Jun 22, 209.5

I am preparing to quit ediets. Eradicating that $18/month charge for the ediets plan, although adding $20/month for the new internet my roommate decided to get even though we were doing just fine mooching off the neighbors' wi-fi - until their wifi went out for a few days in a row.

Anyway - I decided that I could make breakfast and lunch and snack easy enough, and then pull out a recipe for dinner that could last me 4 days or so in a row with leftovers. I still have to keep up with the meal planning, I guess, and calorie counting now becomes more important than ever. Right now I'm at 1800-1900 calories per day with the understanding that I should be exercising 5 days per week. Out of a book today I gathered that my maintenance calories should clock in at around 2600 (!!!) and that my goal weight might be around 170-175 if I stay on the high end for me to account for my muscularity.

So I used my gift card from Christmas to buy some cookbooks and now it's just a matter of making the commitment. It shouldn't be too huge a deal to quit since I can always rejoin if things get desperate.

It should be interesting to see if I can keep this up on my own :-) I really only use ediets for the meal planning and grocery list, and honestly it is a somewhat arduous process anyway and it might actually be easier for me to do it myself as long as I commit to doing it and don't get slack.

More good news is that my roommate is also dieting now. We're not doing it together - but it's just nice to know that she's on a parallel path and dealing with some of the same issues. She doesn't have a credit card so she is very focused on staying within a grocery budget and she's not following a prescribed meal plan or anything, just trying to make better choices and track her calories and stuff, so that will be a good influence on me as I make this transition.

More on the good news front - 1800-1900 calories isn't a strain anymore, and I'm not tempted to eat sweets. I *think* about Subway cookies, but then remember I am on a mission. This morning waiting for my egg substitute to solidify, I looked at the box of corn flakes and thought about eating a bowl of cereal in addition to my breakfast, but then I realized that I was just hungry and that eggs and cheese and 2 pieces of toast would stuff me let alone additional butter and fruit! And sure enough - after breakfast I was stuffed and thought about my silly cereal idea.

Now tomorrow I have to pack up food to take with me on my day. And then Thursday -well Thursday I face a real challenge because I'll be working in 95-degree heat for many many hours on end, starting at 8 a.m. and ending at midnight and there will be excellent catering. I'm not going to bother packing food to take in - I will take advantage of the catering. I did this last week (or the week before?) and the catering is healthy but my control was not great. Maybe now things will be a bit different since, as I said in the previous paragraph, my appetite and cravings may have changed. Then again, that could be merely due to some kind of digestive issues I was having today.