I went to a potluck last night and stuffed myself! I guess I didn't realize how I've really been eating to a nice "full, not too full" level recently because I really noticed getting overfull last night. I chose all good (meat, low-sugar fruit) or neutral (fatty dips) foods, though, nothing verboten. It was after a really hard workout, which might cover a multitude of "sins"!

My weight is unchanged this morning so I guess I'm not experiencing any water retention as a result, but we'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Ugh. I have been fighting it but I guess I'm gunna have to drop from the challenge. I've got a foot injury which means I can't keep my 5 days a week exercise promise. I tried to do it anyway (Because I'm stubborn) but it made it so much worse the next morning.

Having said that, I'm so proud of myself! I'm on vacation and I haven't gone over my calories!

ERHR Good job on picking healthy choices at the potluck

Daki Couldn't you do arm exercises to keep your 5 day pledge? I'm sorry about your foot! I hope it heals soon and great job on staying on plan while on vacation!

My eating has been all messed up after the backpacking trip(eating too little) and its so dumb because yesterday I ate totally healthy, but felt like I ate too much, even though I was super careful and have maintained my pledge of intuitive eating :/

Hey! Anyone still in the challenge? We've almost made it half way!

I totally failed this after the first day. It wasn't that I failed on the second, I just didn't record! But I've definitely failed by now. It wasn't the best idea to start when I had exams. Last one tomorrow and Monday next week, I'm getting back on track. I hope to see another one of these in September to join!

Well done to everyone still in the challenge!

I failed after the first couple of days

I failed in the sense that I haven't been able to exercise due to my injured foot, but I have 100% kept all of my other vows so far. I stopped tracking since I wasn't exercising but I'm still with you guys in spirit! It's been so hard not to eat fries, but I haven't done it!

dreamer yeah trying to get anything weight loss wise done during exams is nearly impossible :/ Good luck on them!

ILoveVegetables That's too bad! But there's always next time

Daki That's wonderful that you've kept all your other vows! Great work! Hope your foot feels better soon

Um, I've been ok, intuitive eating is really hard. I prefer it so much more though then counting calories. I decided to be a bit more mindful of my no-longer-hungry cues when eating because I was dropping, but then stopped and I think I'm at this awkward place of eating like only 100-200 calories below maintenance(although I'm not sure like I said since I stopped counting cals) because its slowed to an unbearable rate/nearly stopped.

Dottington, it looks like it's just you and me! If we make it to the end of the month we'll both be winners!

I've been feeling great meeting all my goals. The only kinda challenging one was to be active every day. I love my intense workouts a few times a week but I wasn't intentionally doing something every day (usually walking) prior to this month. I think I might want to do one or two more intense workouts each week, though, or perhaps yoga.

My weight wasn't cooperating for the middle part of the month - it went up a bit and held there. With no more cheating, I was able to narrow the gain (water retention?) to two foods I added the day before I saw the gain - flaxseed meal and feta cheese. Sure enough, as soon as I finished eating through those dishes (I batch-cook) my weight dropped. I'll have to add one of them back at a time to figure out which one it was and then I'll consider eliminating or diminishing them in the future, like I have with garlic (which pains me so much because I love the taste and it's so healthful).

I'm thinking about an even more stripped-down diet for next month (no dairy!) just to see if I lose faster. If I don't, I'll feel comfortable keeping it in my diet - I loooove cheese.

This challenge has given me the confidence that I can do a month-long experiment perfectly and evaluate how it affects me. Before, I would just make changes but have no plan for how long to stick with them before re-evaluating and it was difficult to keep it up with no cheating.

ERHR I love what you say about the challenge making you more confident and knowing you can experiment for a month! That's exactly what I loved about the last challenge, it was seriously like a revelation for me lol I realized I wanted to try something different(intuitive eating) and that's been my experiment this month!

I hope you figure out which food is making you hold onto water weight :/ That sucks about garlic! I love garlic and put it in everything! But at least you were able to narrow it down to only two foods

I think going dairy free sounds like a really cool idea, I really limit dairy in my own diet since I'm slightly lactose intolerant. I've gone vegan before, but I really love eggs! haha

We're so close to the end!

Well done Dottington and ERHR for completing your 20 days! If there is another like this in the future, I will be giving it another try.