Breakfast—two small turkey sausage patties, grapefruit with a bit of agave nectar
Snack—half cup fat-free plain yoghurt with agave nectar (100 calories total)
Snack—cup of coffee with a little bit of sugar and some fat-free half-and-half
Lunch—half a baked potato with some cauliflower, corn, and onion sautéed in olive oil, a teaspoon of butter and a little bit of grated parmesan
Dinner—chicken breast, brussel sprouts and cauliflower with caper-mustard sauce
Snack—5 chocolate cat cookies (approximately 35 calories total) and a cup of hot ginger non-fat milk with about two and a half teaspoons of sugar

I couldn't finish my dinner. Choosing two vegetables that are old enemies with whom I'm trying to reconcile was a bad idea. It took me ages just to get through most of it, fighting down my gag reflex with every bite, by the end. I couldn't even abandon the vegetables and eat the chicken. I just…couldn't eat anymore. Blergh.

I managed, barely, twenty-five minutes at an incredibly lethargic pace on the elliptical this evening. I don't know why, but I was absolutely worn out, and my stomach still unsettled from that horrible dinner. I thought about stopping at ten minutes, then at fifteen, then at twenty, but I managed to get through all twenty-five. I do not feel a happy post-exercise glow, though.

Altogether, this was not a very good day for the diet. I mean, it was—I controlled my diet and did my exercise. But I didn't feel good about it like I have been. I think I need to be more measured in introducing vegetables I don't like and more strategic about making time to work out earlier in the day whenever possible.

Some of this may also be because it's that time of the month, which could also account for the upset stomach.

Natalie Jo, thank you so much for your message. Your patience is an example to me. Being an impatient person, I tend to want results now-now-now. That can sometimes be helpful, but more often, it's a drawback. I need to remember that I'm in this for the long haul. I'm not going to be 130 pounds this year—maybe not even next year. But I will be getting healthier and fitter, and that's what's really important, progressing in the right direction.

Hi JW! I have to first off say that your menus are absolutely DELICIOUS. I'm in awe of your cooking ability. Living with a meat and potatoes fiance makes my cooking world so much smaller than it could be, and I'm drooling over your healthy combinations.

I think a big thing about weight loss and why it is so difficult is that so often the goal is based on a number and we all get fixated on that number. I am completely with you on wanting things "now now now!" and that is one of the things I am struggling with in my weight loss plan because I have definitely used not so healthy methods of weight loss before. But I want to be healthy this time. I want to feel better. I want to better my self esteem by NOT starving myself. And doing it the healthy way takes time. Hopefully by going through the journey using a healthy method and making positive changes, we can then therefore change our lifestyle to a healthy one for the rest of our lives.

So congratulations on the initial steps to a healthier you!

Breakfast—two sweet potato pancakes (200 calories total) with one teaspoon of butter, one fresh peach, two small turkey sausage patties, and a cup of coffee with two teaspoons sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Lunch—fresh pineapple, the other half of yesterday's garden baked potato with about a tablespoon of light Caesar dressing mixed in to correct the dryness
Snack—fresh cantaloupe
Dinner—half an Italian sausage (230 calories just seemed like too much for one damned sausage); a small serving of polenta; asparagus, spinach, and mushrooms cooked with canola spray
Snack—ice cream sandwich (100 calories)

I spent about forty-five minutes today walking around in a botanical garden. It doesn't really count as exercise, since I was more strolling even than walking, but it felt good to be doing something other than sitting around on my ass, and I know that every little bit, even strolling, is helping me towards becoming healthier.

Did twenty-five minutes on the elliptical machine (that DOES count as exercise!) at a moderate pace that was still way, way better than my lackadaisical workout yesterday. I won't be able to work out tomorrow, and that's probably a good thing, since my thigh muscles were really aching at the beginning of today's workout, and I think they need a day's rest.

Saw some more movement on the scale today, but I've decided in future to only update my ticker on Saturdays so that I will be showing my weekly progress rather than little ups and downs.

Heather, thanks for the nice words about my menus. I'm lucky in that I like to cook and have no one but myself to please. If you ever want a recipe for something I mention, though, do let me know!

Hey Sophie,
welcome and good luck! I also think your menu sounds lovely.
What really helped me was to drink water and eat some fruit (watermelon, for example) before dinner. That really made me eat less when eating dinner.
The same goes for the empty feeling at bed-time. A big mug of tea (without anything but tea, fruit teas or green tea mainly) makes me feel warm and full before bed and fall asleep quickly and not feel empty anymore. I feel that when I don't go to bed at the right time (like the last 2 nights when I barely slept 3 hours each night), my hunger starts while if I am sleeping by then I do not wake up hungry at that time, but am able to go all the way until morning.
Thought it may help you! Again good luck, it may be a long process but seeing some of the people on here have massive successes (I recommend Omega's diary for somone who lost a lot of weight by being consistent), makes you see how worth it is!
Camy

