So, I've lost about 20 pounds in the past year. About half of that is from mixed unknown causes - forgetting to eat,  that week of of clear liquids after the ER visit, binging on fresh produce once a month when the Farm Fresh To You box comes, who knows what all. Sometime in March I noticed that I was down a few pounds and decided to continue that using a highly prescriptive part-time diet I found amongst some old papers I was filing. I had thought, at the time I decided to start it, that I had gotten it from one of the nurses when I worked payroll at Ochsner and therefore it couldn't be too unhealthy, but I think I really got it from one of the other secretaries at the Sewerage and Water Board. Anyway, I don't buy its claims of magical chemical interactions that will let you lose 10 pounds a week, but it's easy enough to follow, doesn't require a lot of cooking or shopping, and has a pretty good mix of nutrients. What I like best about it is that I don't have to make any decisions about what to have for lunch, etc., for three days a week, I just have whatever is specified on the paper, no more thinking required. Which is nice. It seems to be working out for me pretty well so far, both in general sanity and in weight loss. Probably getting in my way a little on the my-freezer-is-too-full front, but that's a good problem to have, as problems go.

Other things I have added to my routine that some people have suggested contribute to weight loss: daily yogurt, nightly honey, half-hearted attempt to follow the 90-Second Fitness Solution (I forget more often than I actually do the exercises).

And now I'm going to abandon my routine for three days in Vegas, which will be fun, but establishing what little routine I have has been hard I hope it isn't so hard to come back to.

4.5 lbs down this month. That puts me at a lower weight than I have been for at least a year. It's a measurable difference in all of my, er, measurements - waist, bust, etc. - but I have yet to go down a size. Of course, today I am all bloated with extra menstruation weight, so maybe something that hasn't fit in a while will again, soon.

I was finally getting some consistency to my exercise routine and the this weekend I was just wiped out and barely able to stand, so I'm not sure where to aim for this week. I'm dialing it back a little bit in hopes that I won't wear myself out again, or whatever that was, but I don't want to cut back too much, either.

H sticking to a regular routine should help with that. When I know when he's doing what, I can plan when I'm doing things either with him or on my own, and I do love a plan, so I hope this trend continues.

We went from 7-days (all three meals for me, breakfast and dinner only for H) eating DietToGo down to 5 lunch and dinner. Adjusting to breakfast has been easy enough, I have a good idea of what kind of caloric levels work for me for breakfast at this point  and I've got a few stand-by meals that are generally satisfying. I really missed being able to eat out occasionally, so I'm glad to have that option back, but I'm not entirely confident that my choices for lunches and dinners off the plan are healthy ones. It's the trade-off, if I want the freedom to eat out I have to give up the certainty that the nutrition is all figured out for me. Going okay so far, I think.

I rearranged most of the living room over the last few days, and that meant moving around things in breakfast nook, as well. I think it's better. Still have to swap the piano and comfy chair, and figure out what to do with the thing H calls a divan (I think Target referred to it as a cushioned bench, it's got kind of a fainting couch aspect to it). It may fir where I want it, it may not. But I've got the crystal and purple glass on display where we can actually see it, which is nice, and the loveseat is against the wall so it won't keep sliding backwards like it used to, and I can see out the picture window while I sit on it if I just turn my head (which I didn't think would work, that's a pleasant surprise), and the rug still works, now with more room for Yoga. Seems like better chi flow.

I volunteered to work a booth with my parents at the Travel Fair down in Santa Clara yesterday, telling people to visit Martinez in conjunction with Amtrak, since the train is a good way to get there. It was fun, I actually could answer a lot of people's questions and I picked up a bunch of information of places to visit and things to do nearby. Like the Stockton Asparagus Festival! I'm all over that. Stockton! And Asparagus! Yay!

In keeping with the theme of the day, we took the train down - my stop is just before the Martinez stop on the Capital Corridors route, so my folks just got on the same train as me and found me.  It was a really pretty day, and the route was scenic, we even spotted the church my parents were married in (in Fremont).

Today I got some dishes washed and some clothes laundered and one(1) box unpacked. That box had my heart rate monitor in it, so hooray for that. Part of me is sad to lose that excuse for not exercising, but it's definitely for the best. Tomorrow, yoga and walking, now properly measured.

Also tomorrow, Henry comes home! Yay! He's planning on bringing us po-boys for dinner, which is also worth some cheering. Actual dieting to9 commence, well, when I find my Atkins book. tHat plan worked for exercise. Theoretically.

(1) drollerie press sounds extremely interesting - the sample covers are wonderful and just the type of thing that would draw my eye on a bookstore shelf. I'm hoping I may have something suitable to submit. I'm not so much with the sensuous, but I do have a couple of dark fairy tale irons in the fire. Regardless of how that goes, I'm pretty sure it will be stuff I want to read, and that's always good.

(2) I'm adjusting to a new "diet" that is a modified fast, basically. You can eat anything you want, but only for a limited time each day. Once you get used to it, you supposedly naturally gravitate towards a fairly balanced diet with low total calories for the day. It appeals to me, since, honestly, some form of fasting or very restrictive diets have been what has historically worked for me to lose weight. It's easier to not eat anything, or only eat particular things, than it is for me to put a lot of thought into what I eat. Anyway, what I'm doing right now is pushing back the time I have breakfast later each day, with the goal of only eating between 5 PM and 10 Pm each day. I'm up to 11 am currently, (though I actually am just having my yogurt now, since my mom called just before 11 this morning...) and finding that I can't do anything productive in the morning. I have to put all my energy into Not Eating. It's weird. I'm hoping that goes away as I get used to the new schedule. 'm not looking for advice or help coping with it or whatever, I just wanted to record what a strange feeling it is to bend my energies towards a negative. Oddly, I'm finding that distracting myself with some activity doesn't really help. That's the strangest part - I can sit and read and think to myself that I have X amount of time before breakfast and that's fine, but if I try to , I don't know, clean the bathroom or go for a walk or something I am hit with mad cravings for specific foods. Weird.

I've decided to make a fast a regular part of my lifestyle. Two months of dieting is about my limit, as far as enthusiasm goes. I can soldier on through another week or two, but then I really want to not do whatever I've been doing - counting calories, avoiding carbs, whatever. So, every three months I'm gonna reboot with the lemonade fast. It's supposed to be cleansing, and I drop 5-10 lbs in just a few days, which is a nice jump start to actual dieting.  It's not sustainable, by any means, but for three days, I'm unlikely to be doing myself any real damage, right?

The downside, is I give myself permission to be a little decadent in the week or two before the fast, which was nice for the holidays, but it's an impulse I should try to keep in check.

Anyway, today is day two of three, then a juice fast for 5 days, then salads, After that I'm probably going to jump into some sort of meal replacement system, do shakes for breakfast and lunch. I feel like not thinking about menus for a while.

I have designed for myself an elaborate diet plan that starts with a juice fast and ends with a low-calorie balanced nutrition diet that I will stay on for like a year. To make it interesting I am changing what I can and cannot eat every 5 days for the first little bit. I figure the longer I can keep it novel the longer I can actually stick to it. It's ambitious as all get out, but if it works I will actually be at a healthy weight before too long, and that will be nice.