Weight Loss Challenge - New Milestone!

Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! Yesterday, after exercising and consuming an apple, I stepped on the scale and

137.8!!!!

Whooo hoooo!

This morning, after a dinner of home-made mac and cheese, a cola and O'Henry (for the premiere of Survivor), 138.8 -- but oh, baby, I'll take it!

One thing has been made abundantly clear to me: when it comes to potatoes and bread, I might as well eat cake. They are just like it anyway in terms of my weight.

If you're wondering what my daily eating habits are like during the WLC, here's a typical day:

Breakfast: hot cereal, either oatmeal or cream of wheat, with either blueberries or brown sugar (if I'm feeling like a wee treat), and milk (either 1% or low-fat soya), and tea (1% milk, no sugar).

Snack around 11 - tea (I'll have had another tea by this point - I have three "regular" tea in the a.m., then switch to decaf for the afternoon/evening) and some sort of carbalicious product I've made and frozen into individual portions so I'm not tempted to eat, say, two slices of pumpkin bread instead of one. Currently in my freezer: blueberry muffins and pumpkin bread with pecans.

Lunch, around 2, after my work-out -- tossed salad, sometimes with grated cheese on top, sometimes with cut up sliced meat, plus dressing (raspberry vinagrette is my current choice) and grapefruit juice, or an apple and juice. (Sidebar: I had the only two kids in all the world who did not like apple juice and guess what was served at every mom-and-tot group going? You got it.)

Sometimes I'll have another snack around 4, depending when and what dinner's going to be. If it's an "every man for himself" night, so I'll just be having soup, I'll have a snack of two-three Arrowroot cookies with my tea. Or melba toast. Something with a crunch.

Dinner - varies, but one thing I'm trying to do is avoid potatoes, even sweet potatoes. I'll go for white rice, though. Desserts are usually just for special occasions.

I'm trying to cut out evening snacks, although not with complete success (see last night's treats). I generally have a cup of hot milk while I read before bed.

So, no fancy diets. Just trying to keep away from the things I'm fairly certain put the weight around the ol' waistline, which I think is also benefiting from the exercise ball efforts -- and believe you me, it is an effort. I do that after the treadmill and generally wind up lying on the floor for a minute or two afterward, just catching my breath.

This week's step/treadmill/exercise ball tally:
Feb. 6 - 1 hr. on TM, 30 eball lifts
Feb. 7 - 15,532 steps
Feb. 8 - 45 min. on TM, 30 eball lifts (but on my feet making pumpkin bread, applesauce and blueberry muffins)
Feb. 9 - 1 hr. on TM, 40 eball lifts
Feb. 10 - 1 hour on TM, 40 eball lifts
Feb. 11 - 1 hour on TM, 40 eball lifts
Feb. 12 - 1 hour on TM, 40 eball lifts (plus the happy dance after seeing that number on the scale!)

This week's goal: 50 eball lifts.

Oh, and I finally got my reward clothes from making my previous goal. Man oh man, there were some major sales in January! I got a new pair of black jeans and a red jacket (orig. $70) - both came to just under $50. But the major score was a lined blazer at Talbot's that was originally $298 that I got for about $70.