Day: 18, Challenges Remaining: 79

The new shoes worked well. I didn't push it since my heels aren't completely healed (how about that for a homonym test).

Food consumed:
1:00 PM - 32 oz of water
3:00 PM - 32 oz of water
6:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
8:00 PM - 3 cans of tuna fish with mayo and (lots of) relish. Eaten with 15 Ritz crackers and 1 slice of multi-grain bread. And 32 oz of water.
9:00 PM - 32 oz of water
10:00 PM - 32 oz of water
11:00 PM - 1 (small) slice of pumpkin pie
12:00 AM - 1 (small) slice of pumpkin pie
1:00 AM - 32 oz of water

Exercise completed:
1:00 PM - 45 min of walking on treadmill (2.15 miles)
2:00 PM - 3 hours of pool time

Day: 17, Challenges Remaining: 78.5

Yeah. That's right. The 20 lb mark just went wooshing by! And I broke down and spent what's left of my diminishing bank account on a different pair of sneakers that won't rub my ankles where the last ones did so I can hit the gym again -- starting tomorrow.

Food consumed:
All Day - Lots of water
2:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Dr Pepper
4:00 PM - 12 oz of Diet Dr Pepper
7:00 PM - 2 bags of boil-in-a-bag rice with Asian sauces and a glass of water
9:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
11:00 PM - 1 glass of water

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - walking to and from and around the mall

Day: 16, Challenges Remaining: 81.5

I can't weigh myself until Sam wakes up from her nap (the scale is in her bathroom).

Food consumed:
9:30 AM - 1 can of Diet Dr Pepper
11:30 AM - 2 slices of toasted pita dipped in hummus, 1 cucumber slice, 1 olive, 1 celery stick, 2 pieces of wheat toast with butter and 1 cup of Diet Coke and 1 glass of water
1:30 PM - 1 can of Diet Dr Pepper
5:45 PM - 1 glass of water
8:00 PM - 1 bag of boil-in-a-bag rice with Asian sauces for taste
From what I recall, the rest of the night consisted of, 1/3 bottle of red wine, 3/4 bottle of white wine, 1 Manhattan, 1 Dirty Woodword, several glasses of water, a few bites of frozen burritos, 6 Oreos. [Yes, this means my friends and I gathered together and drank irresponsibly for the first time in a very long time.]

Exercise completed:
9:00 AM - 2 hours of ocean time at Manhattan Beach. (Included actually swimming in the ocean even though the water was very cold).
1:00 AM - DANCING!
2:00 AM - intense arm wrestling for 30 minutes

Day: 15, Challenges Remaining: 81

I dropped my second tens place digit today! And I am feeling MUCH better! It was like I got cured over night. I am still going to do all my meds and everything today, just to make sure it is 100% gone, but I'm delighted. Eating that tuna sandwich tonight really hit the spot. DELICIOUS! I am treating myself to frozen yogurt tonight.

** WRITTEN LATER **
Instead of frozen yogurt, I actually treated myself to a second dinner as you will see below.

In addition to dropping my second tens place digit today, I also dropped a pants size!

Food consumed:
All Day - Still lots of hot tea
4:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
5:00 PM - 2 cans of tuna mixed with 2 tbs lite mayo and lots of relish eaten on a deli sub roll (I guess it was a total of 550 calories) and a can of Diet Coke
8:00 PM - 1 chicken breast with wild rice and mushrooms cooked in too much butter (Sam and her friend Colin were determined to do a Julia Child recipe, so I was a happy sample subject)

Exercise competed:
1:00 PM - 1 1/2 hours of pool time with Brianna (girl, you are gonna be so jealous of my west coast tan!!)

Day: 14, Challenges Remaining: 84

Food consumed:
Lots of hot tea all day.

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - 1 1/2 hours of pool time with Brianna

Day: 13, Challenges Remaining: 86

Still sick - getting the general body aches now which is really frustrating.

Food consumed:
All day - endless supply of tea - constantly being consumed because it feels good on my throat
All day - endless supply of water - nice contrast to the hot tea
Does Mucinex, ny quill, chloraseptic, zinc lozenges, or Advil count as food?
6:45 PM - 2 cups of mini marshmallows. They taste good, dissolve in my mouth, and are easily swallowed. Not the best way to nutritionally round out my day, but that's not at the top of my priorities right now. But they also aren't absurdly unhealthy.

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - hot tubbed for 30 minutes and laid out for 30 minutes by the pool. I am sure this doesn't really count as exercise, but it lets all of you know that I left the apartment, and it felt pretty good until I got too hot.

Day: 12, Challenges Remaining: 87.5

I refuse to weigh myself until I'm feeling better. Breathing and swallowing are a large challenge right now, so exercise is out of the question (but, so is eating pretty much, so maybe that will all even out).

Food consumed:
All day - endless supply of tea - constantly being consumed because it feels good on my throat
All day - endless supply of water - nice contrast to the hot tea
Does Mucinex, day quill, chloraseptic, zinc lozenges, or Advil count as food?
2:00 PM - 3 slices of multigrain bread
8:45 PM - 4 packets of instant maple & brown sugar oatmeal with a drizzle of almost heaven honey

Exercise completed:
None. I hope this crap doesn't set me too far back.

