This morning I weighed in at 200.  That’s a 21 pound loss since March, with a steady one-pound loss most weeks.  And no hunger, no stress.  Not a lot of exercise.  No bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or sugar.  Well, one weekend of indulgence, and a few bites here and there, but 100% out of my regular consumption.

I’m really quite pleased.  I know I have exercise that I should kick up a notch, and my calories are no where near restricted - putting straight cream in tea is hardly holding anything back.  I can go out to eat most places with ease.  A quick grab of breakfast or lunch is much harder than dinner - skimpy take-out salads of veggies and protein never contain enough protein to satisfy, and the take out dressings are often full of filler and not so full of healthy fats like olive oil - but I manage, usually by eating before hand, or sucking it up and going into a restaurant for a real meal when in the past I might have just grabbed a sandwich.  Breakfast on the run in Paris is a carb-based affair, one I haven’t found a low-carb option for, so I try to eat at home, or skip it completely.  If I must, I find a small grocery store and buy some cheese or sliced lunchmeat.  In other words, I’ve found ways to make it work.

I’m still a fan of taking nuts with me - although I have a tendancy to overdo it with them if I’m not careful.

We leave on our 3 week California vacation on Friday.  I’m hoping for a glimpse of 199 before I go - if I see it I’m moving the ticker, because I really want that mindset that I’ve cracked this barrier before the holidays.

I have every intention to continue the low carb thing on vacation.  The US if full of options of what I can eat, eggs for breakfast is much more common than it is in France, most of the time we’re staying someplace with a kitchen, and while I don’t mind a rare indulgence (I’ll spend my birthday there), I’m not eating junk for 3 weeks and undoing 21 pounds of hard work in a few days.

In addition, I am starting the hormone therapy for the endometrial cancer on Thursday.  It’s a high dose progesterone which - get this, it’s so IRONIC it kills me - is the treatment that they give to anorexics to get them to eat.  Yes, you read correctly, the biggest side effect of this medication is increased appetite and weight gain.  Oh joy. For those of you following my tormented choices regarding my health and reproductive issues, this is not a definitive decision - just a decision that I’m better off with SOME kind of treatment for the next month rather than nothing.  In France, vacations are long and sacred, and while the medical establishment does handle urgencies, things that can be safely put off until after summer break are almost always put off - so the surgeons, orderlies, nurses, doctors, administrators, etc can all take their 4 weeks of summer vacation without problems (good news : so can the patients).  It’s that fact that made me decide to go ahead and start the medical treatment, and it doesn’t lock me into anything down the road, but it will make me feel safer these weeks.

So bucking that trend, and keeping my eye on the 199 and lower range is really important.

I have my next milestones laid out in my mind - but first I need to knock out 199 (Onederland!!!) and then 198 (10% loss of starting weight) before I focus on the next set of goals.

The good news : I’m confident I’ll make them all.