Breakfast—One bowl Quaker Simple Harvest hot cereal cooked with non-fat milk, half a cup of coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Lunch—Half a chicken breast with mushrooms and mustard-caper sauce, fresh cantaloupe, one mini-muffin, one ounce Pont-Eveque cheese, one strawberry balsamic chocopod, one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Dinner—Three slices of pizza (oy)
Snack—Baby carrots, one cup non-fat cocoa

The pizza was a semi-planned splurge. I knew I was going to have pizza tonight, but I only meant to have two slices. I feel really, weirdly bad about that third slice. I don't know why. I'm perfectly capable of moving on after a bad dinner. In the scheme of things, this will barely register as a setback. But I'm feeling very weird and torn. Like half of me wants to eat everything in the house and the other half of me wants to punish myself with vast quantities of exercise and vegetables. I'm pretty sure neither is emotionally healthy, as far as responses go.

I can move past this. I know I can. Tomorrow is a new day in which to cultivate healthy habits. I can exercise, refreshed after this day of rest, and cook myself up some lovely, nutritious meals. And that is precisely what I'm going to do.

Camy, thanks for the good advice. It seems like something creamy (i.e. hot milk) best helps me settle down for the night, but I'll definitely keep experimenting.

Sounds like a choice I have had before!! Hello JW!!!
Three slices of pizza aren't going to kill you, what will hurt you is if you start binging because you feel bad about eating the third slice ..
Tomorrow is a brand new day, to make nutritious food items and what not..
You can do this! Don't worry about the third slice, just move on ...

Tomorrow is another day to make good food choices .. I mess up all the time ... BUT I find my way back on the right path and keep trecking ...

best wishes hun
always
natalie jo

Breakfast—juice of one grapefruit, oatmeal cooked with non-fat milk, apricot sauce, one medium-sized turkey sausage patty
Snack—half a cup lemon-ginger brew sweetened with agave nectar and a little bit of sugar
Lunch—Romaine salad with light Caesar dressing and some cooked shrimp, fresh cantaloupe and blueberries
Snack—100-calorie bag of popcorn
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one slice whole-grain toast with a scrape of butter, approximately two tablespoons walnuts
Dinner—half a chicken breast in caper-mustard sauce, one cup green beans and spaetzle in light sauce

I did thirty minutes on the elliptical today! With intervals! I felt really proud to be able to do that, to complete something like a "normal" workout. I know, of course, that there's no such thing as normal, and that some people can and should do less, and some people can and should do more. But it also made me really happy to know that I'm raising my fitness level so that I can do more!

I also bought myself some five-pound dumbbells today so that I can start working on toning up some muscles. Added muscle isn't a huge concern for me, but I know that mine are not in the shape they ought to be in. I'm planning my inaugural toning session for Thursday.

That big snack in the afternoon was a little weird, but I was feeling pretty hungry and knew that I wouldn't be able to have my dinner until very late (I teach from 6:30 to 9:30 on Tuesdays, and have to leave home before five to be there on time). It was hard to control my snacking in the afternoon, but I feel like overall I did a decent job of being mindful and fairly careful.

Natalie Jo, thanks for the encouragement. I must and will keep on trucking, despite these slips and mishaps.

Congratulations on reaching half an hour on the elliptical! I really love the elliptical, since it is low-impact and I still feel like I'm getting a workout. (It's not a good workout unless I'm sweating a lot!)

Also, I was reading through your menus, and they appear really delicious. I'm jealous, my menus could never be filled with such a diversity of yummy food. I also notice that you have a lot of chocolate--delicious. (I find the darker the chocolate, the more satisfying it is. Especially if you keep it in the freezer so it takes longer to eat.)

About reintroducing vegetables--the way I usually incorporate new food into my diet that doesn't sound that great (cooked spinach, for instance) is to find a dish that contains it but has a lot of other elements that I like (for spinach, eating spinach pizza did the trick for me. Also spinach quiche. Yummm.) If I have something that's really good that contains a new food, I usually start thinking about how good the new food was and develop a taste for it.

I will try to keep up with your diary. Good luck!

Hey Sophie! Huge congrats on the 30 minutes on the elliptical, you rock!!

I totally feel you on the guilt thing when eating something you hadn't planned on. It's all a part of us having to basically re-teach ourselves how to eat. I've come to accept that I am going to get a food overhaul by the time this thing is over, and while that is hugely scary right now, it's all about the small steps. And hopefully by the time we get the hang of it, it will be second nature and we won't even have to think twice when we eat a third slice of pizza, we'll just think "Oh ok, I'll just do an extra 15 minutes tomorrow at the gym" and that will be that. No more of the prolonged guilt and overdrawn thought process.

You're doing the right thing - and your menus are still absolutely delicious!