Day: 11, Challenges Remaining: 90.5

I failed to weigh myself today. I'm getting sick and having a tough time swallowing, so today, Challenge: 100 was not on the top of my priorities.

Food consumed:
9:00 AM - 1 can of Diet Coke
2:00 PM - 32 oz of water
9:00 PM - 1 cup-o-noodles & 3 packets of instant oatmeal (after I had the soup, my throat felt a bit better, and oatmeal was a good consistency for me)
9:30 PM - 32 oz of water
12:30 AM - too many wheat thins (maybe 1/3 of a box or so).

Exercise completed:
None.

Day:10, Challenges Remaining: 85.5

I forgot to mention one thing about my dinner at Chili's yesterday. For the first time in a long time I paid attention to when my body told me it was full. I only ate half of my entree and brought the rest home with me. It sounds stupid, but I am really proud of that.

THE CHEATING THAT HAPPENED LATER... I am a bit disappointed in my late night snacking tonight. But I was legitimately hungry, I didn't just feel like munching. Tomorrow will be better.

Food consumed:
2:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
5:15 PM - 1 LARGE glass of V8 Splash (that stuff is like liquid crack)
8:00 PM - 1 half of a homemade Philly cheese steak with green peppers, mushrooms, and onions
8:30 PM - 1 small dessert: pre-made angel food cake disc topped with strawberries and apples mixed with lite cool whip
9:00 PM - 32 oz of water
AND THEN I CHEATED...
10:30 PM - Left over Chili's from last night (2 chicken crispers and 20 french fries with BBQ sauce) & 1 can of Diet Coke
11:00 PM - 12 saltine crackers with crunchy peanut butter
12:00 AM - 32 oz of water

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - 1 and a half hours of pool time with Sam & Brianna (ended abruptly by someone puking in the pool and it getting closed. A new perk: I am getting a nice healthy tan - even on my legs for the first time in forever!

Day: 9, Challenges Remaining: 87

I have to say that I am kind of impressed that I weighed in only .5 lbs more than I did yesterday AFTER eating at Chili's. Tomorrow's post-poop numbers should be good!

Food consumed:
1:30 PM - 4 oz of V8 Splash
3:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
6:00 PM - We went to Chili's, I ordered: chips and salsa (shared), chicken crisper bites, and Sam, Brianna & I split a chocolate cake ice cream thing. I also had about 3 glasses of Diet Coke with dinner.
8:00 PM - 2 cans of Diet Coke

Exercise completed:
3:00 PM - 2 hours of walking and gawking at Venice Beach
8:30 PM - Light swimming

Day: 8, Challenges remaining: 86.5

I think the best diet incentive ever is swimming at a community pool in Los Angeles. Everyone is beautiful... I just wanna fit in! (literally?)

Food consumed:
4:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
9:00 PM - 1 large spinach salad topped with feta cheese, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans
9:30 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
10:45 PM - 1 glass of red wine

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - 2 hours of pool time with Joe :)

Day: 7, Challenges Remaining: 89.5

That's right, 10 down!

I am proud to say that I have practically eliminated snacking from my daily routine thus far, which feels like a HUGE accomplishment (and probably the primary factor in my success thus far). If only I had never discovered the make your own frozen yogurt sundae bar 2 blocks away.

Food consumed:
2:00 PM - 16 oz of water
6:00 PM - 1 tequila sunrise (Brianna is working PT as a bar tender and lets just say, enjoying bringing work home with her)
7:00 PM - 1 bowl of penne pasta with cheese & tomato sauce and a piece of potato bread toast
9:00 PM - 1 dish of peanut butter and chocolate frozen yogurt with Butterfinger and M&M toppings
11:30 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - 2 hours of pool time, including swimming and what I felt were some water aerobics

Day: 6, Challenges Remaining: 91.5

I am selfishly hoping that today can be the day I reach 90 - so I am nervously procrastinating on my daily weigh-in. My ankles, while noticeably getting better, are still not able to comfortably coincide with sneakers, so today will be a light exercise day, too. I have really been trying to minimize and monitor my food intake the last few days because I know I am not burning the calories I was the first few days of the challenge.

***a few hours later***
I gave in out of curiosity. Tomorrow will be the day I reach 90 (fingers crossed). I can tell that I am actually starting to lose weight, though, because I have that constantly bad breath - talk about a drawback. But my energy is increasing alongside my productivity.

Food consumed:
3:00 PM - 32 oz of water (with lemonade Crystal Light flavoring)
5:00 PM - 1 can of Diet Coke
6:30 PM - 1 glass of red wine
7:15 PM - 1 order of sesame chicken and half a side of steamed rice
10:00 PM - 1 cups of frozen yogurt with mini m&ms and mini chocolate chip toppings
12:00 AM - 1 can of Diet Dr.Pepper

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - 1 hour of swimming/water walking/general fun with Brianna. I am getting a nice tan these days.

Day: 5, Challenges Remaining: 92

So today I dropped my first "tens place" digit. You don't know which one, because my actual weight is a secret, but I can give you an example. Say I went from 238 to 229 - the 3 changed to a 2 - hence the "dropping a tens place digit." It made me smile.

