Ah, the good old days.

Sometimes I like to remember when ignorance at mealtime really was bliss for me. I'd eat a bagel with cream cheese (instead of a raised chocolate doughnut) and bask in the afterglow of my stellar nutritional choices.

Then I'd enjoy a Caesar salad at lunch and find myself on the verge of a natural high.

Finally, if I happened to follow those mature, enlightened choices with a vegetable-laden pasta primavera, I'd consider myself health nut. It was, after all, difficult to find a decent pasta dish at a drive-through.

That was before television ruined my false sense of accomplishment. I am a "Biggest Loser" fan, and last season, they began having David Zinczenko and Matt Gouldin on the show to prove just how misguided some of us are. The duo wrote the book "Eat This, Not That!" which I saw for the first time on a morning news program.

Then they started doing these little quizzes on the "Biggest Loser" that I, with all of the nutritional knowledge of a fast-food connoisseur, failed miserably.

At first, I admit, I was in denial. I didn't want to believe a chicken wrap could actually be worse than a cheeseburger.

And, in fact, the sandwich I chose to replace burgers, well, it was probably worst of all. I had decided on my own that a tuna melt was healthy. Then those two fun-suckers informed me that in addition to what I thought was protein, I was scarfing 900 calories and 50 grams of fat. Are you kidding me?! I'll stick to chips and salsa for that kind of fat intake.

My bagel with cream cheese? A mere 700 calories and 40 grams of fat. That "salad"? Just 900 calories and 60 (non-chocolate) grams of fat! And worst of all, the pasta, albeit with veggies, was 800 calories and 40 grams of fat.

Thus begins my slow, seriously depressing at times, descent (or is that ascent?) into food education. The one thing I have learned, both by experience and watching others struggle through lifestyle changes, is that changing lifelong eating habits is excruciatingly difficult.

Like fitness, there are no shortcuts. I should know; I still find myself wandering — and wondering how I can inject that doughnut with protein without changing the taste.

It's not all disappointment and denial, though. Feeling better really is worth the trade-offs. The first few days of french-fry withdrawal are difficult, and you may need support (like forcing your kids to give them up, as well). But, interestingly, after you quit that kind of food for a few days, you start to lose your craving.

I am still very much in the elementary school of nutritional education. And even though I still require a nap time most days, I am already convinced better choices don't lead to a deprived life. They lead, instead, to a fuller life, because I feel more energized and more capable of tackling all the activities I apparently couldn't hear calling my name because of the static being emitted from the order board of my former favorite drive-through.

e-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com