I started using HabitCal. It's old school, but it's simple and I like that. Since the first of the year, I've had 6 GREEN days, 2 YELLOW, and 1 RED. I am also down 4.2 pounds, but I don't think that rate of weightloss is sustainable--I always drop like that the first week I do something new, then bounce back the next week. Probably something to do with water, because I am quite certain I have not burned 14,700 more calories than I've eaten over the past week.
We'll see how this goes. My initial goal in this is to lose 50 pounts over the course of this year, but I want to sit with the habit creation for a bit and see how I feel before I set any real goals. I am concerned that lack of success may cause me to lose interest.
I did some reading of the check-in threads yesterday, and I very much liked the format of one (Kathleen's maybe?) that had the whole month in one post that was edited regularly. I'm going to give it a go, and report on all 3 of my desired habits, even though spending has nothing to do with No-S, except that it starts with S.
My "S-days" for that one will have to be different, though because it's not practical not to spend anything 5 days out of the week. My goal is 2 or 3; I've never tracked that before, so I dont't really know what is practical. Spending is purchasing a good or a service: it does not include paying bills or donations when the hat is passed at a couple groups I go to.
I decided to post myweight: it's a diet forum; no one will be surprised that I'm obese. I think it will be interesting to scroll through in a few months.
1-01-18: Starting Weight: 173.3
1-09-18: 169.4
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
S-Day
Exercise:
Green
Today was a GREEN day, and a tough one at that. I had to go out to lunch with the team (not optional) and we went to an Asian restaurant. I DO NOT like Asian food. I realize that means I don't like what the majority of the world eats, but so be it. So I got something to be polite but I really didn't care for it so I didn't finish it. I wanted an orange later in the afternoon, but I didn't have one. I had a cup of tea instead.
Then I went to the gym after work because I figured eating at 5:30 would be a fast track to a late night snack. I bought gas and cat food, and did 30 minutes on the exercise bike.
1-10-18: 169.1
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
Exercise:
Green
As long as my orange fits on my plate, I can eat it after I am done with my pasta, right? I say yes. The temptation to binge on oranges is about nil.
1-11-18: 168.7
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
Exercise:
S-Day
I didn't eat enough for lunch today because I was squeezed for time. And I had a commitment after work, so I didn't eat supper until after 8:30pm. But I didn't snack or eat too much for dinner...although I ate it very very fast.
1-12-18: 168.5
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
S-Day
Exercise:
Green
Learned from yesterday. Today I went straight from work to a free concert--that happened to be held in a huge mall. I knew I would either have to eat dinner out, or wait until 9pm to eat. So I planned ahead a bit and ate a bigger lunch: a cup of homemade stew, a salad, a piece of bread and applesauce. It all fit on one medium plate, but it's one thing more than I'd normally eat for lunch. It worked; I was not hungry until
after the concert when I was on my way home. For supper, I'll just skip sides with my pasta, because I'm still not starving hungry.
I did buy a soda and some Bath & Body Works (75% off Sale!) to donate to a non-profit I support. Had money budgeted for both those things, so it's an exempt day for No-Spend. And I walked the mall for about an hour before the concert, so that's Exercise even though I didn't do a specific routine. Success! I give myself two points for planning ahead.
1-13-18: 168.7
No-S:
S-Day
No-Spend:
S-Day
No-Sloth:
Green
I decided exercise needs to be no-Sloth to fit in with the theme. I didn't weigh myself until afternoon, so no surprise with that. Did some snacking today that I wasn't thrilled about, but having a peanut butter cookie and a sliver of cake was fabulous as I was at a friend's for lunch. Spending was just the grocery story. yay me! Got a week's worth of meals prepped a:the fridge.
1-14-18: 167.6
No-S:
S-Day
No-Spend:
Green
No-Sloth:
Green
A full two weeks in with only 1 fail day, and no really egregious S-Days, has netted me a loss of 5.7 pounds. I have no idea how much money I'm saving, but would guess somewhere upwards of $50, because I've beens spending about $150 eating out the last few months.
1-15-18: 167.1
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
Exercise:
S-Day
I'm really learning to enjoy plating my food. I prep all my food for the week on weekends (this is not diet-related, but simple laziness) and I used to eat it out of the tupperware. Putting it on a plate seems festive and for some reason, the food seems more filling and the meal seems "over" when the plate is empty.
I'm also enjoying watching the numbers on the scale. I can't imagine this rate of steady weight loss will continue. I expect a hormonal interruption within the next 10 days. Hopefully, it will not lead to chocolate.
1-16-18: 166.6
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
S-Day
Exercise:
Green
The cat had to go to the vet yesterday. I could have gotten gas and stopped at Kinko's to print some signs, which would have enabled me to have a no-Spend tomorrow. But combining errands in sub-zero weather with a cat in the car is impractical and taking him hom in between would have meant more gas, not less. Also, it's going to be 30 degrees warmer tomorrow. I'm willing to defer gas and errands for a warmer day for the price of adding an S day to my spending schedule.
1-16-18: 165.8
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
Exercise:
Green
All-green day. I should have stopped for gas, but I was too lazy. I can do it tomorrow.
Still liking the progress on the scale, but I'm down 7.5 pounds and not noticing ANY difference in the fit of my pants... which makes me wonder if this is all water weight and if I'll gain it all back some day soon. But I'm only 2.5 weeks into the habit formation and I'm feeling good about that. Have only had one moment of wanting to stop by my coworker's candy dish, and successfully resisted.
