Everyday Systems

Howdy.

Success for days 1 & 2. Already last night it seemed like my evening sugar cravings were lessened.

Good for you!!!

Howdy back at ya. Welcome and good luck.

Thanks for the welcomes and encouragement!

Day 3 success. Dessert hardly crossed my mind last night. Lunch was maybe a bit on the large side because it was leftovers from eating out the night before. Had a Kashi frozen lasagna for dinner though, so that probably made up for it, and I bought stuff to cook at home for the next few nights.

Day 4: success

Made dinner at home last night: Slow cooker pork loin with peach sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes, peas. I started piling my plate but then decided it was more than necessary and put some back. Turned out to be plenty.

First week SUCCESS! Happy S days everybody!

Awesome!!!

Thanks Tobiasmom!

S-days were a nice break. I wasn't inclined to gorge myself, but I did enjoy some desserts and a bit more "recreational" eating. Nothing too crazy.

...and I suppose that would make yesterday Day 8 and a SUCCESS.

Day 9: SUCCESS

Day 10&11: SUCCESS

Sometimes it's a bit scary to put just enough food on the plate. I particularly have issues with dinner. Like, what if I misjudged and get hungry later, before bed, and then I'm hungry and can't sleep? I suppose the simple answer is, well, then you eat something and get it right tomorrow. The past couple nights I've put food on my plate for dinner, taken something off, put it back on, thought about it a bit, and taken it off again. Both times, it's turned out to be fine.

Another thing I've noticed: I'm having lunch more often now. I don't think I'm really eating less at breakfast, but maybe it's just because I know I'm not going to want to wait all the way until dinner with nothing. Or maybe that if I skip breakfast, I'll want dinner earlier and then end up hungry later. Or maybe there's just less of a constant surplus of calories in my system, tiding me over from breakfast to dinner. Whatever the reason may be, I've been enjoying taking a break during the day to eat lunch.

Try a glass of milk if you get hungry before bed. That is allowed.

Thanks r.jean. Haven't need to resort to such measures yet, but it's good to have available.

Week 2: SUCCESS

I had a burger and fries last night, which felt a little "wrong" until I realized that a few weeks ago, I would have convinced my friend to share an appetizer, had a coke and then dessert; It's still a pretty huge reduction in calories over my eating in the past. Over the past few months, just eating whatever and whenever I wanted, I was maintaining my weight, so it would make sense that I would lose weight by cutting these things out.

That said, I weighed myself this morning gained 1.5 lbs over last week, which means I'm .5 lbs over where I started...which sucks. Still, I know the scale can vary from day to day (although mine has seemed reasonably consistent in the past) and I guess I'll just enjoy my S days and see where I am next Friday. It sure would have been encouraging and energizing to have lost half a pound.

Oh well. I'll do my best to not dwell on it and just keep going. Luckily, it hasn't been a particularly difficult "diet" so far.

Day 14: SUCCESS

This weekend's S-days were a bit more...taken advantage of, but still not excessive I think. I bought some smaller plates yesterday, because mine are large and kind of deep, so it takes a little extra to make them look full.

I put on a pair of pants a couple days ago that had been pretty snug on me last time I wore them, a couple months ago, and they were comfortable. Also put on a belt that I haven't worn for a long time, and I was on a smaller hole, so...I'm not sure if that says anything about no-S, since I've only been doing it for a couple weeks, but it does tell me that I should start taking measurements of my waist etc., rather than just my weight. I guess I'll do that along with the scale on Friday.

Feeling dessert cravings this evening, but it's almost bedtime so I think I'll survive!

Day 15: SUCCESS
Day 16: FAILURE

Well, I have to call today my first failure. My power has been out since the storm here in CT, so I've been having to eat out, which is always dangerous for me. I had a very greasy tuna melt and french fries tonight and, although I stuck to the letter of the law and didn't have sweets, seconds, or snacks, I did keep eating until I was more than full.

Still, I'm happy with myself that I didn't have a soda or a dessert as I would have in the past. Particularly proud of myself with that because my usual tendency would be that, once I failed to follow the rules 100%, I would just say screw it and order the dessert.

Also, just realized that I forgot to have lunch today, so probably didn't do too bad all told. Still, in the spirit of keeping myself honest, I'm calling today a failure. I hope I get power back some day so I can get back to cooking again!

Day 17: SUCCESS

It was a weird eating day because I totally forgot to eat breakfast. Had a Mojo bar for lunch because I didn't feel like going out to get food, then had breakfast for dinner...because I like breakfast. Had a third, smaller meal late-ish.

Weighed myself this morning because I won't be home tomorrow and I'm down 1 lb from last week, and up .5 overall since I started. Surprisingly, though, I feel ok about it. I'm going to try doing the moving average thing. Also, will take my measurements now.

Power is back on, so after the weekend I'll re-stock up and be able to cook at home again.

Week 4: SUCCESS

Weighed myself this morning: 148.6! I know I'm not supposed to put too much emphasis on that, but it's encouraging to see a downward trend.

Day 28: SUCCESS
Day 29: FAILURE

Yup, failure today, but I don't feel bad about it. After a couple hours of shopping, trying to calculate what I could afford with the 50 bucks in change I'd cashed in, I was just feeling too hungry and burnt out to go home and start cooking. So I went to McDonald's...and enjoyed it. Big Fail, French Fails, Coca Failure, and a hot fail sundae.

Only two meals today, so calorically probably not such a big deal anyway.