Day 105 - Blogging Absense and BIG clothes

I know that whenever I notice that a weightloss blogger hasn't posted in several days, I am immediately concerned that they are "off their game" and struggling. I haven't posted for 6 days, but I want to assure you that this is not the case with me. I'm doing fantastic. We were away for the weekend camping and I stuck to my plan the entire time! I weighed in this morning and was down to 131.4 (SO CLOSE TO GOAL!!)

Something else I did this weekend is clean out my closet and throw out all my ill-fitting clothes. I've lost weight countless times before and this is something that I have never done. Maybe I just never had the confidence in myself to take that step.

This time, however, I have thrown out (or donated) every piece of clothing in my closet that is currently too big. Yes, I realize that if I gain weight back, I will have nothing to wear, and I will have the most unpleasant task of having to go clothes shopping at a bigger size. But that is a risk that I am willing to take, because I truly believe (for the first time) that this isn't going to happen to me again!

I did hesitate a little about this because even my husband, as supportive as he is, was dubious about me throwing out all the "big" stuff. I found this a little upsetting... "he doesn't think I can do it". But in his defense, I have a really crappy track record! So, I'm not going to let his doubt get me down, no, I'm going to use it to fuel my determination. I'll show him!!

Day 99 - Movie Snacks (or not)

Last night, I went to see The Time Travellers Wife with some girlfriends. I was a little nervous because the last time I went to see a movie with them, I ate almost a huge bag of movie popcorn by myself (YIKES). So this time, I saved a few calories and snuck a little paper bag with 30g of microwave popcorn into the theatre.

Then, neither of my girlfriends bought anything to eat at the theatre, and I didn't want to be rude and get out my popcorn when they had nothing (and I didn't bring enough to share)... so it sat in my purse. I ate it when I got home though at about 10pm, I wouldn't normally eat that late, but I saved the calories and I just WANTED it.

I really like those blogs where people show pictures of what they eat everyday. I don't think I will do that all the time, it would be too boring (I tend to eat a lot of the same things over and over). But here is a picture of my dinner last night. I ate on my own before the family because of the movie, so I took the opportunity to have some french toast again.

Day 96 - My Arms

What's your favorite body part? The part that you are most proud of?

I am really proud of my ... arms (at the moment, anyway... lol)

I work really hard on my arms. I lift heavy weights and I can do lots of "men's pushups". In the summer I love to wear sleeveless tops. Sadly, the definition in my arms is probably one of the first things that I lose when I gain a little weight. And it is the part of me that I use to judge whether I am happy with where I am, weight-wise. Picture me standing in front of the mirror in the morning, flexing my muscles (yes, women do that too!!!). Even 10 pounds can make a pretty big difference in my arms. I am pretty satisfied with how they look right now.

And so, without further ado... I'd like to indroduce my arms... say "Hi" to Betty and Wilma. OK, ha ha, I'm just kidding, I haven't named them... YET...


(Gosh that Birthday cake must have been really HEAVY!)

Yesterday, I had a good day. I made a Tomato and Basil Pizza on a whole wheat pita pocket for dinner. Since I didn't put meat on it, I had calories to spare and I was able to put LOTS of cheese (yum). I spread 28g (1 oz) of goat cheese on the pita, sprinkle some basil, add sliced tomato and then 15g of grated parmesan. Then I broil it until is all bubbly. All that for only 277 calories! Delish!

Day 98 - Dealing with Setbacks

One of the most challenging aspects of weight loss and weight management for me has always been dealing with setbacks. When I have setbacks, like I did this past week, I get mad... mad at the unfairness of "never being able to have any treats without gaining weight".

This is something that I am learning to deal with a little better. Overall, I had a good week last week. I ate on plan every single meal with the exception of TWO. My birthday dinner on Thursday night, and Friday night (I went out after work with coworkers and had three beers and an individual sized vegetarian pizza). Saturday and Sunday I was back on track. Sunday, I ate a little more than usual (1600 calories) but I did an 18km run (2 hours and 2 minutes of running!) in the morning, so I needed those extra calories.

This morning's weigh in? 135.0! Up 1.2 pounds from last Monday. CRAP!