1-18-2018: 166.3
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
S-Day
No-Sloth:
S-Day
Blaming the weight gain on hormones, should drop in a couple days based on past experience. Not sure if I can count No-S as green today, but I will. I skipped lunch because I was too busy at work, and I don't feel well & I'm too tired to eat dinner. So I'm going to bed. It wasn't an intentional skipping-meals thing, I just don't feel well. But I didn't over eat, so I'm counting it as green. And there is literally no way I could exercise; I can barely walk, so giving myself an S-Day full of grace on that one.
Also an S-Day for No-Spend, because I really needed to get gas & do my printing. And as long as I was having an S-Day, I went to the grocery store so I don't have to go this weekend. And Target to buy tape to hang the signs. Maybe I'll actually have a no-Spend Saturday; that hasn't happened in a while. But I doubt it; I need water softener salt and I was too tired to do one more thing today.
1-19-18: 164.1
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
No-Sloth:
S-Day
Feeling better. The weight went down again, but I think the drop is artificial; I'll be back up tomorrow. Volunteered after work today, so no workout in the cards for me today. Honestly, when I leave for work at 6:10 and get home at nearly 9, even 14 minutes is more than I can manage. I'm wiped out.
No-Spend day again today; I'm getting the hang of that. Nearly failed on No-S; I was offered a cookie at the volunteer event and my mind said "weekend" and I nearly ate it. But then I remembered it's Friday, not Saturday.
I'm not really missing sweets as much as I thought I would. I have some frozen berries so I may make shortcake tomorrow for a treat.
1-20-2018: ?? Forgot to weigh myself.
No-S:
S-Day
No-Spend:
S-Day
No-Sloth:
Green
1-21-2018: 165.8
No-S:
S-Day
No-Spend:
Green
No-Sloth:
S-Day
1-22-2018: 164.8
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
No-Sloth:
S-Day
1-23-2018: 164.5
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Red
No-Sloth: b]
Green[/b]
Catching up with posting after the weekend; I updated my habitcal, but not my thread. My S-days were very nice. Got a good amount of exercise at my volunteer gig. Had a planned dinner out Saturday... I actually split a burger/fries with someone, because no point in pigging out just 'cause. And I had a small bite of the shared cheesecake instead of ordering my own. Sunday I made delicious shortcake, but otherwise kept it in check.
So my weight went up, but not astoundingly so. Hoping to be back at or below the 164.1 again tomorrow.
Today my failure was No-Spend. It was a terrible horible no good very bad day at work, so I bought 2 diet sodas. But that was it. Stayed away from the candy dish. And will make a decent dinner here in a bit. And I already posted green for no-sloth, so I better go do it.
I'm out of grocery money, so the next 10 days will be overly carby and lacking in veggies, but I will maintain the 3-plates/day.
1-24-18: 164.1
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
S-Day
Exercise:
Green
Two caveats today: .
1) I ate crackers this morning. Before breakfast. Because I was too nauseated to eat. Technically, they would have fit on a plate next to the small bowl of oatmeal. There was a break in between them, though. BUT...I figured if I skipped the oatmeal I would have ended up snacking at 10am. I could call it an S-Day, but I don't want to look back & think it was a special day. So I'm calling it green; breakfast just had an intermission. I hate nausea; it's such an icky feeling. My only thought is that it was a reaction to a medication I take. I missed a couple days so the side effects do tend to come back without consistent timing on that med.
2) I didn't really NEED to have an S-Day for No-Spend. But I chose to in advance, and the $.80 I spent was budgeted. So it's yellow.
Nice to see that I landed right at the weight I hoped for yesterday. Tonight... I will hope that I weigh 163.1 tomorrow! We'll see how hoping goes.
Not banking on it though. Supper was a grilled cheese sandwich and chips with an orange. Hello, sodium!
1-25-18: 164.5
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Green
No-Sloth:
S-Day
Disappointed in the numbers on the scale this morning ... this is when I normally get discouraged and give up. Initial progress, followed by lack of results. On the other hand, I'm still on track to lose 50 pounds this year. And I'm celebrating 21 days of good habits! No-S on weekdays and moderate S days on weekends. So that's something. And I am down over 8 pounds this month, which is nothing to scoff at.
Grilled cheese again for supper tonight, but it's too late and I'm too tired to add any sides. G'night.
1-26-18: 164.5
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Yellow
No-Sloth:
Green
1-27-18: 162.5
No-S:
Yellow
No-Spend:
Green
No-Sloth:
Yellow
Didn't leave my house on Saturday. Did some chores, did my February meal plan, napped, went to bed early. My S-Day treat was homemade cornbread with homemade cherry preserves. I didn't eat a full 3 meals either, because I didn't do much all day. But it was an ok day.
1-28-18: 162.5
No-S:
Yellow
No-Spend:
Yellow
No-Sloth:
Green
Went for a hike with a friend, so bought a soda, and paid for parking. But a pretty cheap day out. I like that I have friends who don't demand expensive food-laden activities. Didn't eat until 4pm today, just because I was otherwise occupied. Had a bowl of Rice & Beans, and more cornbread with cherry preserves. Probably not more than I eat on a normal day, but it wasn't 3 plated meals, so it's still a yellow S-Day.
1-29-18: 163.6
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Yellow
No-Sloth:
Yellow
Planned & budgeted final food spend of the month. When I'm down to six bucks, what can't I live without? Diet Coke of course. "Hi, my name is Savor, and I'm an addict." Otherwise, all is well. Mondays are always an S-day for No-Sloth.
Total of 9.7 pounds lost in my first four weeks on the program. That's 20% of the way to my goal. It's
not slow... 2 pounds a week is solid progress... but it sure
feels slow!
1-31-18: 160.5
No-S:
Green
No-Spend:
Yellow
No-Sloth:
Yellow