161.4 Diet Day 11 of 14

I lost 1.2 pounds yesterday! That is more like it! I now weigh 161.4. I walked twice yesterday, one mile in the morning and one mile in the afternoon. It looks like walking twice a day is more effective than walking two miles in the afternoon, so on days I don't teach that is how I will walk now.


This picture is my 1989 graduation from UC Berkeley. I was not weighing myself at the time, but I was a size 8.



Unfortunately, in my twenties I controlled my weight largely by smoking instead of eating. I really am learning for the first time how much I can eat and maintain my weight without gaining, let alone lose weight.



I quit smoking in 1995, a year after I got married. Like losing weight, quitting smoking was relatively easy to do once I made up my mind to do it. However, I substituted eating for smoking back then, and that is when the weight started to pile on.



Weight started to pile on me even faster in 1998 when I left teaching and got a desk job at Farmers Insurance. I was on salary and forced to work 70 to 80 hours per week, just to keep my job. I had no time for a personal life, let alone exercise. Eating was my comfort, sitting at my desk all that time. Losing that job in 2007 was devastating at the time, but now I am glad I woke up from that desk job trance. I only regret it took me until 2011 to realize I needed to lose the extra 100 pounds that had piled on while I did that desk job.



I walked two miles yesterday. Here is what I ate and still lost 1.2 pounds:



3/4 cup Special K, 3/4 cup strawberries, 3/4 cup soy milk

1/4 cup ham, 1 cup steamed broccoli and cauliflower

3/4 cup baked chicken, 1 cup baked onions and carrots