After reaching my goal weight in July I took a couple of days off and since those couple of days I have been a little lax with my eating habits.  I have gained back about 5 lbs. putting me at 128 lbs. I have decided that I need to implement some new goals and rules so that I do not gain back every last ounce!

 I do not want to bore you with as much detail as I have been bombarding you with.  My maintenance goal is to stay around 125 lbs. and to never go over 130 lbs.  For now, this should not be too difficult because Ben is still trying to reach his goal weight, so we are both still in the zone.  I am going to stay at 1200 calories per day until I get back to 125 lbs.  After that I will try to keep between 1400 and 1600 calories per day unless I start gaining weight.  If I begin to gain weight, I will lower my calorie intake until I go back down.  Eventually I will find my ideal calorie intake to maintain my ideal weight.  We will still have cheat days, of course!  I will report my weight, on this blog, once a month now.  Hopefully this will keep me accountable to myself and the world. I am not sure that I will ever be in tune enough with my body that I automatically know what I need to consume and how much of it. I may have to count calories for the rest of my life  For now, I do know that I have to keep with what I am doing.

So that is my diet plan, in a nutshell, for now.  I weighed in at 128 lbs. on August 1, 2012.  My next weight update will be on September 1st. 2012.

In the next couple of weeks I will reveal my new fitness goals.

The pictured salad was one I came up with the other night.  I wanted to take photos and write about it because it turned out so yummy!  Sometimes I like to add pre-made foods like the Lean Cuisine spring rolls.  It makes my diet dinners a little easier when I am tired at night. There, I said it, sometimes I eat frozen processed diet items, and I enjoy them too!  You really can find some tasty, low calorie treats in the freezer section of your local grocery store.

-1 Bag Spring Mix

-2 Tbsp. Chiz’s Ranch Dressing (tossed with salad mix)

-1 Large Nectarine (chopped)

-6 sweet pickled peppers (stemmed, gutted, and filled with cheese mix)

-1 oz. Plain Soft Goat Cheese

-2 Tbsp. Vermont White Cheddar & Sage Cheese Spread (mixed with goat cheese and spooned into sandwich bag to be piped into peppers)

-3 Lean Cuisine Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls (microwaved & cut into bite sized pieces)

~ 100 calories worth of butter (1 Tbsp.).  This one makes me a little sad. Who does not love big fat dollops of butter on their pancakes, waffles, and toast?