Week 24: Eat When You're Hungry

I took the last two weeks off from my diet so I could enjoy the holiday season. During those two weeks I did not track the amount of any of my eating. However, I continued to make mostly good decisions about what I put into my body.

Let me explain.

I typically keep track of the amount of points consumed each day and compare that against the amount burned. If I stay within my points allocation, I lose weight. Over the last couple of weeks, instead of tracking, I just switched to eating when I was hungry and stopping when I was full.

Also, I continued to eat from the list of foods I know help me maintain a good quality and well balanced diet. Yes, I did have some items that aren't on the list in quantities that aren't healthy long term, but hey, it was the holidays!

This morning I weighted in and was surprised to see that I actually lost a little weight over the holidays--0.4 lbs to be exact. So I am really happy with that.

As a result, I am going to continue trying to learn to eat by feel instead of eating by the numbers. I am going to follow the "eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full" approach. The last two weeks were very liberating. If I can get into the mode of knowing what and how much my body needs, fulfilling that need, and achieve my weight loss goal in the process, I feel like I will finally have control over food, instead of it controlling me.

I feel like this is a new chapter in my transformation story. Wish me well!

Weight Loss Summary

• Week 01: Lost 4.0 lbs
• Week 02: Lost 3.1 lbs, 07.0 lbs total, 3.5 lbs per week
• Week 03: Lost 2.6 lbs, 09.7 lbs total, 3.2 lbs per week
• Week 04: Lost 2.0 lbs, 11.7 lbs total, 2.9 lbs per week
• Week 05: Lost 1.6 lbs, 13.3 lbs total, 2.7 lbs per week
• Week 06: Lost 1.5 lbs, 14.8 lbs total, 2.5 lbs per week
• Week 07: Gained 0.4 lbs, 14.4 lbs total lost, 2.1 lbs per week
• Week 08: Lost 3.1 lbs, 17.5 lbs total, 2.2 lbs per week
• Week 09: Lost 2.2 lbs, 19.7 lbs total, 2.2 lbs per week
• Week 10: Gained 0.9 lbs, 18.8 lbs total lost, 1.9 lbs per week
• Week 11: Lost 3.5 lbs, 22.3 lbs total, 2.0 lbs per week
• Week 12: Lost 2.2 lbs, 24.5 lbs total, 2.0 lbs per week
• Week 13: Lost 0.2 lbs, 24.7 lbs total, 1.9 lbs per week
• Week 14: Lost 1.9 lbs, 26.6 lbs total, 1.9 lbs per week
• Week 15: Lost 0.6 lbs, 27.2 lbs total, 1.8 lbs per week
• Week 16: Gained 0.5 lbs, 26.7 lbs total lost, 1.7 lbs per week
• Week 17: Gained 2.0 lbs, 24.7 lbs total lost, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 18: Lost 3.3 lbs, 28.0 lbs total, 1.6 lbs per week
• Week 19: Lost 0.3 lbs, 28.3 lbs total, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 20: Lost 1.7 lbs, 30.0 lbs total, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 21: Lost 1.6 lbs, 31.6 lbs total, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 22: Gained 1.1 lbs, 30.5 lbs total lost, 1.4 lbs per week
• Week 23: On holiday break, didn't track
• Week 24: Lost 0.4 lbs, 30.9 lbs total, 1.3 lbs per week

I have 19.1 lbs left to lose in order to meet my weight loss goal.