Oh, also, starting this month a bit late, but better than never!

3/19: 139.8

3/1: 133.4
3/2: 134
3/3: 132.4
3/4: 131.4
3/5: 131.4
3/6: 131
3/7: 131
3/8: 131.8 well that's a bummer
3/9: 132.2 not enjoying this trend
3/10: 132
3/11: 133.8
3/12: 132.2
3/13: 131.8
3/14: 134
3/15: 132
3/16: 133.2 bleh
3/17: 133?
3/18: 131.4
3/19: 131

I've been crazy busy this week -- not so much time to eat. As long as the stress doesn't lead to a binge this could be helpful

Crunchymama, I have heard when you are married to a pastor, you share your spouse with the entire congregation. That must be hard! My husband works a ton and I know I resent it sometimes.

You have a lot going on! One cookie will not make or break you, that's for sure. It's a really exciting time for you, and I know you'll be making lots of good choices and decisions, for yourself and others. Maybe affirmations would help? E. g., "I make good decisions when it comes to food."

And, BTW, thank you for your service to the community. I know a pastor's wife supports a lot of people, including the pastor! That is hugely commendable and you both make such a positive difference.

Along those lines, I do pray the Lord's prayer just about every day, and I was thinking the "let us not into temptation" line was helping me to avoid over-indulging. God is good - all the time!

Love your yoga challenge procedure! A great way to get it done.

The class was amazing! I normally do about 10 minutes of yoga, with only 30-second poses, just to cool down. Although recently I hauled out my old yoga collage, which has pictures of poses interspersed with interesting photos/art, and had tried to expand my practice a little bit. It's making it more fun, too.

You were right about it being challenging - the class was full-on 45 minutes of serious several-minute poses, including lots of "yoga pushups"! So I'm feeling it today, but in a good way.

3/16 - 115.1; 3/17 - 113.5; 3/18 - 112.7; 3/19 - 112

Official weigh-in, Friday, March 20 - 110.2

Well, this has been an interesting week. In the context of getting 7700 calories by the end of the week, I stuck with a strict 500 calories a day until Thursday morning. BUT...because I did not come within one-half pound of my goal of 110, i fasted, except for a cup of coffee, all day Thursday.

EVEN SO, I only made it to 110.2, not 110 (that's with exercising every day since Monday). Which I'm grateful for! I just decided to change my goal to point four pounds a week, lol, so, VOILA, made goal!

Because I'm going to lower my pre-goal weight calories again, since I'd rather not do a total fast day, I'll just briefly say that I easily get all the medically-recommended calories I need by the end of the week. Today, for example, just for what a hobbit would consider "first breakfast," I've had about 1000 calories. That included a half-cup of Grapenuts with half-and-half, lots of buttermilk (good probiotic source), and some mixed nuts. Can't wait until second breakfast!

Wow, that's quite a loss - congrats! If you don't mind my asking, what do you do to avoid a binge - do you have a specific approach, or maybe more than one?

3/1: 133.4
3/2: 134
3/3: 132.4
3/4: 131.4
3/5: 131.4
3/6: 131
3/7: 131
3/8: 131.8 well that's a bummer
3/9: 132.2 not enjoying this trend
3/10: 132
3/11: 133.8
3/12: 132.2
3/13: 131.8
3/14: 134
3/15: 132
3/16: 133.2 bleh
3/17: 133?
3/18: 131.4
3/19: 131
3/20: 130.2 Wha?!?!?!

Not sure what's going on here. Probably just water weight since I haven't been exercising as much this week. Also, I strangely seem to hit a low weight right before my TOM, when most women go up. TOM is imminent. We'll see.

HW, I wish I had tools for avoiding a binge, but I really don't. I had two last week, one of them the worst I'd had in a long time (looking back, that would be the bump from the 13th to the 14th). Right now I'm trying to stay excited that I'm down a bit and convince myself to stay on track rather than blow it. What usually happens is that I'll stay on track but unexpectedly bump up, and then feel so discouraged that I say, "Why bother?!?!" and binge or at least overeat in a very irresponsible way.

