I have made good food choices for three straight days. I had a salad and sweet potato fries at the restaurant last night. I avoided the school bake sale even though the cooking class contributed and the whole building smelled like chocolate.

I've been doing yoga.

The needle made it's first jump, but I think part of that is that with smaller meals and less frequent eating, my digestive tract is less full.

The impact on the house is not really notable yet, but on Thursday there was a break in the rain (it's been raining so much here, all my pastures are flooded) and I got out and set up a flower bed behind my "new" shed. That used up some of the cardboard that was leaning on the wall in the garage, and I cleaned out a stall.

I also moved my diet sodas up to the loft in the shop barn. So I have to walk out (in the rain, a city block) and climb stairs to get one. I was drinking too many.

I'm going to keep focusing on the "now".

Lost some pounds while I was sick. Only 4 more to go to reach my first goal!

16/20

ugh, my scale went up.

SubC, I used to drink a lot of sodas, not even diet. Mostly Coke. I was almost 300 pounds, can you believe it? That has been a long long time ago though, almost 20 years. I am still over 200 but closer to 200 than 300! I don't look as much as I weigh.

Anyway I switched to La Croix sparkling water with no sweeteners at all. I have those when I crave soda, like, if we have pizza. It has no sugar and no artificial sweetener, just a bit of fruity flavor and carbonation.

I think the lemon bars, which are excellent and used up some lemons that were not looking great, are the reason for the uptick. But at least I only made a half batch (8 by 8 pan).

I had avocado toast this morning for breakfast.

I have decluttered the idea that I have to eat breakfast early in the morning and am now eating breakfast on the way to school or when I actually get hungry (I almost never have lunch at school, so I have to eat something before classes start) I have actually lost some weight. In fact, if I continue at this pace, I will hit my goal weight by the end of the school year.

My kids drink those la croix. I don't like them unfortunately.

I think the artificial sweetener messes with my metabolism though. And drinking the soda makes me feel full at the time, but keeps my stomach stretched out so I don't feel full as quickly when I eat.

I relaxed my guidelines while Dd was here this weekend, and ate several treats and a lot of good meals. Plus I didn't move as much because of weather and company. I bounced back up, but I am still down a couple of pounds. Back to it today.

Moderation in food and stuff are so similar for me - you have to have some of both, but both can quickly become too much of even a good thing.

It's a Bean day, so lots to do besides eat!

Hello SubC, sorry I abandoned you. I had a uti that was painful and other drama going on. I got down to a new low weight but then ate myself back up several pounds. Tonight I am really overdoing it. If I had chips I would be eating them. I had some Raisin bran, juice, some fresh fruit. I really want some potatoes. I don't know why I am so hungry.

I will start fresh in the morning with some tea or coffee. I feel best if I don't eat anything else until 11 or 12. Then something fruit/veggies, maybe some beans or hummus or wheat toast. Or oatmeal, yummy.

I hope you come and post too. Let me know how your eating is going! I really miss having a garden. What do you have growing now?

I am up and down and up and down the same 3 pounds so have not cracked the barrier yet. But today started phentermine per my doctor. I hope to get past this stall in the next week.

5/20

Good morning Lila!

I hope you are enjoying your tea.

Gotta run, but I will cone back here today. Check in!

Finally. A new low. Teetering precariously between going back up, or down another.

6/20

Hi, I'm back (Dh is driving) so my challenge this week is going to be eating healthy foods and moving.

My mom is providing the "24 hour all you can eat dessert buffet" food is her love language snd she baked for the people coming, plus my brother and three teenagers who won't be there.

This morning we had breakfast with Dh cousin and I resisted pancakes - had eggs, fruit, and a small roll with coffee.

Lunch will probably be the apple provided by the hotel this morning, cheese I brought from home, and a squash biscuit - ditto. Not great, but not too bad. Dinner will be with my family. I'm hoping for a walk on the beach after.

Lila, how are you doing? Can you name three things that bring you comfort and make you feel good that are not shopping or eating?

Lila, good for you for sticking with this!

