day 197 ...

no late-night eating ... 4 in a row.

continuing to chug along on a nice little roll.

i am starting to realize that the body is aware of the calorie deficit, and the (slight, but almost constant) feeling of hunger is natures way of motivating me to seek food. overcoming this with the knowledge that i can get food, usually within seconds, is key. hunger won't hurt me; staying occupied puts the feeling in the background, and maintaining the calorie deficit moves me, inexorably, towards goal.

snacking is not my hobby.

water is my friend.

a 3 star day ... 4 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 198 ...

no late-night eating ... 5 in a row.

marching inexorably towards goal. been thinking a lot lately about the maintenance phase.

snacking is not my hobby.

water is my friend.

a 3 star day ...5 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 199 ...

no late-night eating ... 6 in a row.

failed in the water department. change is HARD, and i am realizing more and more that this is about change; permanent change. without making a permanent change (or three) in how i eat and drink, the weight will just come right back after i achieve goal and start backsliding into my old ways.

water is my friend.

snacking is not my hobby.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 200 ...

no late-night eating ... 7 in a row.

200 days !!! other than the urge to eat late at night, and the need to keep a leash on daytime snacking, it has been, on the whole not a bad experience. using food as a recreational drug is a tough habit to break, and it is still a struggle but i am glad that i have come this far, and maintenance mode is now just a few weeks away. i will REALLY welcome the extra 300 or so calories per day.

further good news ... the carafe that i measure my daily target of 5 glasses of water into, apparently holds 6 glasses, so on friday i actually had a win in the water department !

water is my friend.

snacking is not my hobby.

a 3 star day ... 7 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 201 ...

no late night eating ... 8 in a row.

more of the same for today. scale showed 176 this morning which is only 1 lb. away from goal. the plan is to drop 5 lbs. below goal to allow for a "5 lb. rebound", which seems to be par for the course going by previous weight loss attempts, although they were of the "fad" variety. i think that this "slow but steady" method, coupled with PERMANENT changes to what, when and how i eat might not produce such a rebound, but i want to err on the side of caution.

water is my friend.

snacking is not my hobby.

a 3 star day ... 8 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 202 ...

no late-night eating ... 9 in a row.

staying the course.

not eating late at night has me waking up feeling hungry. nothing abnormal there, and i have always been a big fan of breakfast. i would actually like to eat a lot more for breakfast but then i would have to skimp elsewhere during the day ... so there's that. anyhow, what i have been doing for the past 202 days is working, so not going to make any serious changes right now, i very seldom actually feel "full", but i felt that way even when i was eating pretty much whatever i wanted. something i have to live with, i guess.

a 3 star day ... 9 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 203 ...

no late-night eating ... 10 in a row.

when my water intake target was 4 glasses a day, most days i was making target ... barely, and not without significant effort. now that it is 5 glasses a day, most days i am making it ... barely, and not without significant effort. ask me to drink 5 cups of coffee in a day ... i can do that by 2pm; next challenge ?

a 3 star day (barely) ... 10 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 204 ...

no late-night eating ... 11 in a row.

came up short on water intake. i really feel this is going to be important when i get to maintenance phase. i need to develop the habit of grabbing a glass of water rather than grabbing a banana or cottage cheese. the first glass in the morning, as well as the last glass in the evening, are pretty much automatic, and i am always able to down a third glass sometime during the day. it's those 4th and 5th glasses that are the problem. i need to develop some sort of mechanism whereby it becomes a part of the daily routine. i am going to try bringing a container of water outside with me, or bring a water bottle in the truck when i drive.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 205 ...

no late-night eating ... 12 in a row.

did ok with the water yesterday. dragging a bottle around seems to have helped a bit.

my screen name, it seems, was a bit optimistic ... i love fruit, and could eat it all day and all night, and while there are many vegetables that i really enjoy, it tends to be the higher calorie ones that i lean towards ... corn/peas/beans/potatoes/rice. i find that i have to have some sort of salad for lunch, otherwise my leafy green veggie consumption would be quite low.

a 3 star day.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 206 ...

bump in the road, fail in the late-night eating department as well as the clean eating department. surprisingly, i scored a win in water intake, which is usually the first area that i fail in, if and when i have a fail

night-time eating ... FAIL;
water intake ...WIN;
clean eating ... FAIL.

day 207 ...

again a fail in the late-night eating department. it has been a LONG time since i failed that twice in a row. being so close to goal it seems like i have taken some sort of food vacation. i have always had trouble finishing things ,,, so there's that.

night-time eating ... FAIL;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 208 ...

no late night eating ... the 1st of many In a row.

so ... the deal seems to be : scratch and claw your way to a 3 lb. loss after 30 days of working the plan to perfection; gain 5 lbs. for 2 days worth of dietary "indiscretions" ... riiiiight.

well, the last time this happened i recall that the scale hovered for a few days, then plummeted downwards ... so there's that. hoping it happens this time around.

a 3 star day ... the first of many in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 209 ...

no late night eating ... 2 in a row.

as i had hoped, the weight, which piled on so quickly, is coming off almost as quickly ... whew ! it feels good to be back in the saddle again and yesterday, i actually exceeded the water intake target, which doesn't happen very often.