My little specialty is a post-stress binge. Like, after a big event that is stressing me out, I'll go home and kind of "binge in relief." I have found that if I am mindful of this, I can avoid it. Like if I tell myself, "After this big event on Sunday, I am not going to go home and eat everything in sight. I am going to have a glass of wine and a delicious, reasonable dinner and put a lid on it," over and over, like an affirmation, I can head it off. Or one time I remember, I allowed myself a treat -- a Diet Coke Big Gulp -- that I would normally not have, as my post-stress indulgence. It totally worked with only chemical, not caloric, damage.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Goal for March- 120 lbs on my higher scale/20-25 miles per week
(118-122 lb)
Lower Scale- 1 lb less

3/1/15 121.2 lbs (LS)
3/2/15 121.8 lbs ran 4 miles, walked 1
3/3/15 121.7 lbs
3/4/15 121.8 lbs ran 5 miles, walked 1
3/5/15 120.5 lbs shoveled snow
3/6/15 119.8 lbs ?? I have no idea why my weight is going down
3/7/15 120.8 lbs (LS) ran 4 miles
3/8/15 121.4 lbs (LS) ran 4 miles
3/9/15 122.4 lbs
3/10/15 122.4 lbs
3/11/15 121.7 lbs
3/12/15 121.7 lbs
3/13/15 121.5 lbs
3/14/15 121.2 lbs (LS)
3/15/15 120.6 lbs (LS) ran 5.5 miles
3/1/15 122.1 lbs
3/15 121.6 lbs TENURE!! Whoo!!
3/18/15 120.9 lbs
3/19/15 121.2 lb
3/20/15 120.3 lbs
3/21/15 120.0 lbs (LS)
3/22/15 120.2 (LS)
3/23/15 121

Hungerwerks....question, I've never been on a diet, so I have no idea about a lot of this.

I give you credit for your dedication. I could not last a week doing what you are doing.

When you reach your goal, then what? Will you continue with 500 calorie days and fasting? If you don't, won't you gain the weight back if you start increasing calories? How does this work? How do you stay at a low weight when you have to fast/restrict to get there?

I am tempted to do what you are doing, but I don't know the answer to "then what?!?"

When I was 105 lbs, I didn't eat a lot. I didn't think about eating, it wasn't on my mind, and I ate as an after thought. It's different now since I have more time (I used to have fewer opportunities to eat in the past). At school, I teach four one hour periods and have preps for the rest of the time, so I eat too much. It's teach/teach/break/teach/break/teach/break and I eat on my breaks, not more than 200 calories, usually less, and I eat no more than 200 calories when I get home and 160 calorie Quest bar before school.

3/1: 133.4
3/2: 134
3/3: 132.4
3/4: 131.4
3/5: 131.4
3/6: 131
3/7: 131
3/8: 131.8 well that's a bummer
3/9: 132.2 not enjoying this trend
3/10: 132
3/11: 133.8
3/12: 132.2
3/13: 131.8
3/14: 134
3/15: 132
3/16: 133.2 bleh
3/17: 133?
3/18: 131.4
3/19: 131
3/20: 130.2 Wha?!?!?!
3/21: 129.6

Amazingly, I weighed in at 157.5 this morning. I say amazingly because I ate out last night. Normally I'm good about only eating half my meal and substituting fries for a healthier side, but I didn't last night. And we ordered a dessert (dessert nachos) to share- still split three way- me, husband and child.
3/5- 158.5
3/12- 157
3/19- 159.5
3/21- 157.5

So some positive self-talk seems to help. That's great! I think others can use that idea to help themselves to avoid certain behaviors, too. Thanks for sharing that.

Thank you for your kind words, Jen! Yah, my approach to food wasn't as good as yours was. All my life, I've been eager to eat ALL the time. Probably some personality quirk.

But I'm definitely going to continue my new approach after I make my final goal weight, as I've found that, as kind of a "polar opposite" to that ongoing hunger, I can also shift my calories and eat the majority of them after I make weight for the week (I'll still be weighing in after I reach maintenance), and, strangely, not have it bother me too much. As long as I know I have the lovely weekend to look forward to, I can deal. And I'm going to try and tweak my calories a little more so that I don't have to fast even one day.

That's good news! But I gotta ask - what are "dessert nachos"?

3/19: 139.8
3/20: 139.6
3/21: 138.8! I know it's probably just water, but I'm still excited!