Day 83: Goodbye to 2013

It's time to say goodbye to 2013 and hello to a new year.  2013 was a decent year overall, no real complaints.  I spent most of my time at work, as usual, but nothing really special this year.

The best thing I did in 2013 was to start this diet.  Since I began the modified-fast in October, I have lost 43 pounds.  I didn't quite meet my original goal of 50 pounds by the end of December, but I came awfully close to the adjusted goal I set for myself at the beginning of the month.  I figured I would make it to 45 pounds, so 43 isn't too bad.

Before Pic: October 2013

I am quite pleased with my progress so far.  I am still losing slightly more than 1/2 a pound a day.  .51 pounds per day, to be exact.  No complaints here!  I am noticing a significant change in my body and I've been forced to alter my clothes or just buy new ones in order to look decent at work.  My friends and colleagues have also noticed the change in how I look.  At this point, it doesn't seem like I go more than a day without someone asking how much weight I've lost or someone simply complimenting me.  While it's a bit narcissistic, I do enjoy the compliments.  But even more important, it keeps me motivated to move forward.

On a more internal note, I'm also starting to notice some changes mentally as well.  This isn't to say I don't have a long way to go still, but I'm starting to see a shift in how I am thinking about food.  I'm not craving full-sugar sodas anymore.  I can see myself avoiding them completely in the future.  I also don't want the crazy Starbucks Mocha's I used to drink.  Now I am just as happy with a skinny, non-fat version.  I also have just bought some low-fat and Hungry Girl cookbooks from Amazon.  I'm thinking about how I'm going to eat once I am back on "regular" food. 

I truly feel I can be successful with this diet and reach my goal weight of 170 pounds (or less!).  I also believe I can keep the weight off ... for good.

Here's looking forward to an amazing 2014.  I wish nothing but the best for you and your goals.

Happy New Year!

Week Twelve

Today's Weigh in:

-4.8 pounds

Total Lost:
43

Current Weight:
215.2

Woo hoo!  I lost nearly 5 pounds this week.  After my cheating debacle last week, I thought for sure I would have a bad week.

What a great inspiration to head into the new year.

Day 81: Time to Shop

It's almost time for me to buy some new clothes.  Today I had to put on three pairs of pants before I found something that (sort of) fit.  Trust me, I'm not complaining!  It's a good thing.  The best part is that the pants I was trying were from my "skinny" box of clothes.  Granted, these aren't truly skinny clothes, but they were the clothes I had previously boxed up because they became to tight.

I am now a size 14/16, depending on the brand.  And, that's not a plus size 14/16 - that's a regular misses size!  My size 18W clothes have already gone into the "donate" bin ... and now it's time to do the same with my 16W clothes.

Today I bought a couple of NYDJ pants on 6pm.com, size 14.  I know I should wait to buy clothes, but I'm tired of looking like a bag (or baggy!) lady.  At least the pants weren't the normal NYDJ price, they were both 75% off!

I'll have to do another closet organize on my next weekend to figure out what fits and what doesn't fit.  That will definitely help speed things up when I'm getting dressed in the morning.

Day 80: Hungry Again

I've noticed after my brief cheat this week that I'm hungrier than usual.  I suppose that's to be expected. Today I ate two dinners.  I was sitting here thinking about how hungry I am ... and I decided it's better to eat some more of the diet food than break down and end up eating something I shouldn't.


Total calories for the day ... about 900.  It's only 100 over.  Not too bad.  My group counselor has also told us numerous times that we should eat a MINIMUM of 800 calories.  If we are having a rough day and need more, we're told to eat another packet of food.  So, today I did.

I had three full packets of the Nacho Cheese Pasta.  Usually I eat two packets together, since it's only about a 1/2 cup for a single serving.  Today I at my usual two, then I fixed up another packet and ate that one too.  I did feel significantly better after eating.  I will not have my nightly cup of cocoa (another diet drink) tonight.  That's only 70 calories, but I've already gone over the limit and I don't want to get carried away.

Part of the problem was likely because I didn't eat enough during the day. Up until about 7 pm, I'd only had a small breakfast and a soup.  I'll try to spread things out a little better tomorrow.  Hopefully that, and a little time, will help me get back on track.

Day 79: Collar Bones

Moving right along now.

I noticed today that I am starting to see my collar bones again.  Okay, so this isn't that big of a deal, but I haven't seen them in years!

They're just starting to peek out, so I thought I'd show you a picture.  See, you can seem them barely starting to poke out a tiny bit.

Seriously, I know it sounds silly, but these are just some of the strange milestones I think about as I continue to lose weight.  It's nice to notice the day after I fell off the wagon.  It gives me good incentive to get back on the diet and move on.  Which, by the way, I am back on the diet.  I messed up once yesterday, but I won't let that get me down!!!

Day 78: I had a Bad Day ... oh and Merry Christmas

Today was a bad day.  A very bad day.

It's Christmas and I'm not spending the holidays with family this year.  I did spend last week with family, but there's something awfully lonely about being alone on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  So, to make a long story short (and to avoid the whine factor) I cheated on my diet today.  Big time.

I was hungry this afternoon.  For weeks I've been craving a cheeseburger and onion rings.  So, today I gave in to the temptation and had some food delivered.  First off, the food was crap.  I ordered from Grub Hub, which despite the photos of burgers on their home page, have disturbingly few actual burgers available.   The sad thing about cheating today was that some of the better delivery places were closed.  TryCaviar is amazing and has some great burger joints, but they weren't operating today.  Anyway, I got a burger, onion rings and some cheesy fries.  Yes, I know, I overdid it.

Despite all the food, I didn't eat everything.  I had a few rings (3-4) and half the burger.  It was okay, not great.  That's probably a good thing considering I needed to go right back on the diet!  The burger was blah and I only ate a couple fries.  I ate enough for a small lunch and threw the rest away.  I figure it was about 1,000 calories, so with breakfast I probably ate about 1,250 calories today.  Not bad overall, but well over the limit on this diet.

This really made me realize that I am an emotional eater.  I was sad and lonely.  I was also upset about the low weight loss.  As I mentioned yesterday, I only lost 3 pounds over the past three weeks.  Sure, that's respectable.  But, when you're cutting back as much as I am, the weight loss should be more.  The average in the program is about 3 pounds a week.  I lost half that.  For three weeks in a row!  Errgh!

Hopefully this won't mess me up too badly.  If I don't lose much next week, at least this time I'll understand why!

Week Eleven

Today's Weigh in:

-3.0 pounds

Total Lost:
38.2

Current Weight:
220

Another frustrating weigh-in.  3 pounds sounds pretty decent, except when you remember it's over a two week period.  That's only 1.5 pounds a week.  Not bad if you're on a regular diet.  Pretty damn depressing when you're only eating 800 calories a day!  

I was just reading an article on diet from Kaiser and it said for my weight I should eat about 1600 calories a day in order to lose 2 pounds a week.  Seriously!  According to them I could eat real food ... and twice as much!  I need to figure out what's causing this slump and get back on track.  

I realize 1.5 pounds isn't bad, and it's certainly going in the right direction.  It's just frustrating right now.  I'll get over it ... but for crying out loud!!