November 14, 221

Hard to get an exact reading on the scale, as usual. I stand on the scale trying to gauge how far back or forward or left or right I might be leaning to get all those numbers, and I get a little political. When first standing on the scale I might be at The Goal, but letting it settle, standing up what might be straighter gains me a pound, and a half, two pounds. I can't be at goal today because part of why I got this low weight is because, of yesterday's meals allotted, so far I've only eaten breakfast.

And no way am I going to NOT eat the eggplant chickpea stew from last night's dinner. In fact, I believe I will eat that now.

So, I decided to weigh in at 221. It seemed about where the scale settled. It's a couple pounds less than last week. And it's not Goal yet. And I should reach goal next week if I'm a good girl. And why shouldn't I be a good girl?

It makes sense. I can feel changes again. When I reach my arm against my back, I can feel it. On the drive home last night I thought I was stroking a new jawline. My boobs seem to dangle now instead of resting on my belly. My butt continues to get flatter.

Jenn over at Watch My Butt Shrink was having trouble kicking the sugar cravings, breaking down in the middle of the day to binge on sweets she knew she shouldn't have. Since this is a big thing for me, and since one of the encouragements for me when I did quit chocolate for a month was that someone else had to abstain to, Dad couldn't even have one little cigarette , not even one puff, so for me to cheat on a chocolate mini would be shameful!! And, as I've written, during my two weeks in Asheville I gradually got back on the sugar/candy/sweets and was finding it difficult to break up until a couple days ago. Still, I had come to a place in this diet where allowances like a glass of wine with dinner or a cup of General Foods Internation coffee or Ovaltine might accompany me to bed. Now, in support of Jenn's efforts, I'm abstaining from chocolate and sweets (and Ovaltine) until Thanksgiving! If any of the rest of you want to join in to support Jenn, go to her blog and offer your encouragement!

A few other things I might mention, since I got to the point where I was able to keep Hershey bars in the cabinet all week and not reach for it and not even really want to.

1) You do have to abstain until the craving seeps from your system. I'm sure it was at least 2 weeks for me the first time around, maybe more.
2) For months I was on the Glycemic Impact diet. Two things about that.
a) My meals and snacks were already determined, there were 5 of them a day, I enjoyed them, and there was not really much room left in the day for a candy bar.
b) The meals I was eating were specially selected to manage my blood-glucose level to reduce cravings. I'm sure on Google you can find a list of the foods to eat less of. You don't have to totally abstain - carrots are on that list but some meals would have a FEW baby carrots. Breads/pastas were minimal and whole-grain.

I will post another blog in which I will copy some info from the ediets website about the Glycemic Impact diet they have there.

Someone mentioned recently about someone who had always been obese, who was diagnosed with diabetes and had lost a lot of weight and was eating right and exercising and looking good. You hear about these people all the time and what always occurs to me is how they were apparently able to change but unfortunately waited until after getting diabetes to do so. When doing it sooner might have prevented them from getting diabetes. I don't know much about diabetes, honestly.

As for me, I think after reaching 220, my new goal through New Year's is going to be (a) to stay on the meal plan most days of the week - maintenance mode maybe - but definitely don't lose steam on the regimen of meal plans (b) not gain between now and New Year's Day - in other words, on New Year's Day, weigh 220 or less, and (c) this one mostly - focus on physical activity.

After New Year's, see where things stand.