I know I ate two REALLY REALLY bad dinners. But I was pretty honest when I estimated the calories (I logged 1100 for that pizza, to be on the safe side). But, even with bad factored in, last week my daily average calorie intake was 1788. Is that really enought to gain 1.2 lbs? Does that mean I can NEVER eat 1800 calories per day without gaining weight? Even with all my running? I ran 18km yesterday!! And I was still up 1.2lbs? Hello? Metabolism? Where are you? Have you deserted me in my time of need???

I could let myself get really upset about this. Or, I could just shrug it off and keep going. So, I'll maybe take an extra two weeks to get to my goal weight now... but really, where's the rush? This is a lifelong project.

Day 95 - Birthday Dinner Confession

This is pretty funny, but I think I spent nearly as much time trying to calculate the calories of everything that I ate for my Birthday Dinner as I did actually EATING it!!

I am pleased to report that I followed my plan exactly. I ate my regular breakfast and lunch, I went for a run. I was famished when I got back from run so I ate a green pepper (yes a whole green pepper) and a half a banana to tide me over, since dinner wasn't until 7pm.

At dinner, I ordered what I wanted. It was a high calorie dinner and I overate, for sure, but I don't feel bad or guilty about it because I don't consider it a "binge". Since it was a fancy restaurant, the portion sizes were pretty small. I really had to just "guess" a lot of the calories, so I could be off (who knows).

I had 3 glasses of red wine, some popcorn that they bring to the table when you sit down, a dinner roll with butter (YUM), and some seafood ceviche with about 6 plaintain chips. For my main course I had grilled guinea fowl (with skin and BBQ sauce), it came with a "potato risotto" which was sort of like a hot potato salad and steamed spinach. For dessert I had Jamaican Rum Bread Pudding with Ice Cream and caramel sauce.

I was very proud of my kids, they split an order of Rabbit Fricasse and ate it all (I didn't lie and tell them it was "chicken", either!!). I tried bites of everyone elses dinners and desserts, but I didn't log them, since I gave them bites of mine in exchange, and I figure that's probably a "wash"...

I felt really full after dinner, and I actually wasn't even hungry for breakfast this morning (but I ate it anyway)... I was also up 2lbs (but that will go away fast, I'm sure)...

Here's what it looked like... be prepared for sticker shock!!!! It's always a little surprising how fast those calories add up! And this was a fairly healthy meal in a fancy restaurant (e.g. no deep frying)...

Day 94 - It's my Birthday and I'll Binge if I want to...

KIDDING!!!

In my post yesterday, I wrote about getting a little crazy with my eating last year on my birthday (OK, a LOT crazy). I used my birthday to rationalize some very unhealthy choices, and I ended up not enjoying my food as much as I would have otherwise. I also wrote about how I wasn't going to do the same thing this year...

And I won't. BUT. Here is something else that I am not going to do.... I'm not going to restrict myself to the point that I feel deprived on my birthday.

So, I have a plan (it's all about planning, BABY!). I am going to eat the exact same breakfast and lunch as I do everyday... my coworkers have already offered to take me out to lunch, and I said "no thanks! I am going out for a special dinner tonight, and I want to save myself for that. Thanks for the offer though!"... and they said "BOOO! You're no fun". And maybe they're right, but if I'm going to be "boring"... I am at least going to be "thin and boring!!". HA!

After work, I am going out for a 10km run (which will burn in the area of 600-700 calories) and then I am going to order whatever I want for dinner. An appetizer and a main course, and possibly even a dessert if I still have room. The fancy dinner will be my ONLY splurge for the day, and not an excuse to say "oh well, today is already messed up"... I think that's a good compromise!

We are going to an aboriginal bistro... they have lots of interesting things like boar bacon, and bison... I'll report tomorrow about what I chose...

I had a good day yesterday. I had grilled salmon and veggies for dinner, which ended up being lower in calories than my usual dinner... but it was great because I had room for a nice snack when I got back from my 7km run...

Day 93 - This Time Last Year

Let me talk a little about this time last year...

It was my birthday. I had just reached my goal weight (actually I was three pounds below my goal weight at 127). It was my birthday (did I mention that already?)

