What I actually ended up eating yesterday: 2 poptarts, soup (with 8 wheat thins), lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad (with a boiled egg!), 2 redvines.

I did the exercise I had planned.

It's interesting to see that some days I actually eat LESS than planned for. That is not the point of this diet, the point is to eat what I plan to eat, and as you can see, yesterday I strayed a bit (wheat thins, boiled egg, where's the grilled cheese sandwich, yogurt, and grapes?)

I think that it's fine to find subsitutions that listen to my body's cravings. I plan this menu a week in advance. When I planned it, I was craving those mini powdered donuts. So that's what I have planned as my big "weekend splurge" this week. Usually I go out to eat, but A)it's just not in the budget this week, and B) it's not what I wanted when I wrote the menu.

Last weekend was crazy! I had planned for going out to a nice Mexican restaurant and eating an enchilada, a crunchy taco, and some chips and salsa. That didn't happen, but I did go to the Southern Women's Show and ended up eating some free frozen yogurt samples and a pizzanini (delicious sandwich made with panini bread, cheese, and pepperoni!) so I think that it evened out. Oh, and I ate a few GS cookies on Sunday... well, I'll see if those indulgences hurt me or not at my next weigh-in. But I feel pretty hopeful that as long as I stick to the food and exercise plan the rest of the week I will once again be down at least a pound.

I weighed 197.8 on Saturday morning, and my real goal for this week is to weigh 196.0, so I will have to lose 1.8 to make that goal. This is the time to stick to my plan! I can do it!