Breakfast—smoothie made with banana, non-fat yoghurt, plain coffee, wheat germ, and a big spoonful of Nuttella
Lunch—shrimp curry over basmati rice, large helping asparagus, approximately two bites of a roll
Snack—carrots
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half
Dinner—spinach salad with non-fat feta, dried cranberries, walnuts, and a balsamic vinaigrette; baked salmon without skin with one teaspoon of Japanese ginger dressing; green beans and spaetzle in light sauce
Snack—fresh papaya
Snack—buttery popcorn and two chocolates (was feeling a bit grumpy and deprived—baby steps, right?)

Had a cup of low-fat cocoa and a baked banana last night after posting, as I stayed up rather late.

I am to be faced with the pizza temptation again tomorrow—some friends are helping me move a new bed into my bedroom and get rid of the old one (whose mattress and box springs are forty years old, so you can see that a replacement is needed), and of course I must buy them beer and pizza. I am determined, however, that no more than two slices of pizza shall be eaten by me, especially considering how badly I felt after my last slip.

Did thirty minutes on the elliptical machine tonight, though it was very hard to get up the energy at nearly ten o'clock. I didn't want to work out before I had dinner, because I was feeling really drained of energy and afraid I wouldn't be able to work out as hard as I wanted to. I got through it, anyway.

Eggy, thanks for stopping by. It's hard to think of things I like that could incorporate cauliflower, though. But I bet brussel sprouts could be incorporated happily into some good things. There are still a few veggies that are just not going to happen, though.

Heather, I think you're right. I know that I'm going through a process, that it's not going to always be this hard to make good choices or to keep from feeling ridiculously guilty about the occasional splurge.

Breakfast—coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, oatmeal cooked with low-fat milk, fresh blueberries
Lunch—two slices of pizza, caesar salad
Snack—coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, caesar salad
Dinner—half an Italian sausage with spinach, mushrooms, and a small serving of polenta
Snack—Yoplait light yoghurt (110 calories)

I had a big day of cleaning and shifting heavy stuff—I had some friends helping me move my new bed in, but it was still a lot of work! I took a long nap in the evening, and did thirty minutes on the elliptical after that, despite having some protesting muscles!

I'm really feeling good about limiting my pizza intake to two slices, and even better about only keeping one slice for later (I sent home all the rest of the leftovers with my friends). It wasn't too hard, though, remembering how badly I felt on Monday.

Hey there.

Your diet looks pretty good so far ( and i too wish i could cook like that). you certainly do better than I do and while you've had a few indulgences ( I have caved to the pizza demon too) you know you can get past it and that's not worth dwelling over.

Regarding your weight lifting. Good on you for getting into it now becuase it's very helpful in the losing of weight. You're not going to notice new muscle for a long while though until you uncover the muscle you've got hidden behind your current weight. However if you don't use the weights you risk your body using the muscle you do have for energy instead of fat. Basically use it or lose it. There are other on the board who can explain it better if you're confused.

You're making good progress so far and I'm looking forward to stopping in and seeing how you're doing?

if you switch yogurt types and get a sugerless one they are half the calories - some 'light' ones are fat free, some sugar replaced. Check the labels, i can now eat twice as much yogurt from just switching away from yoplait to another one.

Hey Sophie, happy Friday! Congrats on the pizza accomplishment, that's awesome! I have yet to be faced with temptation and I hope I can handle it as well as you did. Then again, I've only been calorie counting for 3 days!! Keep up the good work, you're doing it. Ooo and congrats on a new bed - I'm jealous! Our bed is in HORRIBLE need of replacement! Hope you got something comfy.

Breakfast—oatmeal cooked with low-fat milk, dried cranberries, walnuts, and a spoonful of maple syrup
Snack—one glass sweetened lemon-ginger brew
Lunch—tuna melt made without mayo but with about half an ounce of cheddar, on whole grain bread; fresh honeydew
Snack—one cup coffee with sugar and fat-free half-and-half, one slice whole-grain toast with one tablespoon of peanut butter
Dinner—butternut squash soup; spinach and feta pocket; two Hershey's kisses

So I spent some time with my dumbbells and balance ball today. I used an all-over toning workout that I downloaded from self.com, and it kicked my butt pretty handily, so that was good. I look forward to toning up those muscles so I can do more. My kitties also think I should do more, since they find it super-fun to have me down on the floor doing crunches and stuff. They think that might be the best time ever to rub up against me and bite me.

Then I did thirty minutes on the elliptical, leaving my butt really well and truly kicked. I may need to make tomorrow a rest day to let my body catch up.

Ladyumbra, I'm sure you're right. I know that having an adequate amount of muscle is important, so I'm going to have to keep up with the toning and make it a twice a week routine.

Wishes, that's good advice about the yoghurt. I tend towards the Yoplait because they disguise the aspartame taste relatively well in their flavored yoghurts. I'll have to do a little poking around the next time I'm at the grocery, though.

Heather, Happy Friday to you too! I'm always impressed at anyone who counts calories, since I'm completely incapable. The new bed is pretty comfy—although it's a little weird after being used to a mattress that resembled a hammock. I'm sure this will be better for my back in the long run, though.