Hi All!
Welp, I started "this" weight loss journey July 7th. I did well through July & August. Come September I quit the plan I was on but I didn't necessarily fall off the wagon.
I thought I did really well actually with just cutting my portions and trying to eat 3 meals a day (instead of eating whenever and as often as I'd like).

For example, we'd go to Taco bell for a treat. Pre-diet, I'd order 3 chicken $1 burritos (480 each!!) and maybe a bag of chips.
Now? I automatically order just 1 480 cal burrito and a diet coke. I can't believe I use to eat that much before!
It just happens automatically now. And if we go out to dinner, I split my meal in half and put the rest in a to-go box for my husbands lunch the next day.
I don't have to force myself to do any of this stuff now, it just happens!


Ok, so.. August 27th I weighed myself and I was 189.9! And for some darn reason I didn't weigh myself until this morning.. it's good and bad news...

I am 188.8...

Good news? I didn't gain! And apparently lost a pound..

Bad News? I thought for as little as I felt I was eating during all of September and October I would have actually lost more weight

I think I need to weigh myself at least once a week to keep on track. That way I will know for sure.

Thanks for listening!!

I wouldn't beat yourself up over this, and I'm glad you see the good in not gaining!

I've come to realize that a healthier lifestyle is a process and it truly was a series of events over the past seven years that got me to the point where I am today.

I started exercising at 16, starting eating healthier foods when I went to college. I maintained my weight from 17-22 by exercising and just eating healthy. In December 09 I decided to cut my portions and lost 8 pounds! I stopped watching my portions but I managed to maintain that weight (192lbs) until May of this year, when I started again and...here I am now

It's not a linear process. We ALL have ups and downs but the important part is that you're learning and incorporating that into your lifestyle—even when you're "off plan."

Woohoo for maintaining with a LOSS. That's awesome. I think you're being too hard on yourself. Not being on plan & actually losing a pound is a big achievement.

So now you know something!

Here's the deal. If you really were eating less, you would have lost more than that. So, basically you are now eating to maintain your weight. That's not a bad thing! But, not what you had hoped for.

Start writing down what you eat every day. Speaking for myself, it's way too easy to underestimate what I am eating if I don't track it. Then when the scale doesn't move the way I want, I'm like, WTF? Because I have "forgotten" certain things.

So, congrats for maintaining! Now you can plan for losing.

Jay