Moderation - Even with Drinks

So, I've recently jumped back into drinking coffee head first. I had tried to steer clear of the many, many coffee houses in my neighborhood and to avoid both caffeine and caloric drinks, but it was too good to be true. I was doing the South Beach diet for awhile and was really trying to stick to everything that it advocated. And it worked. I lost 20 pounds and my husband lost 25. A miracle! Amazing! And then we went on a three week vacation and we said to ourselves before we left that we hoped we wouldn't gain it all back. It's not easy to juggle eating out all the time with a diet and being on the go with eating a no-carbs menu.

What I found has been very surprising. Even though I've added a few more cokes to my routine and I've had a few too many coffees with delicious additives, I've still managed to maintain my weight. No, I didn't go crazy and eat and drink everyday whatever I wanted. But, I had figured that I had to either be 100% or 0% on this diet. And I've found that there is room in life for moderation. Although it's certainly preferable to drink only water all day long, one or two cokes or coffees a week isn't going to send me off the deep end. And that is very satisfying news!

For Love of Chocolate

I was on the South Beach diet about four months ago, and now chocolate seems to be calling my name. What is one to do when a certain undesirable food just won't leave them alone? It's definitely been a difficult few weeks. Fortunately, I'm still exercising like I was and I'm still eating, in general, as I was...but the darn chocolate is calling my name. So, I've come up with a list of a few options that I have, and that you probably have if something starts to call your name.

1. Listen to it in moderation. There is nothing wrong with having a little bit of chocolate (especially if it's dark chocolate) once in a while. When it's more than once in a while...then the problems begin.

2. Try to substitute the chocolate for something else. Maybe you can have some coffee? Maybe a chocolate mint will work?

3. Get it out of the house! Ok - so my husband likes the chocolate and can eat a little at a time. But who cares!? I can't, and I need it out of the house. Period.

These are my first three ideas...I'm trying to think of others as well. Hope these help as a beginning.