Day 31- Review

How do I Feel?

Well, this is the last full day of the strict diet.  Read on for more details about future plans.

Meals for Today:

Breakfast - Oops!

I didn't have breakfast this morning.  Just a cup of tea with a little honey.

Lunch - Leftover Buffalo Chicken Soup

Still on a mission to clean out leftovers from the refrigerator.  This is still good and will probably stay in our rotation for the future. 

Dinner - Chicken Curry with Sweet Potato Fries

This is a recipe from the Whole 30 book.  It's pan-fried chicken with a curry sauce made from tomatoes and yellow curry.  We decided to pair it with sweet potato fries with a squeeze of lime.  It was really good and will make the future rotation as well. 

Snacks:

• manderinas
• apple
• dark chocolate

Exercise for Today:

I'd like to say that I've ended the month with a bang, but as of 8:00 PM, I'm just below 10,000 steps with 9,059.  

Daily Summary:

This is the last official food log report that I'll be making.  I started this little journey with the intent of losing weight and using these posts to keep myself a little more accountable.  It worked.  There were a couple of tough days, particularly early, when I could have slid but the knowledge that I'd have to "come clean" here made me stick to my guns. 

While I won't be posting daily anymore, I'll keep up my spreadsheet and try to report monthly how well I'm doing. Remember that my goal was to lose 40 pounds this year.  I have lost about 14 so far, so have 26 more to goal.  I'm not even halfway there yet but have made pretty good progress for just a month's time.  To meet my yearly goals, I'll have to lose a little more than 2 pounds per month.  For now, I'll slowly begin to add back some bread - maybe once a week - but will still try to avoid the fast food and sugars as much as possible.  

I think the thing that I've learned the most during this month is that planning is the key.  We planned out our meals in advance - as much as possible - and that helped me stick to the regime. But the planning also took place on a daily basis.  I needed to plan out my snacks and liquid intake as well.  By doing that, I was much less tempted to run to a vending machine than I did before.  My toughest days were those I didn't plan as well. I'll also try to vary my exercise routines a little more.  I started off doing push-ups/sit-ups but abandoned those about 2/3rds through the month. I need to add those back, but the cooler weather really dampens my desire to work out.  In fact, the last week or so I've been really cold although it hasn't been very cold outside.  Maybe my body is still adjusting to losing some of that fat.  Again, exercise will be the key to continuing to be able to reach the goal.  

As I mentioned yesterday, I think my overall health has improved - particularly when you look at some of the vital blood stats.  However, I'm still clinically obese - although within a pound of being merely overweight - so I need to stay the course.  

Another thing I've noticed is that my clothing fits much looser now.  I've taken in my belt to the last loop available and will probably have to start replacing my pants within the next month or so.  I can really tell a difference in my waistline but again, still have a long way to go. 

Overall, I'd have to characterize this as a successful month.  I beat my monthly goal by 40 percent although I would have liked to have made 15 pounds.  I can accept this and use it as motivation to continue the journey.

If you've followed along with this, thanks.  I hope that some of these things I've discovered can help you as well. 

Stats for Today:

Unfortunately, I gained .3 pounds at this morning's weigh-in.  I guess that tomorrow's weigh-in is the "official" end of the monthly journey, but this will have to do.  Overall, I've lost 14.4 pounds since the beginning of the month and 2 and 1/2 inches off my waistline. My BMI is 30.1.  I need to drop below 30 in order to be considered merely overweight rather than obese.  I think I can get there.