the plan for today : stick with the plan.

water is my friend.

a 3 star day ... 2 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 210 ...

no late-night eating ... 3 in a row.

lately i have noticed a new development; i tend to feel hungry after my usual breakfast, which used to pretty much satisfy me. i believe that my food-addicted brain is trying a new tactic.

staying the course.

water is my friend.

a 3 star day ... 3 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 211 ...

no late-night eating ... 4 in a row.

after last weeks fiasco of an overnight weight gain of 5 lbs, my weight is back down very close to the posted current weight. i had figured this would happen so didn't bother to make the change. the bad news is that even with 13 days left it will be iffy as to whether i show a loss for the month. sticking with the plan. due to the warm weather it has been easier to achieve the targeted water intake, so i haven't had to choke back 1 or 2 glasses late at night.

a 3 star day ... 4 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 212 ...

no late-night eating ... 5 in a row.

am trusting that my "mental calculator" is reasonably close and that i am running some sort of calorie deficit almost every day. still hoping to show a 2lb loss for the month ... 3 lbs would be excellent !

water is my friend.

a 3 star day ... 5 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 213 ...

no late-night eating ... 6 in a row.

ate a full can on beans last night. i usually only eat half a can but that turned out to be dinner so the calorie load was acceptable. doing "ok" with water intake. still feels like i am forcing it down most of the time. perhaps if i cut back on coffee a bit that might make it easier. yeah ... like that's going to happen.

a 3 star day ... 6 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 214 ...

no late night eating ... 7 in a row.

just didn't get enough water in me yesterday, so a fail on that. this week presents a huge challenge; fathers day dinner today then away from home for 4 or 5 days. the goal was a 4 lb. loss for june but at this point i would be ok with breaking even and would be delighted with a 1 lb. loss ... we shall see.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 215 ...

fathers day family gathering. while i didn't go completely off the rails, i could have used a little more self-control, could definitely have had more water, and likewise could have had a glass of water rather than a late night snack ... small and healthy though it was.

the next 4 days i will be away from home so probably will not post entries. i will have lots of exposure to restaurant food and snack food, so am keeping my goal 'reasonable', i.e. a break-even on calories would be considered a win.

night-time eating ... FAIL;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... FAIL.

YIKES ! can't recall the last time i had 3 fails for the day. not feeling too bad about it though as i didn't let things get completely out of hand.

day 221 ...

no late night eating.

well, my 4 day mini-vacation went pretty much as expected. due to the heat, water intake was absolutely not an issue ... but cookies were. unless the scale goes into a downward spiral (it has happened before), june will be the first month since november that i haven't lost at least 3 lbs; in fact, a small gain looks more likely. getting back in the saddle and we shall see what the monthly weigh-in says.

a 3 star day .

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

Joe,

I enjoy reading your continuous charging forward along your path. Hope you aren't experiencing the brutal heat wave we're having here in the U.S.

bill ... thanks so much for the encouragement. it does help.

day 222 ... i actually thought that i would be maintaining when i reached the magic 222 figure, but a couple of family gatherings seem to be all that's needed to undo weeks of healthy eating ... so there's that. not to worry, the shift to lower-calorie, less processed food is a proven formula ... staying the course.

no late-night eating ... 2 in a row.

the ongoing heat wave makes water intake ridiculously easy; hard to believe i have a problem in that area.

a 3 star day ... 2 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 223 ...

no late-night eating ... 3 in a row.

things definitely seem to go best, in terms of food choices, when i am at home and into my usual routine, and today should be a routine day. the only thing NOT routine has been the heat, and today it has eased up enough to be called a "very hot summer day", rather than "brutally hot". water intake not a problem and cooking anything indoors would be a silly thing to do, so it's spinach salad, cottage cheese and lots of nice cold oranges from the fridge.

a 3 star day ... 3 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 224 ...

well, yesterday turned out to be not so routine after all ... wound up smoking a joint, drinking 2.5 beer and with the ensuing munchies/weakening of resolve i wound up eating late at night. the good news is that there is absolutely no junk in the house, so the eating was at least "clean" if somewhat excessive.

night-time eating ... FAIL
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 225 ...

no late night eating.

monthly weigh-in was about what i expected. for the first time since embarking on this "dietary correction" i have had to RAISE my current weight. seems harsh punishment for what amounted to a very few, and rather small transgressions, but there you have it. based on past experience i actually expect to, literally, piss most of it away in the next day or 2.

local temperatures are right back down to seasonal norms .,. hope this doesn't mean i am back to choking down my water, rather than looking forward to drinking it.

a 3 star day.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 226 ...

no late-night eating ... 2 in a row.

as suspected, all of the "unwarranted" weight was "eliminated", so i really needn't have bothered to change my current weight ... whateva ! also as suspected, it was difficult to choke back my water quota with the cooler weather. will try again today.

inhaled a can of beans again last night, but again, it was dinner so the calorie load was quite acceptable. who knew that canned beans were so delicious ?