It all started the night before, when my Husband suggested that we go out for breakfast on my birthday as a treat. We'd drop the kids at daycare, have a nice quiet breakfast alone and go into work a bit late. Sure! Why not, that sounds like a treat I could tolerate now that I'd reached my goal weight (with a few buffer pounds to spare).

So we went out for breakfast. I ordered the hungry man special (HEY, it was my birthday!!) It was a full bacon, sausage and egg breakfast with homefries and french toast on the side. It was WAY too much food, but it was delicious and I fully enjoyed every single bite.

I went to work, and at some point in the morning, one of my coworkers suggested that they take me out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. Sure! That would be great, but they weren't free for lunch until about 1pm... I'm use to eating lunch as noon on the dot, so I better have a snack, right?? Besides, it's my birthday! So, I ran over to the coffee shop next door and I ordered a fresh cup of coffee and a raisin, cinnamon fritter... one of my absolute favorites (which I hadn't enjoyed in MONTHS and today is a right off anyway... right??). The fritter was huge - way too big for one person, but I ate it all and enjoyed every single bite.

For lunch, my co-workers took me to my favorite Lebanese greasy spoon. I ordered the combo plate with "extra sauce" (it was my birthday, blah blah). The combo plate consisted of a huge pile of greasy rice pilaf (seriously there was grease pooled under it), chicken and beef strips, a fattoush salad, pita bread, and garlic sauce (basically a full fat garlic mayo to dip everything into). Since I asked for extra sauce, I probably had around a 1/4 cup of mayo... it was delicious and I enjoyed every single bite...

For an afternoon snack I had come chocolate pecan bark that had been stashed in my desk drawer (it had been there for months, but I hadn't eaten it because I was being "good", I guess I should have thrown it out). I wasn't even close to hungry, but it was my birthday, and the day was already completely messed up!! Right?

Did I mention that we had dinner reservations for my special birthday dinner? Reservations that we had made a month in advance to go with my parents for a birthday treat at one of my favorite fancy italian restaurants?

Well by the time I left work at 4pm, I was feeling horrible. I was bloated and my tummy actually HURT! Our reservations were for 6:30pm...I was hoping that 2.5 hours would be enough time to work up my appetite a bit so I could eat my dinner! My new size 6 skirt that I planned to wear felt tight on my bloated belly... so I was uncomfortable the whole evening.

I didn't want to admit to any of my family about how much I had eaten that day (my husband only knew about the breakfast... and HE skipped lunch, because he was "still full at noon"... boy I wanted to punch him in the nose when he said that... but truthfully I was mad at myself, not at him)...

So, I ordered an appetizer (can't remember what), a full meal (veal gorgonzola), and tiramisu for dessert. I had to force most of it down, and I didn't enjoy ONE SINGLE BITE. I was in agony.

This was the beginning of the end... I was afraid to weigh myself after that, had a disastrous binge-filled business trip the very next week and by Christmas I had gained all my weigh back...

I am telling this story because tomorrow is my birthday and we are going out for my annual traditional birthday dinner to a fancy restaurant with my parents. This year, I resolve to do things differently....

Had a good day yesterday, and lifted weights for an hour and got in a fast 5km run...

Day 92 - My Skinny Daughter

I have two children. My daughter is 9 and my son is 6. I believe that I feed my family very well. I love to cook and we eat every meal (except lunch Mon-Fri) together as a family. I spend a lot of time packing healthy (and low garbage environmentally friendly) school lunches for my children and dinner always includes several vegetables and other healthy things. Even when I'm in "weight gain" mode, the family still eats healthy (most of my weight gain would happen BETWEEN meals)...

But, they are children, so I DO let them enjoy their treats (and they DO give me a hard time about eating veggies sometimes). When I am having my low calorie dessert, I give them a couple of options: fruit, yoghurt or 2 cookies (never three, only two!). My daughter usually picks the cookies (or the least healthy out of all the options that I give her), my son usually picks the fruit. Sometimes I also give them options for breakfast... would you like whole wheat toast with peanut butter? or Corn Bran squares with banana? or a scrambled egg with english muffin? My daughter will sometimes ask for something like pancakes, or waffles or a sugary cereal. I mostly say no. Those are reserved for treats.

