay in my apartment. I did not want to go, but I had said that if they needed help, they could call me. I could not go back on my word.

There were other things that complicated the situation even further so I was really disturbed while trying to work it out. After I started back home, I felt myself wanting to eat as I passed all of the neon signs calling me to their drive-thru. It was at that moment that I realized that I was "not" hungry, but I needed to calm myself down. I fought the urge and came home and tossed and turned in my bed until I finally fell asleep. Not eating taught me that I didn't have to give into an old crutch. I had done what the CD (Touchstones for Success: How to Change Your Mind To Achieve Your Goals) said and let my emotions play out and then intervened as the non-biased negotiator. I was proud of that moment.

Being on Jenny Craig is not only taking the weight off of me. It is teaching me about myself and I love that. I notice that I swipe my debit card less because I am not eating out and I notice that I can go into a store and leave without candy. I feel powerful in my new journey and I know it will last as I loose the weight and gain a greater perspective. I hope you are doing well on the program too and if you stumble a little, that's ok. You have time to correct your flow and still end up where you want to be. Thank you for reading and make it happen. You can do it!!