Ups and Downs of weight loss

When I stepped on the scale last week, I knew I'd take a hit. I had my first "real" cheat day in 3 months and enjoyed a day of eating all the junk food I had lived without (donuts, regular soda, croissants, french fries, etc). In one day. Surprisingly, this resulted in a weight gain of only 1 pound. This week, I focused on sticking to the calories My Fitness Pal allots me and was rewarded with an almost 4 pound loss! Which makes it now 32 pounds I've dropped since the beginning of my journey.

It's been 3 months this weekend, so that makes it a little over 10 pounds a month. While I am certain I would have dropped more without my various ups and downs in how I have eaten, I also know that I will continue to have success because I am not "dieting." Instead, I have changed the way I eat, allowed myself exceptions and learning experiences, and am able to see food as nourishment first instead of a tasty fix.

If you're on a path to better nutrition, I recommend three things:

The My Fitness Pal app
GNC Total Lean Ready-to-drink Shakes
Yogurt (personal fav is the Cherry Fage)

Good luck!

Vacation Days and food

Little is as challenging to a new lifestyle as going on vacation. The routine changes, the scenery changes and trying new foods is usually part of any good city one might vacation in. The trip I took included Albany, Quebec City, Salem, Boston and Cape Cod.

I have a fairly strict NO croissant policy...way too much fat and calories to eat this very often. To enforce this, my rule is that I can only have them if they're french. While in Quebec City, I got to have a chocolate croissant, which was heavenly. I also dined at various local eateries along our route and went over an average of 120 calories a day from my norm.

This means, though, that I still dropped a pound and a half that week! Keeping track of everything I ate helped a LOT. I also started every day with a protein shake, like normal; and I kept my favorite sugar free pudding with us. This enabled me to try out places without being too crazy in my changes. I felt great the whole time, walked every chance I got and was able to be successful in maintaining my weight loss and healthy lifestyle even while allowing more exceptions than normal.

Coming home, I made sure to stock up on my shakes and pudding so that I could transition right back to my routine. It's amazing, as well, how much proper hydration helps. I drink water like CRAZY.

Happy!