I should mention that my daughter (both my kids actually) are very thin (almost skinny). Yet, I worry about my daughter's habits, I see so much of myself in her food choices. She loves bread, and cream sauces, and cheese, and fried stuff, and peanut butter and chocolate, and pizza (I can't blame her for loving those things!). I worry about what will happen to her when she stops growing taller ... will she suffer from the same yo-yo dieting hell that I've been in since highschool?

How do I prevent it? How can I teach her healthy habits without giving her a complex (like mine). I don't want her to obsess about it, but she needs to learn that there are some foods that she should eat in moderation...

When we are in restaurants I never order for my kids off the children's menu (it's full of garbage). I always order an adult meal for them and ask for two plates so they can share. The last time we were out, she wanted to have a pasta dish in a gorgonzola cream sauce... I hesitated, and she said "What's wrong Mommy, is it too fattening?" She's already got the lingo! And I got a super dirty look and a "head shake" from the lady at the next table.

I let them order their "fattening meal" and told myself not to sweat it too much, they are kids and they'll burn through it in no time...

...but I worry all the same...I worry a lot...

Yesterday's Grub:

Day 91 - Not Eating ENOUGH!

I never ever in a million years thought that I would have this problem, but sometimes I do...

I know that some people (e.g. my DAD!) think that counting calories is ridiculous and obsessive, but for me it really really helps. It helps not only to ensure that I am not eating too much, but also to ensure that I am eating ENOUGH!! Each day I try to eat between 1300 and 1400 calories (a little more on long run days), and I never ever like to dip below 1200...

On Saturday, I was busy all day and at my Mom and Dad's for dinner. So although I weighed and wrote everydown down and I felt full, I didn't get a chance to input everything to Calorie King until Sunday afternoon. Oops! I didn't eat enough Saturday! I even said "no thanks" to dessert at my Mom's (she served Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla Frozen Yogurt)... turns out I probably could have had a piece! Darn it!!

This morning was my weigh in and I was down to 133.8, that is 3 lbs in one week which I know is bordering on too fast... still my goal weight is within sight, and I just want to get there! (yesterday!!)...

Overall, the weekend was very good, and I did two training runs (10km on Saturday and 12km on Sunday)...

Day 88 - Goals

Having firm goals to work towards is one reason (I believe) that I am so good at losing weight, but not so good at keeping it off. When I have my eye on a stake in the ground (i.e. 130lbs) my motivation is high, and my success is measurable each week when I step on the scale.

This is part of the reason why I find weight maintenance to be such a challenge. What's my goal? Stay the same? That's not a fun goal! What will be my source of encouragement and motivation?

Maybe what I need to do is continue to set goals for myself. I need some goals that are measurable and which will provide me with a sense of accomplishment and encouragement.

I will have to try to come up with some goals that I can set for myself after I reach maintenance. Whatever I come up with won't have the "high" of stepping on the scale each week and seeing a drop. But, I have to learn to be encouraged and motivated by stepping on the scale and seeing "no gain" instead!

I ate well yesterday. For dinner I made a pork tenderloin that I stuffed with 2 wedges of laughing cow cheese, red onion and fresh basil, then I wrapped it with slices of proscuitto and tied it up. My husband barbequed it and it was delicious! Usually, I just serve myself 100g of meat at dinner, but it was too confusing with the added ingredients in the stuffing so I just added up all the calories of the recipe raw (437g raw pork, 2 wedges laughing cow, 4 slices proscuitto etc), and then weighed the entire cooked tenderloin (505g) and then measured myself 1/4 of it (125g). This might seem a little obsessive, but it really becomes routine to figure this stuff out (and I kind of enjoy doing it). My husband even knows when he's carving the meat, to carve mine right onto the scale, and sometimes when I am serving out my veggies I call out the amounts to him "81g carrots!" and he writes them down on my little notepad for me...

Day 87 - Something I Do Well...

and that is... exercise.

From the date on my gym card I can see that I joined on September 30, 2006 and I've never looked back. I have gone to the gym consistently ever since. I almost never miss my workouts. I do weight training 2 times per week (for 60 minutes each time). And I do cardio at least 4 times a week. Since I started running outside this past May, I go to the gym less for cardio, but still for my weight training.