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 228 ...

forgot to post this morning !

no late night eating ... 3 in a row.

no news is good news ... chugging along.

a 3 star day ... 2 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 229 ...

no late-night eating ... 4 in a row.

weather heating up a bit, not nearly as bad as it was during that heat wave, but hot enough to make drinking water a pleasure, rather than a chore. went a couple of days without my beloved cottage cheese. it's amazing how i have come to love that stuff, and it goes with just about anything as well as being delicious on it's own.

a 3 star day ... 3 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 230 ...

no late-night eating ... 5 in a row. i woke up at 5am to go to the bathroom and before going back to bed i had a couple of tablespoons of mixed fruit. not giving myself a demerit as i was genuinely hungry/it was morning/i am a wonderful human being.:carrot:

today the plan is to stay with the plan. it is said that the last 10 lbs. is the hardest ... somebody knew what they were talking about.

a 3 star day ... 4 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 231 ...

no late-night eating ... 6 in a row.

the next 5 weeks will be ... interesting. will be having a restaurant breakfast, monday to friday each week for five weeks. a little self-control will be required. for the record, current weight = 175.5lbs. if, after the 5 weeks i am at or below 175.5 i will consider that a win.

a 3 star day ... 5 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 232 ...

no late-night eating ... 7 in a row.

no news is good news.

a 3 star day ... 6 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 233 ...

had a few tablespoons of mixed fruit after the kitchen closed last night; such a minor transgression that i considered NOT giving myself a demerit for it, but the process is more important than the minor ups-and-downs and i want it to be on the record in case a trend develops. similarly, i did not drink my daily quota of water yesterday. since it did NOT result in any additional snacking i also considered giving myself a pass, but again, i want it to be on the record so as to be able to track any potential trend.

even with all this horrible news, and restaurant breakfasts monday-friday, the scale is trending in the right direction ... go figure.

the dietary correction rages on.

night-time eating ... FAIL;
water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 234 ...

no late night eating.

business as usual. i actually think i am starting to get used to eating less. after 234 days i guess this shouldn't come as any surprise. even so, "getting used to" isn't quite the same as "wanting to", and i know i am a barked shin or an unpleasant exchange away from wanting to stuff my face with food, and not of the healthy sort either.

food is not my drug.

water is my friend.

a 3 star day ...

night-time eating ... WIN;
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 235 ...

no late-night eating ... 2 in a row ... with an asterisk.

once again i had a few tablespoons of mixed fruit in the middle of the night. this time, i am choosing NOT to give myself a demerit. my reasoning is that my dietary correction seems to have evolved to where i eat almost nothing between breakfast and dinner, thus maintaining an adequate calorie deficit. i do, however, want it on the permanent record as i don't want to start down a slippery slope back to the old habit of consuming many hundreds of calories in the middle of the night. the calorie deficit is the thing, and if tweaking the plan helps me to achieve that, then the operations manager (me) approves.

a 3 star day ... 2 in a row.

night-time eating ... WIN*
water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN.

day 236 ...

late-night eating ... once again, i avoided calories between breakfast and dinner so as to be able to eat something at night when i most seem to want it. i am EXTREMELY close to goal weight right now and i don't want to sabotage a plan that has been working, but this actually feels better to me. will be closely monitoring the situation.

this alters the "star day" reporting. for the time being, i will be tracking 1) water intake, 2) clean eating and 3) scale reading. for the scale reading, no change or downward movement will be a win, and upward movement will be a fail.

water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN;
scale reading ... FAIL.

day 237 ...

a 3 star day ...

water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN;
scale reading ... WIN (176).

day 238 ...

238 divided by 7 = 34 weeks.
34 weeks @ 1lb. per week target = 34 lbs.
209sw - 175cw = 34 lbs lost ... bang on target. worth noting that in the early days the weight was coming off @ 1.5 lbs per week and that has dwindled to less than 0.5 lbs per week lately.

all this is by way of saying that at this mornings weigh-in i am at goal. not QUITE ready for the big announcement yet as i do not consider current weight to be official until the scale shows it for 3 days in a row ... so there's that. still, this is obviously good news, especially so as i have a strong tendency to not finish what i have started. also worth noting that the plan includes dropping down to 170 lbs so as to allow for a "5 lb. rebound" which is something i have experienced before during weight-loss attempts. i don't EXPECT it this time, as i have made permanent changes to what/when/why/how much i eat, but i want to be ready just in case. if i find that there is little or no rebound i am fine with that as i would NOT be underweight at 170lbs.

a good day.

a 3 star day ... 2 in a row.

water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN;
scale reading ... WIN (175).

Such great news! Congratulations!

day 239 ...

as expected, the scale has wandered back up a bit so carrying on with the plan.

will no longer record "3 star days" as the inclusion of the daily weight report will necessarily produce a goodly number of fails and will be self-explanatory.

water intake ... FAIL;
clean eating ... WIN;
scale reading ... FAIL (175.5).

day 240 ...

scale took a massive nose-dive this morning; i'll take it !:D

nice cool day today and plenty to keep me busy.

water is my friend.

water intake ... WIN;
clean eating ... WIN;
scale reading ... WIN (173.5).