Mini Challenge: 10lbs down by Valentines Day? <3

Because we aren't conversing face-to-face, you can't let me know if "you already know / do X" so bear with me. I also don't know your personal history (age / usual social interactions with friends, family and co-workers / type of job / type of personality) so what follows is very generic and is the kind of thing that worked for me. I may be a very different type and have a very different situation.

If you read what follows and your reaction is something like "too much trouble - can you suggest something else?", "[This kind of suggestion] is more what I feel I need right now" let me know the factors you are willing share in an open thread (details not required) like basic situations where you find it easier / harder to make portion control choices - what has or hasn't worked as a routine part of your lifestyle in the past. OR send that kind of information to me a PM and post here that you sent it. I will let you know if it got through, or if I have to send you a Friend Request before I can receive the PM. I have a glitch on my profile that prevents opening and accepting Friend Requests sent to me, so if you feel we need to continue off-thread or on a different thread, let me know. I would have to be the one to send a Friend Request if necessary.

I'll take whatever information you send into consideration and see if I can give you more specific suggestions in a followup. Also PLEASE tell me if what follows is "waaayyyyy too TMI" in your opinion.

But we gotta start somewhere.

I don't need you to send me full answers to the following questions, but they are ones you need to ask yourself and act upon. Once you have done what amounts to a "Self-Awareness Reality Check" (below) we can fine-tune from there.

My first questions are :

How long have you been food-logging and are you logging as completely as possible?

If you have this kind of information in you Food Log database, you can go to your Food tab, and under Settings you can specify up to 5 nutrient macros to break-out and the order in which they are displayed. You can show over-all carbs AND specifically break out "how much sugar" "how much sodium" etc.

Once you save the display changes, the numbers for those nutrient macros will be displayed historically (everything already logged) as well as going forward.

If you haven't been, do so for at least a week, to help yourself spot trends and triggers, and with the question below start with things that you already KNOW are your triggers. Later on, review your logs and repeat the steps with any "hidden trigger foods or situations" rends that your numbers highlight to you.

Are you already aware of specific things that are trigger items or situations for you? Looking over your food logs, can you spot others?

From what you already posted ... sounds like "Gheradelli chocolate" and "Pepperidge Farm cookies" fall into this category for you. This kind of self-awareness is very important.

List them.

Go to an empty Food Diary Page some time in the future (or the past). This is your "exploration page". Go ahead and look up Gheralelli chocolate or Pepperidge Farm [specific type] cookie in the database, and on the "serving size drop-down, select "entire bag". Click OK and see the results.

Ask yourself if the numbers are really worth the taste. Can the Gheradelli chocolates be bought in resealable bags of individually wrapped pieces? On the back of the bag, it will tell you "how many pieces = 1 serving" See what numbers 1 serving gives you. See what numbers 1 PIECE gives you. Are those numbers that you think you could work into your "normal daily calorie consumption" ? (PRE-any exercise calories )

Do the same with your flavoured coffee.

Because you said "Bagels donuts and coffee are only consumed when I go out." I am guessing that you mean something like "Starbucks Double Double with whipped cream on top and a flavoured syrup shot". What size do you usually order? Look it up. What are the numbers?

What would be the difference if you got whatever the coffee chain calls a "smallest"? What would be the difference if you ordered it WITH the flavour shot but "hold the whipped cream"?

If you were only to choose 1 doughnut or bagel to go with the coffee, what is your favourite?

What are the numbers for that? Is it worth it as % of the total calories you can eat over the day, or would something else that you also enjoy give you more of a "this tastes great AND I am doing something good for myself" experience?

Make yourself notes. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers to any of those questions. This is all just raw-data gathering.

Once you have some data, you can start making some informed decisions and plans.

Keep in mind that there are no such things as "cheat days / meals" or "forbidden foods". It's all a question of numbers, trade-offs, "is it worth it"'s, PLANNED indulgences, and respecting an over-all 80 / 20 lifestyle.

That means that if you keep your macros in the green 80 percent of the time, then the body can handle the odd indulgence into the red, SO LONG AS IT IS ONLY ABOUT 20% of the time.

Think long-term sustainable life-style habits, not (relatively) short term "This is a temporary diet that will end and then I will go back to eating like I used to". The second is guaranteed to backfire on you over time.

Once you are done with your discovery exercise and note-taking, just remove all the entries from that Food Diary page.

So, armed with the numbers you have discovered, make some Strategy Scenarios for various difficult situations you know you will face. Like "I know I will be going out with friends for coffee and I will enjoy [X order] with them. For the rest of my day, I will be having [whatever-for-meals for the day - most likely less than usual in order to make room in the Daily Totals to compensate]" . You can use the same kind of trial data-checks as above to "pre-test" possibilities.


If you make a habit of logging all food all the time, you will very quickly gain a sense of what different things "cost". This will make it easier over time to make in-the-moment decisions for things like "will I or won't I have one of the doughnuts that showed up in the staff-room today?" because you already know its aproximate calories / fat / sugar "cost", and you have already planned on savouring a Gheradelli chocolate as your evening indulgence today. Which would you REALLY rather have, because you will be doing yourself the favour of only having one or the other.

Neither decision is "wrong".

Let me know how this goes, and we can look at other suggestions for handling "what goes into the pantry at home vs stays on the grocery store shelf" decisions and substitutions later.