Breakfast—oatmeal cooked with milk, banana, honey, one wedge Laughing Cow light cheese
Snack—35 calories POM light tea, fresh mango
Lunch— Brown rice, vegetable curry and spiced lentils, grapes
Snack—coffee as above
Snack—fiber bar
Dinner—spinach salad with fat-free feta, apple, and walnuts; vegetable lasagna
Snack—hot chocolate

20 minutes of strength exercises—muscles all trembly.

Breakfast—one whole-grain English muffin, two tsp fig jam, ¾ ounce cheese, one tangerine, two cups coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar
Snack—fresh mango
Lunch— butternut squash soup, whole-grain roll, small portion (less than half) pear
Snack—fiber bar, gorgeous fruit punch with hibiscus flowers and blueberries and pineapple puree and things
Dinner—spinach salad with grapes and almonds; risotto with roasted asparagus
Snack—one cup coffee as above

25 minutes on the elliptical today. I'm very, very sore, though. I need a day off for my muscles to regroup.

And you know, I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to be really in control of my eating and have plenty of good, fresh food to enjoy. I also love going to the grocery store and pretending I have one of those nutritionists who evaluate people's food in "What's in your basket?" features. So I make up a little evaluation: "Sophie's buying lots of blueberries, which are a wonderful source of antioxidants, and provide a decent amount of fiber. She's also got a bottle of salad spritzer, which is a wonderful way to avoid all that high-fat salad dressing. These fiber bars should be fine, as long as they're factored into her daily caloric needs, etc." It's quite fun.

Hey Sophie! I'm so glad to see you feeling so positive and doing so very well! I love your running commentary on the foods in your shopping cart. It does feel good to get home and stock the fridge full of all sorts of good for you foods, though! And I love the feeling of having made something that was nutritious and tasty for the boy and myself.

Breakfast—one whole-grain English muffin, egg fried in canola spray, ½ ounce reduced-fat cheddar, one tsp reduced-fat mayonnaise, one tangerine, two cups coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar
Snack—fiber bar
Lunch— risotto and roasted asparagus, fresh pineapple
Snack—gorgeous fruit punch with hibiscus flowers and blueberries and pineapple puree and things
Dinner—orange sesame chicken with snow peas
Snack—four or five spoonfuls of ice cream

Heather, you're right, it is fun, making healthy meals. In some very weird way. It may be some latent 1950s-housewife gene in me that gets all excited when I dish up a perfect meal. Even if I'm the only one eating it, it still feels like an accomplishment. Well, I suppose it is.

Breakfast—one cup coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar, caramel wafer, Morningstar Farms veggie cake, one tangerine
Snack—banana
Lunch—orange sesame chicken with snow peas over brown rice, light yoghurt
Snack—35 calories of POM light tea
Snack—fiber bar, fresh blueberries
Dinner—90 calories of crackers, steamed artichoke, whole-grain pasta with roasted red pepper sauce and grated parmesan
Snack—1/3 serving jelly beans, half a Mint Three Musketeers

30 minutes on the elliptical today.

Special weigh-in post: I'm at 262.6 today! Hurrah! It's nice to feel like I'm back on track and losing at a pace that makes me happy.

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that I've entered into a period of reading deprivation, so while I'll still be posting, I won't be able to check anyone's journals or read comments here for the next week. I'm trying to rest my brain from the exhaustion of the semester. But I'll be back in a week, refreshed and rejuvenated.

Breakfast—two cups coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar, fiber bar
Snack—whole-grain English muffin with almond butter
Lunch—whole-grain pasta with roasted red pepper sauce and grated parmesan
Snack—blood orange soda
Dinner—roasted red peppers stuffed with tuna salad (made with reduced-fat mayonnaise), roasted corn
Snack—light vanilla yoghurt with raspberries, agave nectar, and a spoonful of cereal; small portion cheese and three crackers; two cups coffee as above

Walked semi-briskly for forty-five or so minutes in the park. Quite lovely, and I was glad I took advantage of what will probably be one of the last nice days before summer really hits here. Also, there were turtles in the canal!

Hey Sophie

I'm really glad to hear that you are taking a hiatus. That is sooo important. I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing time this week. You deserve it!!! And isn't the weather fabulous? I'm definitely enjoying our new locale and starting to walk around in the WOODS behind our apartment complex! It's great to be outside again.