What I find interesting, is that despite all this exercise that I do... I have still gained my weight back twice (while I was working out!). When I've gained weight, I could press my fingers into my stomach (past my rolls of fat) and feel my strong ab muscles in there, or squeeze my arm and feel my strong biceps, but those muscles were very far from being visible. What this demonstrates, to me anyway, is that exercise is only part of the equation (an important part, but only part). I can work out on the elliptical trainer like a fiend for an hour and I will burn 600 calories or so. But I can eat those 600 calories back (and more) in mere minutes with an ill-thought-out in between meal "snack"...

Does that mean all my exercising was in vain? Of course not. I am very fit (whether I LOOK fit or not), and when I do lose weight, it doesn't take as much work for me to GET INTO good shape, because I already have good muscle tone (its just all hidden by a layer of pudge)...

This is why I almost never "eat back" my exercise calories. I think that's a slippery slope. It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that you can eat more because you exercise (I know that I can't). The exercise just helps to burn off what I am ALREADY eating. I know that when I hit maintenance I will be able to eat a little more than I do now, but I will never say to myself... oh I burned 760 calories today on that 10km run, so I can eat my regular food PLUS 760 extra calories. I will just monitor my weight, and if I start going below my goal weight (as if - ha) THEN I will increase my calories...

I ate well yesterday, and I had my planned French Toast for dinner. It was soooo good, a MAJOR treat. It didn't really fill me up though. I usually rely on my dinner to help me get my vegetable quota for the day, and I just couldn't figure out any way to work vegetables into my French Toast... so I am a little low. I'll catch up on veggies today promise!):

Day 86 - Freedom from Spanx

When I am bigger, I often resort to wearing Spanx-like undergarments, especially when I am dressed up for a special occassion. The ones I liked were sort of like bicycle shorts, they had a high waist and went down almost to my knees (so they wouldn't cut in and leave tell-tale dents). It would give me a certain sense of security... I know they didn't make me look thinner, but those stretchy, tight shorts would reduce the jiggle factor and the lumpiness. They were far from comfortable though! I would never quite forget that I was wearing them, and I would have to run to the ladies room constantly to discreetly tug them back down (they would sometimes ride up my legs). I was also super paranoid about somebody seeing them. If I crossed my legs while sitting down I would always be checking to make sure my skirt was covering them.

When I am thin, I enjoy my freedom from these compression torture devices.... uh, I mean...undergarments. I can wear a dress with my normal undies, and feel perfectly fine! This is a great feeling. I threw my Spanx away this past weekend. I have no intention of ever needing them again! I tried them on before I chucked them, and they were sort of loose. Not much point having compression undergarments that don't compress anything!

Yesterday was vegetarian day at our house. I made eggplant parmesan. It was very good, and my husband reported that it filled him up! My husband is not home for dinner tonight, so I am taking the opportunity to have something that I've been craving for a while..... French Toast! Yum, I can't wait. I will make a lightened version, and I will keep within my calorie range...

Here's my daily recap:

Day 85 - How Much Should I Weigh?

This is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. How much should I weigh? For me, it is a balance between having the body that I dream of and being realistically able to maintain it long-term.

Right now my BMI (22.1) is well within the healthy range. But, I've been in the healthy range since I hit about 150lbs, and I still felt too big at that weight. When I search "ideal weight" or "happy weight" on the internet, I usually get huge ranges, anywhere from 118 to 155. I can't imagine weighing 118, I think I would look very skinny (too skinny).

In the past, I have felt best about my appearance when I weigh about 130lbs (hence my goal weight). But I do wonder if that weight might be too hard to maintain. I've never managed to maintain it before, but to be REALLY honest with myself, I have never really stuck with maintenance. I have always reverted back to my old eating habits once I hit the goal weight... frankly I wouldn't be able to maintain any weight (130 or 140 or 150) eating the way I do when I'm being careless...

So, I am sticking with 130lbs as my goal, and when I hit it, I am going to switch my efforts to maintenance and try to figure out what my maintenance calories are. Right now, I'm averaging about 1390 per day, and I'm losing about 2lbs per week. So, I am going to increase this slowly, until I level off...