Today I planned two snacks - a banana and two carrots to keep me from snacking on junk. It worked a little bit, but I need more snacks. I am a grazer.

Also salty things. I drank a lot of water today and sweated a lot and my body craved salt, but most of my salty things are high carb/high fat.

I was active most of the day. Dh and I took a walk around the property after dinner. Tomorrow we are going to try to do yoga in the morning - it has been a long time.

SubC, you are doing great! I'm happy you shared.

What brings me comfort that is not eating or shopping? Huh... well let's see:

petting my dogs
reading
praying
talking to some, a very few, people
listening to music in the car

The car thing is weird. It evolved as an escape mechanism. My first husb was abusive and recent one was depressing. My fave comfort thing is to go through a drive thru, buy junk, go park somewhere, and sit in the car eating it and listening to the radio. No one to bother me. Felt like ultimate peace. Even now... no teen throwing things, no clutter to look at, in the car. I find almost as much peace just driving around singing to the radio, without the food... but gas is expensive. I can't put on the music and sing in my house unless no one is home. Thinking about this.

What else? I liked to take walks but I am always in pain. Going to the forest, but it is a few hours away. If I had $$$, I would have a cabin somewhere to go to for respites.

Cleaning. Oddly enough, I realize cleaning gives me comfort. I feel so good doing it. When I have the energy.

Today's food was not as good as I liked, but not terrible. I wanted chocolate bars but didn't.

Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: salad and half a veggie personal sized thin crust pizza.
Snack: there was a farm stand with home made huckleberry ice cream, so I got one scoop.
Iced tea.
Dinner is coming. I made meat for family but I am having the other half of the personal veggie pizza and an ear of fresh sweet corn. Maybe some watermelon.

I moved a lot of boxes today so that's my exercise.

We did not do yoga because I woke up feeling horrid.

Today I limited my treats to a small serving of m&ms (around 1T) and one glass of wine with dinner. I snacked on a banana, some almonds, and some cherries. Dh made a really yummy sweet potato curry for dinner.

So, Lila, maybe you need some "do instead" goals.

When you are feeling miserable and sorry for yourself(understandable) you can remind yourself:

Instead of (insert unhealthy behavior) I will:
Pray over the things that are troubling me
Clean an area that in now ex free
Read (good change out for online shopping)
Pet the dog
Or maybe even Put on some music and sing, and if the other people in the house object I will invite them to sing along, help me choose some music with both like, or go outside.

I am having a lovely vacation so far.

Today's treat - low sugar chocolate cake.

Today's snacks - banana and almonds

(I did have egg salad for lunch, so mayonnaise...)

Good morning!

I read a book on healthy habits during vacation that included a section on weight.

One of the things it pointed out that influences your weight is cortisol (stress) levels.

For the first time, I actually lost weight on vacation. Yes, I was active, but also, I was so much less stressed. So one of the things I'm going to focus on going into fall is making decisions that lower my stress levels.

Obviously, de-messing my environment will help de-stress my life.

Today's decluttering my waistline activity - my classroom:
No snacks
Lots of stairs
Removing items from my home environment and returning them to my classroom where they belong.
Creating order in my classroom- where I will spend many hours this fall - label, label, label! Not being able to find things is stressful. Cleaning up like a crazy person at the end of the day is stressful. If the item has a clearly labelled home - the kids can put it back!

hi SubC!

I went up a pound and then started back down and today am at a new low. Will keep plugging along and trying to be more active as well.

7/20

Good morning.

Last night Dh stayed up late eating ice cream.

I resisted the urge to eat chocolate cake and had a peach instead. I am still working on getting enough sleep. I realized when I went to bed last night that that blanket in the corner was actually a mental tax on me at night. I think I need to keep working on my bedroom - it is not too bad, but my dressing table and dresser have stuff piled on them.

Hi Lila!

Nice job!

I feel like I've been doing pretty well on my food choices, but my weight won't budge. Maybe with time..

