Day 221

Lost an hour of sleep due to DST.  Got to bed by 2am, which was really 3am.  Woke up early at 730 to go walk, since I missed it yesterday.  Ate a half a banana and a few strawberries (100).  A bit short on time, since I snoozed a bit.  Walked 2.53 miles in 35 minutes.  Added some spurts of jogging today.  Don't love it, but I can feel my heartrate increase and different muscles are ... not sore, but stretched?  So, probably a good thing.  And I was surprised how just a few minutes of jogging had a big impact on improving my pace.
Not real hungry after working out... Leaving for church at 930.  Took pretzels (100), string cheese (80), and an apple (80) with me for lunch.  Got hungry around 1030, finished the last of the apple at 100PM. 
Hungry by the time I got home.  Ate lunch @ 130PM -- Chicken Fresco (410)
Cake Tasting at 4pm.  Had bites of 5 different cakes (350???)
Dinner (600PM):  Had a few bites of eggplant casserole and a small piece of bread (150)  Stopped and got a chicken fajita pita with no cheese on way home at 900PM. (234)

Daily Total:  1504

Day 220

Overate last night, not real hungry this morning, had a half a banana and a few strawberries (100).  Cleaned up around the house.. Packed up some more clothes. 
Lunch around 1100AM  Chicken with couscous and extra spinach (450).  Met up for bridesmaid dress shopping.  Tried on some dresses; wasn't super happy with how they fit, but it wasn't as traumatic as it would have been 60 pounds ago.  Then, I would have probably not agreed to be in the wedding.  It was hard to assess how the dresses look.  I can't really see myself anymore.  I don't know how I look compared to average.  On one hand, I know I look a lot better than I used to... but then I think maybe that's all it is.  idk.  Anyways, Didn't get a JambaJuice when we stopped.  DId have coffee later (black iced) and Starbucks was giving away free "petite" desserts.  Got a salted caramel square.  They were advertised as less than 200cal, so I'll just count 200.
Dinner was out at a Mexican place.  Not even really a struggle to avoid the tortilla chips anymore.  Ordered a chicken salad (200) with avocado(40), tomato and no dressing.  Added some salsa.  I was happy with the meal -- didn't feel deprived.  The chicken was really good.  Had one 8oz magarita (200?).  Walked to another bar, again avoided tortilla chips and had one vodka tonic (200?).  Ended night around 1am... I was a bit hungry then, but drove home and went to bed.  Drank water.

Daily total: 1400?

Day 219

update later...

Day 218

Odd day.  Ate lunch earlier than normal, left school thinking about what to snack on.  Nothing at home sounded good.  Decided to stop and get a salad.  If I split a Wendy's salad into two and don't use the dressing (which I don't really like anyways) its about 250cal.  Big for a snack, but not outrageous.  I'm been starting to... crave is too strong a word, but think about fast food some...  Decided to get an order of the smallest french fry they offer and only eat part in an effort to ward off the cravings.  I don't really want it to be an issue.  I don't want to have foods that are off limits.  I'd rather be able to eat small amounts of anything occasionally and learn to control myself.  So I ate them, well 2/3 of them.  Which totaled 145cal.  And truth be told, they weren't very good.  Nice to know that I'm not really missing out... And confirmation that it's smart to save indulgences for when it's really worth it.  French fries at a fast food joint are not worth it. 
Anyways, not hungry after that little experiment, so I saved the salad for dinner.  Watched some TV when i got home.  Stopped in the middle of a show to put shoes on and go out and walk before it got too dark.  I'm actually really enjoying getting out and walking now.  Who knew?  And it doesn't feel like and fight with myself to make it happen.  Walked 3.1 miles in 47 minutes.  Home and ready for dinner shortly...

Day 217

Off schedule today... Didn't take a lunch because I intended to leave early and go home.  However, multiple people stopped by my room for lengthy meetings and I didn't get home until 4pm.  :(  Thought about stopping for food on way home, but not seriously.  Ate beef and broccoli dinner, a favorite.  Had to be at church from 6 - 820.  Stopped by parents to get dogs. Ate some of a casserole (1/3 cup) with rice, chicken, salsa, veggies, cream of something soup.  No idea, but it was a small serving, counting 200 cal.  Ate a piece of french bread with shedds (120?).  Purposely ate a small serving knowing I was going to eat a better snack at home.  Ate a corn tortilla with dip, ham, spinach, tomato all toasted. (150).   

Day 216

Breakfast (700AM): Turkey, avocado, apple muffin (275)

Snack (1100-1200): String Cheese and 100pak of pretzels (180)

Lunch (215PM): Lasagna Rollatini with 1/2 cup of ff cottage cheese (some mixed in, some eaten while food cooked), extra basil, and 1.5 cup of spinach (480)  almonds (85)

Snack (400):  1oz of cheese and a corn tortilla (170)

Mowed the lawn and then walked (500PM): 3 miles in 45min, including 8 flights of stadium stairs.  Stopped at parents (slice of bread with a bit of shedds (100)), picked up the dogs and walked home another 0.6miles.  Didn't love walking on a somewhat full stomach, consider for next time.  Wasn't a struggle at all to get out the door and moving. 

Dinner (730): Not super hungry...  Ended up eating the leftover jerk chicken from Sunday (110cal) with 1/4 cup of quinoa (55) and a big handful of spinach.  Added some lemon juice.  Finished up with a Lil'Drum ice cream. (135)

Daily Total: 1580

Day 215

No walk today, though it was scheduled.  I've got a fierce cold going on... I can barely breathe.  I still thought I could do it when I got home, but it was already 630PM, starting to rain, and I felt like crap.  Rescheduled for tomorrow.

So, the potato chips are officially gone.  I thought I could buy a couple of individual bags and control what I ate better, but I still ate 4 servings in 2 days.  Not okay.  So, no more regular purchases of potato chips.  The artichoke helped keep me busy while I watched a little TV, but doesn't really correct that problem...  Overall an okay day though.  Probably shifted too many calories to the late afternoon/evening, but... ?  Ate the artichoke with the juice of a lemon and a partial serving of shedd's spread margarine.  For dinner, none of the BMD meals really caught my interest.  I wasn't super hungry and the ones I have in my freezer now are all in the high 300, low 400 range.  I wanted something a bit lower.  I had an Amy's Veggie Tamale to try and I liked it a lot.  Too much sodium, but the other facts were okay.    I miss mexican food, BMD doesn't really believe in mexican food! :(   And it was a good reminder about portion control.  When I opened the package, I thought "ugh it's sooo small!"  But I found that it was a satisfying size once I ate it.