It's been a while, I know, but life has been busy and nowadays I have pretty much settled into an existence without diets (hence I feel less need to post). If you have only just stumbled upon this site (and I know it gets a lot of readers still), then I will let you know that in September 2006, I stopped dieting, and never looked back.
Okay - it hasn't been an easy ride - but it was a decision that liberated me more than I could ever imagine. And it's definitely taken this long to conquer the demons that have tried to tempt me back on the diet treadmill. But now I feel that my eating is more 'normal' than ever - and when people talk about 'cravings' and a lack of control around food (thereby avoiding it, rather than 'risking' being around it), I struggle to remember what that was like.
Don't get me wrong - I still have to work at things - but those occasions are fewer and generally, I find myself eating all the things I used to avoid like the plague, and I'm still the same weight as I was before I gave up diets. It's not my ideal weight, I will admit (on the larger side of size 12), but I'd rather be this weight than struggle on a daily basis to be one size smaller, miserable while eating lettuce and low-fat cottage cheese.
To be honest, I don't even remember what that crap tasted like! I have had butter in my fridge for the past 2 years, and while I went back to semi-skimmed over full fat milk only because I prefer the taste, I no longer know what it is like to choose 'low-fat' or diet versions of food over the real stuff. My dieting friends must panic when they come to my house and all I have is butter to spread on their toast - for them a rare treat, for me a daily occurrence.
So, I'm just popping in again to let you know that I'm still here, fighting fit, and a living a diet-free life is better than ever! No New Year diet resolution just after Christmas, even though like most normal human beings, of course I put on weight - but I no longer feel the need to panic it away. I'll just get back to normal and everything will be fine!
I'm Andrea, and am obsessed with creating fabulous food. After I managed to ditch dieting, the reason Chocolate and Beyond was born, it seemed natural to evolve my site into a foodie blog. More so since I also ditched animal produce to be vegan. Now, I love showing how inventive cruelty-free cooking can be. And sometimes I like to rant, too. I wouldn't be myself otherwise :) x 
The excesses of the festive season are bound to result in most of us putting on weight. But it is likely to come off gradually over the next few months by simply going back to normal, sensible living.
Posted by: HCG Diet | January 27, 2009 at 12:38 PM