Today was much better in terms of calories and quality, although lunch was stil low in protein.

Hit just under 1500 (yay!). I was so busy with work this afternoon, I didn't even think about a snack. Although lunch was still on the large side, I was full and too busy.

Pilates tonight, too.

Weigh-in day: 194.5

I stayed the same. That's fine. The 3 lbs weight loss in one week was really high anyway. And I also know that this week and I have gone over my allotted calories, so it's to be expected.

The next two trips I'm going to take are going to be interesting. My goal for when I come back is to have stayed the same.

For trip #1, I have access to a gym -- Deer already checked and we're going to go.

For trip #2, I do NOT have access to a gym -- but I have to do a lot of walking, so I'll be taking a good pair of shoes and making sure that I'm walking (I won't really have much of a choice).

Cross your fingers for me.

Wow, the summer flew by.

I've lost some weight, but probably not in the best way -- I was sick. Sick enough that I now need to lose the weight for health reasons, not for aesthetic reasons.

The good news for the summer was that despite the travels, I was able to stay down at the 194 range, which is where I had essentially left off.

I also recognized that when I was stressed, I tended to eat more. I knew that, but I hadn't actually watched myself in action. I did see it and I was amazed.

Losing four or five pounds (I actually weighed myself this morning at 189) has been a good motivator. I want to keep the weight off and people have commented on my face (more than changes in my body -- although Deer says it's noticeable in my body).

Because I was sick, the end result of the diet that I have to be on is that I'm cooking at home, not vegetarian, but very close.

It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds with the PCOS thing.

I also stopped taking my BCP which will be interesting to see if the weight is easier to take off. I've always said that the BCP pill never made me gain weight, but it did make it a lot harder to take it off.

Officially down to 188.

I'm only officially counting my weigh-ins on a weekly basis -- I still find myself weighing in every morning, but I don't officially report it, because it gets frustrating to see the weight go up or down based on what I have or haven't eaten that day.

I tried eating cheese on Friday and it was a bad experience. I really can't go there right now -- not for a while until my pancreas is feeling better.

So, I've been on an amazing low fat diet, which allows me to stay within the 1600 range of calories, which is amazing. Seriously, it seemed impossible before, but get me in the hospital and it just seems so easy.

Last night we celebrated a friend's birthday and it was hard to see and smell the food everyone else was eating -- fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, you name, all of my favorite foods in one sitting.

And I ate at home and I had a granola bar in case I got hungry later. Which I did eat. Instead of the fries. Or the cookies. Or anything else.

We normally don't do this, which is why it was so hard! Any other gathering and we would have all been eating salads.

I don't know if I'll reach 187 this week, but I can always hope. My weight loss has been slow, but I hope steady. I've started to exercise again -- getting my new apartment ready has me lifting and moving around like crazy.

I've been keeping to plan, even having dinner with a friend, I had a salad with grilled chicken. It's amazing -- I am feeling okay with this. I'm still managing the amounts of carbs, proteins and fats, because I need to have this be a low fat, low carb, relatively vegetarian diet. It's almost impossible by definition. For now, I'm doing the best I can but definitely limiting the amount of animal protein.

Tomorrow night will be a "splurge" night. I'm pretty certain it won't set me back, but it may not allow me to reach 187 this week. I'm going to eat steak, tomorrow, and it'll be the first real delicious steak I've had since the hospital visit.

It's a test of my digestive system and whether it will taste as good as I remember it.

I'm at 187.5 "officially".

I'm still on plan, so to speak.

Still figuring out the health thing.

I haven't been exercising too much recently, this last week has been absolutely crazy. This coming week is going to be better -- I'm starting to focus on this again, so I don't just settle at this weight.

But, I do think that my body needs that time to "settle" if that makes sense. I lose a little weight, I plateau. I lose a little more, and I stop again. I think that's good. My body is slowly adjusting, so that I don't ever gain it back.

My previous attempts were really too drastic and it was easy to get cravings or miss food and then fall into the temptation.