Happy New Year 2016!

OK, I fell off the bandwagon during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays…no blog posts for 5 weeks.  Oops.  But now I’m back, and back at it.  Here’s an update of my progress from weigh-ins on 12/14/15 through 1/11/16:

Week 1, Monday, 10/5/15, Weight: 148.8 lbs.

Week 2, Monday, 10/12/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 3, Tuesday, 10/20/15, Weight: 147.0 lbs.

Week 4, Monday, 10/26/15, Weight: 146.2 lbs.

Week 5, Monday, 11/2/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs.

Week 6, Monday, 11/9/15, Weight: 142.4 lbs.

Week 7, Monday, 11/16/15, Weight: 142.0 lbs.

Week 8, Monday, 11/23/15, Weight: 142.2 lbs.

Week 9, Monday, 11/30/15, Weight: 143.4 lbs.

Week 10, Monday, 12/7/15, Weight: 140.6 lbs.

Week 11, Monday, 12/14/15, Weight: 140.4 lbs.

Week 12, Monday, 12/21/15, Weight: 140.8 lbs.

Week 13, Monday, 12/28/15, Weight: 142.4 lbs.

Week 14, Monday, 1/4/16, Weight: 143.8 lbs.

Week 15, Monday, 1/11/16, Weight: 141.0 lbs.

Surprisingly, despite some holiday gains (and losses), I’m not terribly much higher in weight than I was on 12/7, so that’s pretty cool.  However, I did not lose any extra weight as I had hoped.  But I obviously wasn’t that serious about trying to lose, considering I made 8 kinds of homemade cookies over the past month or so.  Sigh.

The good news is that I’m still doing my 3x/week jogs, keeping up my food diary, and trying my best to eat more veggies—and green ones in particular—every day.  The bad news is that I’ve been eating WAY too many sweets and too much white flour (mostly cookies), and just eating too much food in general.  I seriously want to get to a point where I don’t do this.  I know it’s the holidays, but why do I feel like the only way I can enjoy it is to eat excessively, and non-prudent amounts of sweets?!  It’s so predictable, so why can’t I keep myself from doing it?

So, I’m not interested in doing those little progress reports in every blog post like I did last year.  And  I will not plan on updating my progress in each area unless there’s something drastic to say.  Rather, I’d like to touch on whatever topic floats my boat in a given day.

Today, I feel confused, frustrated, and out-of-whack…about what to eat.

Whoa, what?!

That’s right, friends, I’ve been doing some reading, movie watching, and soul-searching over the past 5 weeks of my radio-silence.  I am equally excited and terrified to try some new ways of eating, which is to say, I really need to lay off the useless carbs.  I know, I just said carbs there, and everyone is rolling their eyes.

BUT NO, I will NOT be doing any of the following “diets”: low-carb, no-carb, high-protein, South Beach, Atkins, or Paleo.  Nor will I be doing low-fat, Whole-Food-Plant-Based, Vegan, Clean, or Ornish.  Honestly, people, haven’t we figured out there’s no real “diet” out there that works for everyone, every time?  If there were, we’d all be thin and healthy and trouble-free.  What a world that would be to behold!

Instead, I am planning a "10-day No Sugar/No Flour Challenge" to:

Cut out added sugars and wheat flour (white, whole wheat, etc).

For 10 days.

Starting sometime in the (very) near future.  Start date TBD.

Just to see how I feel.

No other added sweeteners either, “natural” or otherwise (I’m talking to you, maple syrup, honey, agave, and stevia!).  I don’t drink soda, but if I did, I wouldn’t even drink diet soda for these 10 days.  These items have no health benefits, and very likely have health detriments, and therefore, why eat them?  Of course, I eat them because they’re delicious (sigh), and because I am addicted to them BIG TIME.  But these are not good reasons to keep eating them!

I hate to have to "cut out" something that I'm eating, but those items are not necessary items.  I can live without added sugar and processed flour for 10 days.  No biggie, right?  ;)

Next time, I’ll post on my thoughts on the book called The Gabriel Method, as well as a movie called That Sugar Film.  Both very interesting, and food for thought (haha!).  Also, I need to do a post on some serious sleep habit improving, like getting to bed by 10PM every night, and not watching TV/movies or computer/iPhone screens late at night.  Maybe I should include that in my 10-day challenge...

What do you think…want to join me on this 10-day challenge?  This is going to be hard for me!

Forward Flavor!