Well, two whole weeks - that's 14 days. And, no binge episode. That is pretty darn good, the best streak in months. I'm cautiously optimistic, but relaxed as I think this which is a good sign. Usually when I have been optimistic about recovery, it has always felt hollow, and beset with anxiety.

I've recorded my eating, but not all meals. I have also for 90 percent of my meals or snacks, stopped before I eat, sometimes ten minutes even. I'll also stop several times during the meal. And, I make sure I have plenty of time to eat, because I actually like taking a good hour. This takes me back to my childhood when I was usually the last at the table. It was nice rediscovering that memory, and bringing back a healthy habit to the present. I ran 3 days in the past seven days, not my goal of 4 days, but one of them was a 9-mile run which I had aimed to achieve. I also, for the most part, kept my new habit of not re-entering the kitchen after putting the kids to bed.

Finally, one key ingredient in my recovery is keeping up my connections with family and with a group of binge eaters who are also working on discovery and recovery. I continue to tweet my meals and email the snapshots to my sister and husband. I also blog and communicate my ups and downs which helps normalize the process, ease any anxiety, strengthen my commitment, and plug in to my accountability. I understand I need the support and interaction in order to stay excited about recovery.

If you're wondering about my meals, I eat a lot of vegetables (big variety/I shop at an Asian grocery along with Costco, Trader Joe's, and another major grocery chain), eggs, tofu, fish, and poultry. I regularly eat quinoa, millet, buckwheat groats, Thai or Indian brown rice, and some white rice. There's very little wheat in my diet. I also regularly eat nuts and seeds (pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecan, pistacchio). I do treat myself to some dessert here and there, but mostly fruit. I don't actually cut anything out. I had some chocolates last night, but never lost control. I ate bread from a bakery this morning, but was able to just eat a third. So, I don't plan on cutting out any major food group because I enjoy food, but I am limiting my intake of processed foods, sugar, white flour, and wheat. Is it because they are my trigger foods? Yes. But mostly because they don't make me feel good. I'm reading Brain Over Binge which I blogged about in the last post, and Kathryn Hansen stated she did not want recovery that involved cutting out whole groups of food. I don't either. I think that will make my triggers even bigger targets. I want to get to a point where I look at those "trigger" foods and they don't trigger. That I can have a few and put them away. For the first time that I can actually remember, I believe this will happen for me