Hello September!

August has been a month of struggles. During this month I was able to lose 6.4 pounds and during this same month I gained 5 pounds. I experimented with eating a ton of fresh salad, managing to eat salad for dinner for about two weeks. I also gave up after dinner snacks for 4 days ( the salad and lack of snacks lead to the 6 pound loss). I also had one of the most terrible binge eating episodes on my journey thus far. I ate a ton of ice cream, pizza, doughnuts, chips and candy over a two day period.

Even my exercise took a setback as my plantar fasciitis kicked in! Overall I would say that this month was a valley experience, and I long for the mountain top experience. In a valley experience you have intense struggles, but you have got to hang on and keep fighting. I kept myself fighting this month by continuing to journal and read inspiration weight-loss stories.

This month of September I am looking forward to getting stronger while I am in the valley. I have a plan that I believe will sustain me through December. I am harnessing the power of my dinner calendar which worked really well in the month of July. I have planned my dinners out for the next few months. I follow the structure of having a big healthy meal that will be cooked on Sunday and last from Monday-Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday I have my soup nights. On the weekend I will prepare a beautiful fresh salad to eat for dinner.

During the day I will continue to feast on energy bars, yogurt and fresh fruit, as well as my veggie burger that I eat for lunch. I will continue to go for my walks, but I will take rest days and think about using the stationary bike to give my poor feet a break. I will get some new shoes with more support. This month I will be also monitoring my weight each week.

Lastly, I will be completing a challenge in which I dine on the following after dinner snacks, fresh fruit, jello pudding and light chips such as the special K chips or pirate’s booty. My goal is to stick to these snacks only!

CLM