I had a good day yesterday. It was a much needed rest day from exercise.

Day 84 - Weigh-In

My weigh-in was this morning and I am down exactly 2 more pounds. That leaves me 6.8 pounds from my goal weight. I predict that it will take me one month to lose that... I am excited to be at goal (and a little impatient too)... I just want to get to maintenance, especially while my motivation is still high, so I can start getting on with it...

I went for my training run yesterday, it was 16 very LONG kilometres. I feel good today, though! I will take today off from running, to rest a bit.

I ate good yesterday. We ended up going out for lunch to a chicken and rib restaurant called Scores. They have their nutritional information posted on-line, which is great. But they have hardly any healthy options which is bad. Before I went, I had decided to get a meal called Mediterranean Chicken, it was listed as 490 calories and 17g of fat for a chicken breast including vegetables and parmesan cheese. But when I got to the restaurant, I realized that in addition to the chicken and veggies, the meal also came with a pile of fries and a mound of rice (RICE AND FRIES???? who needs that?). So I ordered a chicken brochette that came with rice and greek salad. I knew from their website that all their salad dressings had about 100 calories per tablespoon. So I ate my salad plain. I only had one small piece of the chicken, because it was as dry as sawdust (yuck)... and I don't eat things I don't love! I had about 1/3 of the rice.

In the end, I probably ended up not getting ENOUGH calories at lunch, given my 16km run in the morning. Oh well. I ate a bigger dinner...

Here is my day:

Day 81 - No More Pretty Toes!!

Well, I am learning the hard way that pretty toes and distance running can't co-exist. My toes are a wreck! I have blisters in between them, and some of my toenails are turning black. Yesterday I had to stick a sterile needle up under two of my toenails to burst blood blisters and relieve the pressure (ICK!). I'd post pictures of them, but on the off chance that I have ANY readers, I don't want to scare them away! I think I am resolved to live with ugly toes though. If running helps me to regulate my weight... well frankly I'd rather be thin with ugly toes than the reverse!

Since I won't post a picture of my toes, I'll instead post a picture of me running in my 10km race this past weekend, since I haven't posted any pics before. I am about 138lbs here, and I have 8lbs left until my goal weight. I will pretty much look the same as this once I reach goal... those last 8lbs will just give me a little more "breathing room" in my skinny jeans!



Here is what I ate yesterday. I made a very yummy light quiche from the Eating Well website. I left out the meat and made it vegetarian for our weekly "veggie night". It had a crust made with Phyllo pastry and it was delicious.

Day 80 - A Turning Point?

I had a great experience yesterday. I went out to eat in a restaurant, and I didn't obsess about it, I didn't get stressed out, I had a delicious meal that felt like it wasn't "bad", and I left feeling good.

Going out to eat was my own idea. I chose a local Thai-Vietnamese place that I love. I ate my regular breakfast and lunch, and went for a run after work before we headed out. I ordered an appetizer of rice paper wraps (cold summer rolls with lots of veggies, pork and shrimp), there were two rolls with some peanut sauce. I ate 1.5 and used the sauce sparingly. I gave the extra piece to my husband to try.

For my main course I had a Lemongrass Seafood stir fry with steamed jasmine rice. It came with a lot of sauce, so I just ate the seafood and veggies out of the sauce, and left most of it behind (I liked it better that way anyway). There was more than a cup (estimated) of steamed rice on my plate. I ate it until the veggies were gone and then I stopped. I estimate that I ate half of it. I also had a glass of wine, but no dessert.

I was full, and it was delicious. Could I have eaten more? Sure! Did I need to? No! This might have been one of the first times I have ever left uneaten food behind at a restaurant. I never do it at home, but I always put the RIGHT amount of food on my plate to begin with.

When we were driving home, my husband said he was proud of me. I felt so good! I compared that to how I would have felt on the drive home if I had ordered deep fried stuff, had dessert, and over-eaten. That good feeling was more satisfying than the temporary rush that eating bad food would have brought me.

I consider this a bit of a turning point for me...

Also, I weighed myself the morning before the meal and the morning after. No change! Proof that I can enjoy social outings without derailing my healthy eating plan!

