My daily weighing in has been helping to keep me on track, and I’m posting a 2 pound loss for this week, which brings me to a big whopping 6 pound loss over the past few weeks back - which on one side seems like nothing at all (don’t people drop like 15 pounds in one week on Atkins?) but on the other hand seems pretty good, considering how easy I’ve been taking it - still eating treats, chocolate and what I want, and not exercising.  I think in the grand scheme of things this is the right thing for me - slow steady loss with a great quality of life. (FYI, I weigh daily to keep me on track, but only consider the Monday weigh in as my “official” weigh in for progress purposes, since anyone who weighs daily knows there are many inexplicable variations in weight from day to day).

Last week I made a serious attempt at keeping a food journal.  I’m sure it’s boring for you to read, but it was helpful for me, and I’m going to keep it up.  I think I’m going to move it to paper for the next few weeks, as during travels it will be easier that way, and there are some aspects I’d like to add - including my assessment of my hunger level when I eat - something I could stand to get more in touch with (and adapt to).  I might do some mix of reporting here and paper, because I do like having it integrated into the blog, but if I skip a day it won’t mean I’ve given it up — I hope!

My goals for the week included eating a lot of fruits and vegetables - this has worked easily as I expected, and I significantly surpassed my goal of 7 per day - I was probably closer to a 9 average.

The goal of leaving something leftover was the hardest of the bunch.  That’s not really a surprise to me, but what is encouraging is that the more I did it the easier it got.  This remains a top goal for the coming weeks - an essential strategy around the holidays and in particular in the US, land of humongous portions.  I will continue to update on this here, because it’s really important for me to have accountability.

For the upcoming week, I have 2 days before I head for the US.  In those 2 days I have one cocktail party (tonight) but I’m making a huge veggie tray and I don’t like most of the French snacky things (like foie gras) so I’m not too worried.

My strategy while home for the holidays will consist primarily of :

  • Daily food journal w hunger ratings & what was left over
  • Daily weigh ins if I can find the scale in the bathroom cabinet at my mom’s house
  • Start going to the gym at least once every 3 days (more if my family is driving me bananas!)
  • Leave something left over routinely
  • Don’t eat stuff just because it’s there, or just because we don’t have it in France.  If I want a taste of something pay close attention to the point where it is no longer wonderful (usually after 2-3 bites) and STOP EATING IT.
  • Continue to concentrate on getting at least 7 servings of fruits & veggies per day. (healthy, plus less room for the other stuff!)