: Hi all,

: I have been lurking on the forum for
: a few days and thought I'd post
: for the first time.

: I bought Potatoes not Prozac last
: year and instantly felt like I
: connected with the philosophy.
: However, I did like many people
: did and tried to do Steps 1-4 all
: at once! That didn't work well of
: course =) I've tried the program
: again a few times, starting with
: step 1, and always felt like I got
: stuck on step 2. I think I
: resisted the journal because it
: felt to me a like a log of when I
: was 'good' or 'bad,' so I didn't
: like to write in it when I was
: eating 'bad' foods. Then I would
: lose interest in the program
: because I wasn't making progress.

: I restarted the program a while ago
: and I'm now back at step 2. I feel
: like I got breakfast down really
: well - some of my favorite things
: are smoothies made with frozen
: fruit, oatmeal, juice, yogurt, and
: protein powder; whole wheat
: chocolate chip pancakes with
: peanut butter and protein powder;
: or hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, whole
: wheat crackers, and fruit. This
: time I've been taking step 2 more
: seriously and just trying to write
: down what I eat and how I feel
: without judging it. It's been
: going really well and I'm starting
: to love my journal! Ever since I
: started step 2 (about a week ago)
: I have been very consistent about
: writing down all my meals/amounts,
: the times, and how I feel. The
: only thing I feel like needs work
: is making sure I write things down
: right after I eat...sometimes I am
: busy at work and it has to wait an
: hour or so until I get a free
: moment.

: My question is, when do you think I
: will be ready to move on to step
: 3? I don't want to rush too fast
: considering my poor history with
: step 2, but I also don't want to
: feel like I'm 'stuck' on this step
: and lose interest in the program
: again!

: Thanks in advance for your help!

I am on Step 2 as well! I am loving it so far, and I recently posted about how logging food makes me anxious. This is why I made a promise to myself to take it one step at a time. I've tried so many "diets" and swearing to "be good" the next day that it's an alien concept to me to take it so slow. But that's the beauty of the program! It took me a month to do Step 1, and I'm planning on another month for Step 2. I have an overachiever complex (which I learned in PNP is normal for a sugar sensitive person ). So I'm going to give it a couple more weeks to teach myself this behavior.

It took a while for me to warm up to the idea of a food log, too. I used to track my food on a website where other internet users could look at what you were eating and leave comments. Talk about creating anxiety! But I love my journal...After a recommendation from one of the users here, I went out a bought a cute little pink notebook and I LOVE writing in it! It really is so much fun. I just remember that it's MY book and no one else's, so who cares if I write something "bad?" I am able to examine patterns...for example, one night I ate too much pizza, and recorded that I felt "calm and relaxed," and then the next morning I wrote that I felt bloated and miserable. How else would I have a record of my body's reaction unless I was honest with myself?

Anyway, sorry for the rambling! I hope continue to come here and report on your progress. This community is great!