DAY 18: To-do List

My results today:

--- I read my Advantages Response Card and NO CHOICE card at least twice.

I read other Response Cards as needed.

I ate slowly, sitting down and noticing every bite: Every Time

I gave myself credit when I engaged in helpful dieting behaviors: Every Time

I did spontaneous exercise: Every Time

--- I did planned exercise.

I monitored everything I ate in writing.

I wrote out a food plan for tomorrow.

I ate only to normal fullness: Every Time


CREDIT ACCOUNT: $11.75

Eating to normal fullness was no problem, as expected. I managed to eat everything on my plan today, but I didn't finish my snack of grapes, nor did I finish my dinner. I threw some of it away! That was a moral struggle, but there wasn't any use in keeping a few bites of rice and some pea pods and I just didn't want to eat them. Good for me!

I did fall down on reading my ARC and NO CHOICE card tonight; I fell asleep. After a long day out in the sun and salt air, I was worn out. I was working again today, and while I didn't have to walk nearly as much, I was mostly standing and walking some, and a day at the beach always makes me sleepy anyway. My feet and shins were still a little sore too, so I was happy to forget about planned excerise as well.

I did fit in plenty of "spontaneous" exercise though: parking far away and walking to and from work, walking around instead of sitting during lulls at work, and parking far away when shopping afterwards. I did a great job with this task and I remembered to give myself credit for it!

The job did offer a couple of other perks for my diet. First, I was surrounded by a lot of trigger foods: soft-serve ice cream cones, fudge, caramel apples, French Fries, all those delicious but bad-for-me foods I associate with a day at the beach. But I resisted all of it without any struggle at all!

Second, I was also surrounded by everyone in their beach wear. Looking at the overweight people, sloppy and bulging from their swimsuits, made me think, "Yes, I look like that now", but then I would look at the thin people turned out in bikinis and cute outfits and tell myself, "But soon I'll look like that". What an inspiration!

I remembered to give myself credit for those thoughts and behaviors too; my temporary tattoo was doing its job. It's the same one I've been wearing for 3 days now because it still looks so good. Still, I want the reminder to remain strong, so I've decided it would be better to use a new one every day no matter what. Switching from my right arm to my left is also a good way to keep the reminder fresh.

One last word about my food plan today: Skinny Cows are the best! They're rich and creamy, completely satisfying my sweet tooth, but they're low in fat and calories and high in fiber, satisfying my diet! I've tried the ice cream sandwiches in vanilla, chocolate, and mint, as well as their newest flavor: chocolate peanut butter. They're all delicious, but peanut butter used to be one of my strongest cravings, so I'm ecstatic to have a peanut butter treat that isn't going to destroy my diet. I see by the website they also offer cookies n' cream and strawberry shortcake, but my grocery store doesn't carry those. Road trip!