Good morning to all. Today I have the day off, yippee, but of course I was up at the crack of dawn Oh well, just means that I can get a lot done today. Today weight is at 148.0, which is actually down 1.5 from earlier in the week.

Carrie-I can totally relate to the guy losing phenomenon as well. We've only been working out for a little more than a week, but DBF has already lost 10 lbs. 10 lbs!!!! And he only had about 20 total to lose. Talk about ridiculous

Thanks for all the suggestions to be careful about CAD, and to reread my old posts. Basically, I think I need to keep my big mouth shut, b/c I think I have no idea what is going on in my body. At any one point of time, I can convince myself that I am feeling good or bad to justify why things need to be changed. I've done it to leave Protein Power, and I've done it to come back. I think I just try to justify to myself why the change is okay. So here is my current "justification" if you will. Although Protein Power may be more balanced all day long than CAD, I do not think it is something I can do for life. Eventually, if I have a family, I want to be able to eat the dinners I prepare for them. I want to have some whole grain breads at dinners, and occasionally a nice dessert. I don't want to eat and snack all day long, which is exactly what I do on Protein Power, no matter how hard I try not to. I just seem to "need" food at least 6 times per day while eating that way. On CAD, I don't have any desire for snacks. I eat three times per day, period, end of story. I don't chew gum, I don't drink diet rite, and unless I am eating a dessert, I do eat wholesome foods.

The biggest thing that I am still working on, though, is the balance factor, but I feel like I can overcome it. Actually, today is my 4th day back on CAD, and I've kept to the plan to a tee! I've not had one dessert since coming back. The first night I had some chicken salad in a tiny whole wheat pita, with lots of veggies, salad, some strawberries, and an apple. The second night I had no groceries so I ate some cottage cheese, some plain oatmeal, a can of green beans, some strawberries, and a couple tablespoons of natural peanut butter (I know, weird combo). Last night I went out to eat and had grilled chicken with mushrooms, asparagus, melted cheese, a side caesar salad w/o croutons, some grilled veggies, and two small pieces of bread with butter. Yesterday my carbs were probably lower than they were usually on Protein Power.

I've made some different commitments to myself this time around, though, which I've shared with DBF, so he can help me keep on track. He was actually one of the main reasons I went back, b/c he said I seemed so much happier on CAD than I had before. That's a very powerful statement. I've told myself that I will not buy anything sweet (except fruit) to keep in the house. The grains I will buy will only be whole grains. When going out to eat, I will eat as I normally would have on PP, with the exception of adding one kind of carb, either a grain OR a dessert, never both. I hope this will be the difference this time around.

I think that another thing that hopefully will help with my success this time is that now I have another focus besides CAD....exercising! Before it was all about what I was going to eat at my next reward meal, but now I am more interested in figuring out how I am doing and how to progress with my workouts. DBF suggested today we only do 15 minutes, but at a higher intensity, b/c he thinks he workout should be a little different. So, I feel up to the challenge of doing 15 minutes straight on the treadmill, which I have not yet done. I know there is no way I could do 20 minutes, so it seems like a good thing to shoot for. I know it's going to be hard, but I've been so proud of myself each day that I make it through my workout. Ellie, I think I am getting hooked

Hope you all have a wonderful day and stay on plan to meet your goals