Food consumed:
4:00 PM - 2 cups of baby carrots each dipped in hummus and 1 can of diet coke
7:00 PM - 2 cans of tuna fish mixed with 1 tbs mayo and 4 tbs relish eaten on Saltine crackers
8:00 PM - 32 oz of water
10:00 PM - 2 slices of whole wheat grain bread & 1 can of diet coke
1:00 AM - 1 bag of rice cake snacks - if I'm gonna binge, rice cakes are the way to go. I'm frustrated about my need for a midnight snack, though. and half a glass of seltzer water.

Exercise completed:
1:00 PM - light swimming (mostly because I thought it would be good for my boo boos)

Day: 4, Challenges Remaining: 93.5

Okay, so today I didn't exercise, but with good reason. The tennis shoes that I bought last week from Payless have cut up the backs of my ankles very badly over the last few days and now my ankles are very swollen and I think the cuts are infected. Tomorrow I am going to see how they look, perhaps go out and buy some new shoes, and if my feet are still hurting too much I will swim and maybe rollerblade for some exercise. The weight is going in the right direction, though.

Food consumed:
2:00 PM - 1 glass of V8 Splash
4:00 PM - 1 glass of V8 Splash
6:30 PM - 2 Bags of "Boil in a Bag" Rice and stir fried baby carrots in homemade sauce (wine, soy sauce, mustard, honey) and 2 cans of Diet Coke
10:30 PM - 2 Dozen snack pretzels with honey mustard for dipping & 1 can of Diet Coke

Exercise completed:
None.

Day: 3, Challenges Remaining: 95

Well, as I said, I never thought it was possible that I actually lost 7.5 lbs in one day, but losing 5 in three sounds pretty good, too. As if I needed to further document this little adventure, I am doing one thing that is just for myself. A few days ago I got 5 frames from IKEA in which to put some motorcycle prints I acquired at last years Ohio Bike Week. Unfortunately, I broke one pane of glass trying to frame one, so I just had a frame a mat board, and the hanging hardware. I have decided to hang it on my bedroom wall. Every day I am hand writing the date and my weight on the mat board with the hope that after I reach my goal I can put a picture of my skinny self in the frame. Its a nice consant reminder and source of personal motivation for me as I work through this.

Anyway, I'm sitting down to dinner of a spinach salad right now and thought I would tally up the day at the same time.

Food consumed:
11:00 AM - Chipotle chicken sandwich (had cheese, lettuce, bacon and sauce, too... not the best thing ever) and two glasses of sangria
1:00 PM - 2 cans of diet coke
7:00 PM - 32 oz of water
8:30 PM - Large spinach salad (with feta cheese, chopped pecans, dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar)
11:30 PM - 3 slices of multigrain bread (which I now regret)

Exercise completed:
7:00 PM - 65 minutes on treadmill (3.2 miles at 2% incline); included some jogging (approx. 2 min) unlike other days

Day: 2, Challenges Remaining: 92.5

So no, I don't actually think that I managed to loose 7.5 lbs in one day, but I figure the idosyncracies of the scale will even out over time - that or I strategically timed my weigh-in before eating and after pooping. I did eat out for dinner tonight, as you will see. I feel a bit disappointed about that, but it is also the only thing I ate today, so I don't think I'll lose sleep over it. The real challenge is that tomorrow I am going to brunch with two local friends and both of my roommates. I have to remember to eat slowly and be conscious of my portion sizes.

Food consumed:
11:00 AM - 1 can of diet coke
2:00 PM - 32 oz of water
4:00 PM - 3 cans of diet coke
7:00 PM - Dinner serving of sesame chicken with a side of steamed rice
10:00 PM - 1 glass of wine
11:00 PM - 1 medium-sized piece of purse cake

Exercise completed:
2:00 PM - 65 minutes on treadmill (3.35 miles, 2.5% incline)
6:30 PM - walking to and from the Chinese restaurant... I'm not sure if it counts, it's only a few blocks, but it makes me feel better about myself.

Day: 1, Challenges Remaining: 100

Well, after a week of eating decently and frequenting my gym, I finally got up the courage to stand on a scale. The number is about 100 over where it should be, so I am challenging myself to get off my fat ass and do something about it. Be sure to follow along, it should be exciting, boring, frustrating, and rewarding all at the same time.

Food consumed:
9:30 AM - one bowl pumpkin granola and skim milk
12:00 PM - 32 oz water
1:30 PM - one cup-o-noodles, one cup cucumber salad, one (large) slice of purse-shaped cake, 2 cans of diet coke
7:00 PM - 2 cans of tunafish with a tbs of mayo and a spoonful of relish, accompanied with saltine crackers and 1 can of diet coke
10:00 PM - 1 Coors Light and 1 shot of jack daniels
10:30 PM - one bowl of pumpkin granola and skim milk

Exercise completed:
11:00 AM - one hour on treadmill (3.2 miles at 2.5% incline)
12:15 PM - fifteen minutes on stationary bike (I don't think I like stationary biking)