JL, here's my take on fair food. If I'm going somewhere like that, I eat appropriately the day before and the morning of, and then don't make a big deal about what I eat at the fair. I rarely eat "sweets" or "junk food" so I just make the best choice I can of the fair food. I know people who take their own food to a gathering so they don't have to go off plan, and I think that's being obsessive.

Um, that would be me! I knew from one of the other people I went with that there would be roasted-on-a-spit chicken, but I'd been eating chicken for two days previous so that didn't appeal. I did ok though; had some very lightly breaded fish that was quite tasty. I went back to the car to drink the choc protein shake I'd brought with me too as I've been emphasizing protein lately. It really helps me not get hungry or have the feeling "I want something, what do I want?" too soon after I've just eaten.

My friends (fellow members of my weight loss group) had sweet treats, including about the biggest ice cream cones I ever saw, but I wasn't tempted by that any more than I usually am. I am a total sugar addict. I've proven it to myself for decades, over and over, that I can't have just something once in a while. If I had had ice cream, I would have gone home and had another quart. And so on, day after day. I quit sugar when I was diagnosed diabetic and am at peace with it. It feels like freedom actually. (I'm not a total purist; I have a small amounts from time to time in tomato sauce, canned baked beans or whatever, and it doesn't seem to start the craving.)

I had been really struggling to get back on track for months of regaining weight - sometimes 5 pounds a week! - when my mother was dying and I still feel a little precarious, though I am feeling on firmer ground all the time. Anyway, it was worth it - I lost 4 and a half pounds last week! (Well, I think some of that was the vagaries of the scale, but I definitely did lose. )