32 Pounds to Lose in the Next 71 Days: 3/21/11

So today I forced myself to do the math (I HATE math...), and I have 71 Days until June 1st, which is the day I picked to be "All Done Dieting," or firmly at my goal weight of 125 pounds.  I still have 32 pounds to lose, as I weighed 157.0 pounds at today's Monday morning weigh-in.  What does this mean?  It means that I have to somehow figure out how to lose a little less than a half pound EVERY DAY between now and June 1st, or slightly more than 3 pounds per week.

This is still actually do-able, by my calculations.

However, it's going to take some serious hard work, determination, diligence, effort, etc. etc. etc.  If I'm going to hit that goal, I'm going to need to employ a more effective way to combat cravings and the urge to cheat/fail when those impulses hit me.  The past several weeks, I've been seeing both success and failure.  I've been wildly successful on those days that I stick like glue to my 1100-calorie goal, especially when I add an hour of exercise on top of it.  On those days, I'm dropping pounds like crazy!!!


BUT...  I've had just as many days where I blew it.  I've eaten WAY too much restaurant food, including THREE trips to India Palace  in the past 10 days alone!!!  Tack on chips and salsa and a margarita at Hacienda del Sol, AND chips and salsa and a margarita at Guadalajara, both this past week, and what I'm left with is 11.5 pounds lost... and then 3 of it gained back.


Now it's time to quit the "yo-yo-ing" once and for all.


My goal from this day forward is to NOT RE-GAIN any pounds I lose.  I want the scale to continue to go DOWN...and to NOT go back up.  The only way this will happen is if I DON'T have entire days where I just eat whatever I want, in whatever quantities I want.  (I can almost hear the, "WELL, DUH!" somewhere in the distance...)


That's all I'm changing this week.  I'm still sticking with the 1100-calories per day - IT WORKS.  


I'm still trying to get on the elliptical, the treadmill, and fit in a Tae Bo workout, a Zumba workout, or a Yoga workout as many days each week as possible.  (This could end up being 4 times in a week... or 7 times!  I want to do at LEAST 4 days of exercise every week, but if I feel like more, I won't hold myself back.)

I'm still trying to get enough sleep, eat the right foods, and avoid junk food - and ALL fast food.  I'm weighing myself every morning and spreading out my first 600 calories of the day between waking up and dinnertime, and then eating a 500-calorie dinner - BEFORE 7:00 p.m.


Today has been perfect so far.  It's almost 6:00 p.m. now, and I've only consumed 450 calories so far today!!!  It sounds insane - but it has been a breeze.  I'm not even hungry right now, and I get my frozen mattar paneer meal in 30 minutes!  Here's what my day today looks like, start to finish:

Coffee with milk & sugar - 60 calories

Fage-brand Greek yogurt with honey - 180 calories

Diet Dew - 0 calories

Teriyaki beef steak - 130 calories

Vanilla Coke Zero - 0 calories

15 fresh raspberries - 15 calories

Hot black tea with milk & sugar - 60 calories

Amy's Kitchen frozen Mattar Paneer - 370 calories

Fage-brand Greek yogurt with cherry - 130 calories

More black tea with milk & sugar - 60 calories

I've always been a very visual person, which is probably why I love looking at pictures of food so much.  When I lay out a day's worth of eating like this, it doesn't look so bad - it looks like lots of food, actually - lots of color, lots of flavors, lots of texture, and it looks like more than enough to fill me up for the 12 hours that it spanned.  The above list actually only totals 1010 calories, and that's because I was so successful today at spreading out my protein and controlling my cravings that I managed to eat even less than the 600 calories I normally allow myself before dinnertime.  I figure this puts me in an even better position, over-all.  I tend to ask myself, "Should I eat another 90 calories right now, before dinner, even though dinner is in 12 minutes, and even though I'm not famished right now...just because I'm under my calorie limit for today?"


WHY would I do that???


I know a lot of people who would do that.  I used to BE one of those people.  Well, I think it's silly - I'm not doing it.  I can wait 11 more minutes for my lovely mattar paneer, and I will follow the "Second Rule of Dieting" while I'm eating it, which is:  "Eat deliberately."  I will savor every bite, enjoy every bit of flavor, and eat without watching a movie, reading my Nook, or checking my email at the same time.  I will stretch out the experience over a half hour, so that I'm not only full at 7:00 p.m., but satisfied and proud of myself for completing a successful day of eating without feeling hungry once all day.  This is a huge accomplishment for me!  But it's also one that I know I can do any day, just like I did today, and as long as I tally every calorie and stay on top of my cravings the way I did today, I won't fail.  

The way I see it, the only real threat to my June 1st goal is restaurant food.  
I will do whatever I have to now to reign in my cravings when presented with a chance to eat out in a restaurant.  Those binges have derailed me, big-time.  

From now on - I will allow myself TWO "Free Meals" per week - and NO MORE.  
I will plan them carefully, and if they end up taking place in a restaurant, I won't feel guilty.  BUT - I will not eat more than two uncounted meals weekly.

No offense, guys.

I KNOW I CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!

“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American poet and writer, 1850-1919