I am very tired. Dh is working super late tonight so I was on my own for dinner, and the library program was fun, but it left me tired and I used up all my executive function skills making good choices about my house today and I came home late and ate half a box of ritz crackers with cheese and a glass of wine for dinner.

And now I am sorry.

SubC, keep at it! I was working on this for many months before the pounds actually started to shed. Maybe we are changing on the inside for awhile before the outside reflects the effort.

I went to a couple graduation parties, food-centered events, and ate lunches and dinners out with people this week. I made good choices: small amounts of 'indulgent' foods (like a slice or two of cheese on crackers, only a few chips if any - like 4 chips - and the rest raw veggies sticks, raw broccoli etc from the appetizer trays. Fruit where it was available. Small small amounts of anything that is not a fruit or vegetable. Like maybe 2 bites of potato salad.) Going out to eat I stayed vegetarian and since there were some sauces, cheese, etc involved, I only ate half the food I was served and brought the rest home where Teen finished it off. Lots of water.

Also have had little time for formal exercise so I am just parking a bit farther away and walking, and am trying to be intentional about walking a little faster and not sauntering.

Down another pound!

8/20

hi SubC,

I was down another half pound this morning, but I feel like I ate wayyy too much and unhealthy today.

B: coffee with soy creamer, Starbucks pink drink, impossible breakfast sandwich
L: half a thin crust frozen pizza. M&Ms - I rarely eat candy bars
S: little bag of chips.

Pretty junky type food, but I was sad today and that was my comfort. I think I will have pasta for dinner but I don't know.

hi SubC, fancy meeting you here again!

I am trying to fix my health, still. Not been doing very great. Someone gave me more tomatoes yesterday. I've been slicing them and eating them on white bread with mayo because I love that, and they are the good, thick, really red eating tomatoes. Today I coated them in breadcrumbs and fried slices of them and they were so good. But that's not healthy.

I am going to do better. I have a knee injury preventing me from even walking or anything right now so it's discouraging.

I am doing pretty good but need to increase my exercise or even general movement. But I am down another pound, so am celebrating that.

9/20

post 2-

ok, instead of pasta for dinner, I had a few green olives and a bowl of fresh cherries. I'll drink lots of water and figure that is a better end to my day than pasta.

Oh dear Lila,

Do you like balsamic vinegar? Can you try buying healthier bread? Sometimes it just takes a lot of little steps.

I did not buy ritz crackers at the grocery store this evening. I find the not buying the things is the easiest disconnect. Then I have to eat the food I have.

I did buy lime juice and tonic water because Dd2 gave us the rest of a bottle of gin she had from a party. But Dh won't make he a gin and tonic because it is late and I have chores to do, that that got short circuited as well. (If I had the energy to make my own gin and tonic, I'd have the energy to resist drinking it.)

I did eat a not healthy box dinner that Dh made - and chase it with bread and jam.

More refocusing to do after we get Dd2 moved.

I am not exactly sure where I am but I have bumped up a couple of pounds. When I eat badly, I might hop on the scale and sort of glance at it but not get a precise number (it is a dial). So I know it is up a bit but not all the way. I am still down between 6 and 8 pounds. I will get on it and start trying to get below that 9 pounds gone point.

Today was not a good eating day. Eating for comfort. But I will be accountable.

B: egg and cheese croissant from BK, plus value hash browns. An iced sugar free soy latte.

L: half a banana. half a little snack bag of chips. About 3/4 of a small thin crust frozen cheese pizza.

Not good for me!!!!!!

I feel like having a nice cold smoothie so maybe I will make one and that's it for today.

I walked for 30 minutes.

Time to get serious about this. My weight is affecting my health terribly and is also making everything else in my life harder. My goal right now is to lose 20 pounds. It's a start and I will feel much better. I weigh 245 which is terrible for me. I will keep a pound tally at the bottom of my post.

Today I will go into the kitchen and throw out a bag of gross convenience store candy that I keep nibbling on.

0/20 pounds gone

Okay, I am back to my low point. Let's see if I can hit 10 pounds gone this week.

9/20