I had to estimate my dinner at the restaurant, but I think I had around 1756 calories for the day, and I burned about 509 during my run.

Day 79 - Maintenance Plan

As usual, when I start getting really close to my goal weight, I start to worry about maintenance. Maintenance is usually where I eff everything up. Usually what I do is eat a few huge meals or have a binge and then I'm afraid to weigh myself... I will keep thinking that I will get everything back under control and THEN weigh myself, but I don't...

I think that I need establish a few "rules" to help get me through. I am hoping that once I have a few months of maintenance under my belt, it will get easier...

Maintenance Plan

1. Maintain Awareness! I must weigh myself every single day, with no exceptions. Yes, I might have "sticker shock" if I've been out for a big meal the night before... but no more denial, I have to weigh myself every single day (even Boxing Day!).

2. I will start maintenance when I hit 130lbs. I will not try to lose a few more "buffer pounds". (I've tried to do this before and never ended up reaching maintenance... I was always thinking "just a couple more"... BAD!!)

3. I will maintain my weight within a range (no more freaking out over a 0.6lb fluctuation!). My range will be 130-135. If the scale says 135 (or more) for more than two days in a row... I will reign in my calorie intake before things get out of control.

4. I will continue to count my calories (I will just eat a little more). I will adjust my calories through trial and error.

5. My extra calories will be used to eat more healthy foods (e.g. healthy snacks or increased portions of the foods I'm eating now), not to add in junk food which may trigger overeating.

6. Continue to exercise just as much as I am now.

7. Throw out ALL the clothes in my closet that is too big for me.

That is all I can come up with right now, but I might add to this list as I go along...

Here is what I ate yesterday. I was under in my calories, which is funny because I was hungry and thought I was going to eat more. I underestimated. Usually I sit down right after dinner and input all my calories from the day (that I've recorded on a notepad I carry around)... if I'm under, I'll go get a snack. But, I didn't have time last night, and I figured out my calories this morning (to late to go back and eat more yesterday!!). I didn't have a high exercise day... only 60 minutes of weight training, which I think burns about 200 calories or so??

Day 78 - 30 Pounds Gone

Well, I weighed in and have officially lost 30lbs! Wow. I have only just a little less than 10 pounds left until my goal!

My cottage party weekend went very well. I am happy with myself and I didn't gain any weight. I pretty much just ate exactly the same food as I would have eaten at home, plus I drank some beer. But I ran in a 10km race on Saturday morning, and I ran a 16km training run yesterday. So that more than made up for my beer consumption, I think...

My 10km race went very well. I shaved 6 minutes of my 10km time. I ran it in 56:48. I am very happy with this result. It was very hard. I felt like I was sprinting the whole time, and there were lots of hills.

My 16km run yesterday went well. I felt good and I am in good shape today, except for a HUGE blister between two of my toes that is causing me to limp a little. I hope it toughens up by tomorrow.... I am going out for dinner and I want to get a 10km run in beforehand.

I have created a little graph to compare my calorie intake to my calorie needs for the month of August. For my calorie needs, I added my BMR to the extra calories I burned each day. I realize my calorie needs might actually be slightly higher, because I haven't accounted for any other activity I do (e.g. walking around, chewing gum - lol - etc). The dark red bar is my calorie requirement, and the green bar represents what I actually ate that day. The red line is a moving average of my calorie requirements, and the green line is an average of my calories eaten.

My goal is to keep the green line under the red line as much as possible. Even though there are a couple of days where the green bar went higher than the red bar, the average (for the most part) was good. There was one period where my average intake was over my calorie needs (due to a binge!). But overall, it didn't hurt me too much... I have been creating this chart every month since I started losing weight on May 19, and I have only had my average intake (green line) cross the red line 3 times, which is pretty good, I'd say.

My goal for maintenance will be to try to close the gap a little between the two lines, while keeping the green line slightly lower (to still make up for the times when the lines cross!)...



And here is what I ate yesterday. I did a lot of exercise but strangely I wasn't that hungry... today, however, I am famished.... I guess it caught up with me! I will listen to my hunger cues and eat a little more today...