Week 1 out of 4, DOWN! :)

I completed my first weekend of tracking my calories and it was a success!
Friday night, we went to Niko Niko's and I got a mini gyro sandwich and grilled veggies.  I was able to fit that into my daily calories and only went over by about 20.  I felt really good about that because it was a really delicious meal and yet I stuck to my goals!

All weekend, I noticed myself making better choices than I was going completely without tracking. I think this will be good for me. I was still able to splurge and have alcohol and candy. Just not as much as the old Tish would've liked.  I guess it's about finding a balance between old Tish (no restrictions whatsoever) and Perfect Tish (overly restricted).

I'm hoping - no PLANNING! to have just as successful an experience next weekend! 

non-scale victories

month of August - lost 5.8 in a month even with a week of vacation!
9/6 - reached out and found an accountabilibuddy, Vanessa!
10/16 - didn't partake in fajita lunch at work!
10/17 - recommitted to my health goals, determined to have successful days!
10/23 - got super stressed at work, cried and looked at cute animal pictures in the bathroom instead of turning to food
10/26 - got 20, 397 steps in one day!
10/27 - stuck to my calorie limit even though it was Sunday (switched days)
10/28 - resisted pizza in the break room at work!
10/29 - didn't let the scale discourage me (.6 loss in past 4 wks), changed up my goals
10/29 - set up my xbox dancing game so I can turn to that for joy/stress relief
10/31- didn't give in to the pizza, donuts, kolaches and candy that was everywhere at work! (Aside from 1 fun size candy that I was able to fit into my calories for the day!)
11/2-3 - Had a successful weekend of tracking calories for my first time (having to estimate is hard for me!)
11/4  - I resisted the new display of sweets at work (cake, oreo truffles) as well as the huge pile of candy on the reception desk during my lunch coverage duty.  Yay!

my weekend strategy

I had a pretty good weekend. I went over by about 150 calories on Friday, BUT I'm okay with it since I still tried super hard and I was starving by the end of the night so I let myself have some ham and cheese so I wouldn't go to bed miserable. It was a night out with friends and since I didn't have many calories to spend, I tried to be careful. I did sort of impulsively have a watermelon agua fresca at the art show we went to, but I reigned myself back in afterward. I didn't have the free (well, donation-suggested) beer I was originally planning on.  We did all go to a bar at the end of the night and I only drank a grapefruit flavored vodka with soda. I kept perusing the menu half-wishing I could have some fried food but I remained resolute.

Overall, I made some healthier choices over the weekend that I am proud of. I let myself splurge on things that were worth splurging on. The Sunday brunch at Urban Eats had much more "worth-it" food than the Saturday breakfast at House of Pies, so I'm glad I ate the croissant and the brie and the mimosa at the former and had a basic, healthy plate at the latter.

I'm about a week and a day away from the 4 week mark. I will be weighting myself every 2nd Tuesday of the month. I'm a little scared to. I feel like I'm making a just-right amount of change. And if I only see a 2 pound loss over the past month, I'm afraid of feeling like "fuck this shit" and go back to pigging out every day. But hell, even if I only lost 2 pounds a month... over a year, that would be 24 pounds lost! Which is better than gaining 30 by eating in my default way (pigging out every day).  So even if I only lose 2 pounds a month - I'm going to try to be cool with that.

I'm feeling confident about this strategy of eating strictly within my 1,840 calorie allotment Monday through Friday and then on the weekend not tracking, but just trying to make some healthier choices where I can and then splurging in a thoughtful way. I like the break I get and the freedom I feel. Weekends have always been hard for me. Eating at a calorie deficit for 5 out of 7 days has got to make a difference, I'm thinking. And over time I can decide to push it out to 6 days and maybe even 7 eventually as I get stronger.