Two Pound Weight Loss!

(Image is from http://www.foodfanatic.com/2013/12/detox-soup-new-year-new-you/)

I weighed myself today and I was down two pounds!  That makes a grand total of 17 pounds.  Yes, it is going slower than I would like, but, at least the numbers are going down, right?  I have been dieting since the first week in May (and by dieting I mean that I am on a Plant Based Diet WITH portion control).  I have been exercising for the past two weeks.  So, all in all, not too bad of a result.  When I started, I wanted to lose 10 pounds per month.  That means I have 12 days to lose an additional three pounds.  Completely doable.  

If you are wondering how I am finding being on the Plant Based program, I will confess that yes, I still miss junk food.  However, I do not have CRAVINGS for junk food.  There IS a difference, and the difference is quite important to someone trying to stay on program.  
If you ask me if I feel deprived, I will say that if I am staring at a hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate croissant, then HELL YES.  If you ask me if I am going hungry, then I will say NO.  I am not.  The food I eat fills me up.  I never leave the table hungry.  In fact, most nights I leave the table feeling almost full.  Do I ever feel hungry?  Yes.  And that is because I am not eating in between meals.  So by the time lunch or dinner comes, then I am quite hungry.  What do I miss more, sugary desserts or meat?  Sugary desserts.  I am really comfortable with foregoing meat.  I am not convinced a person can survive without chocolate cake.  

That being said, I have kept myself in line by promising myself ONE cheat day per month.  Yesterday I revised that to one cheat MEAL per month.  By "cheat", I do not mean eat whatever I want and as much as I want.  I mean, I can have something sweet, or I can have some meat, or (sssshhhhh) I can have an alcoholic beverage.  It IS off program.  I am not denying that.  But by giving myself this something to look forward to, I am able to maintain the rest of the month.  

And although I really believe you need to have a plan for weight loss, whatever that plan may be (because different things work for different people), I think that you should allow yourself to be human and to adapt to what your body needs.  For instance, I have made my mind up that I will eat dinner and then I will not eat another bite of food for the rest of the day.  Absolutely NO eating between dinner and bedtime.  Up until last night, I had abided by that self-imposed mandate.  But last night I was so hungry that I could not think of anything except satisfying the hole in my stomach.  It was 10:45 pm and I knew that I should just go to bed, but I just could not help feeling that if I did not eat something, I would never be able to sleep.  So, I sat there and thought about it.  And then I came up with a solution.  I went to the pantry and took out THREE dates.  I ate them.  Then I went to bed.  Sometimes I think its ok to be less than perfect.