Breakfast—tea with skim milk and two tsp sugar, whole-grain English muffin with two tsp lemon curd
Snack—coffees with two tsp sugar and half-and-half
Snack—fresh grapes
Lunch—whole-grain pasta, sliced parsnips sautéed in olive oil, grated parmesan
Snack—fiber bar
Dinner—spinach salad with snapea crisps; baked salmon with a spoonful of green olive tapenade; asparagus sprayed with canola
Snack—baked apple stuffed with walnuts and raisins (about two tbsp combined), two cups coffee with skim milk and one tsp sugar

Did 25 minutes on the elliptical. I'm feeling dreadful about not posting for days, but things got a bit mad, I made some bad choices, etc. etc. I may have to face a gain on Saturday, but that doesn't matter, since today I managed to make good choices, and that's what really matters.

Yesterday's record:

Breakfast—half a cup of coffee with skim milk and two tsp half-and-half, fiber bar
Lunch—shrimp and oyster po' boy, partial portions corn on the cob and coleslaw, about a third of a portion of bread pudding, soda
Snack—Lara bar
Dinner—spinach salad with dried blueberries; baked sweet potato wedges; two ounces lean beef with one tbsp marinade
Snack—coffee, as above; grapes

And, happily, my water weight has receded, leaving me down to 261.2, for which I'm very, very grateful. I can't wait until it's time to change tickers.

And tomorrow my reading deprivation will end, and I'll be around to see how all of you are doing!

Yesterday's record:

Breakfast—coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar, fiber bar
Snack—banana
Lunch—spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and grated parmesan, waldorf salad made with reduced-fat mayonnaise
Snack—drink with pineapple puree, blood orange soda, and black tea
Dinner—Moroccan chicken with couscous, roasted corn, mixed lettuce salad
Snack—one serving low-fat frozen yoghurt, coffee as above

Yesterday's record:

Breakfast—bottled frappuccino
Snack—90-calorie Special K bar
Lunch—two ounces lean beef cooked with salsa, couscous, roasted corn
Snack—watermelon
Dinner—tomato and corn salad, spinach and potato turnovers
Snack—ice cream

Yesterday's record:

Breakfast—leftover bread pudding and two nectarines
Lunch—spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and grated parmesan, whole-grain roll
Snack—fresh blueberries, fiber bar
Dinner—three ounces lean pork, sweet potatoes, parsnips
Snack—ice cream with fresh strawberries; 120 calories worth of cookies, coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar

Strength routine and 25 minutes on the elliptical. God, I'm feeling so good lately, like I'm twenty again. I know some of it is all the fresh produce I've been eating. I've decided the best advice for almost any situation is "Eat your spinach and go for a walk." Hell, it might even be my entire life philosophy. It's practical, anyway.

And now that I'm back properly, I'm going to head off and see what all of you have been doing!

Breakfast—whole-grain English muffin with fig preserves; Morningstar Farms veggie cake; fresh strawberries
Snack—coffee with skim milk and two tsp sugar
Lunch—waldorf salad with reduced-fat mayonnaise; 90-calorie bag of popcorn and half a bag of peanut m&ms
Snack—drink with honeydew melon, green tea, and lavender soda
Dinner—chicken breast and carrots in a soy honey glaze over brown rice; mixed green salad
Snack—pretzel slims, hot milk with ginger and one tsp sugar

25 minutes on the elliptical today. I wish I could get up the energy for the big long workouts like I was before, but on the other hand, this is something a lot easier to convince myself to do. So, balance.

And I'm very cross with myself because I'm getting slightly impatient. Losing weight at a moderate rate seems to take forever. I may have lost 25 pounds, but there's so much more to lose. I know I can do it, I just wish I could…fastforward or something. But that's stupid. I have to be patient because this is working. I've lost every single week since the middle of February. And I'm living in a way that I can manage long-term. This is good, this is right, but this is taking so fricking long. I want just a few of the really good benefits now. I want to look in the mirror and see something different. I want the damned scale to go below 260. I want to not shave my legs and think, "Christ, how fat."

Oh, I'm seeing progress. I put on a dress yesterday that was tight in January, and it was just a perfect fit now. Things in my body are definitely changing, but again, must be patient, and I don't want to be. Bleh.

Sophie, both you and I need lessons in patience!! I've been feeling the same way recently - and I don't even have the benefit of having a FABULOUS number like 25lbs to put behind me! I'm so impressed!!! The simple fact that you're still losing weekly is spectacular. And look at how great you feel! You have achieved a LOT in the past three months - and remind yourself it's only been THREE MONTHS!!! 25lbs in three months isn't moderate - that's AWESOME.