So, here I am at the end of my journey.  But actually, it’s just the beginning.  I have lost 7 pounds in total.  Pretty good for three weeks in which a major fattening yontif came.  I have done a lot of thinking about the reasons for my past weight gain  in the past three weeks, mostly thanks to Rachael.  One thing I have learned is a lot of the reason why people gain weight, (me in particular), is because there is some thing inside, maybe even psychologically that the person is not dealing with. Sometimes psychological issues are the reason why a person can’t lose weight.  They may be subconsciously sabotaging their weight loss, and so while a person may lose weight initially, once the diet is over they may regain the weight simply because those underlying issues are still there.  One thing that Rachael has helped me with is gaining insight into the reasons for it.

Last night I was watching Extreme Makeover- Weight Loss Edition.  It was interesting to see that the person, who was morbidly obese, really couldn’t go very far in his weight loss journey until he had dealt with the psychological issues that were holding him back.  Once he brought it all out, he was able to get past it and within a year had lost over 200 pounds.  Amazing!!  So, OK, I only want to lost 18 more pounds, but the struggles are still the same, just not as large.

So, with a new mindset, I woke up shabbos morning ready to deal with what has always been the hardest day of the week for me.  My adorable grandson woke me up early and after downing a coffee, I had a yogurt while he ate his cocoa pebbles and a chocolate leben.  I wasn’t tempted at all.  Lunch was some grilled chicken, salad, and I was strangely in the mood for some chulent.

In the afternoon, my granddaughter and her friend decided they needed shabbos party, and even though I vowed to be good I did sneak in a few handfuls of pretzels and popcorn.  After, I ate some watermelon and a pear.

For shalosh seudah I had two low fat mozzerella sticks, some grapes, and a diet chocolate pudding with some peanut butter in it.  Amazingly, I wasn’t hungry for the rest of the night.

Sunday morning I had some coffee and eggs.  I went to a boot camp class and was so busy running errands, I almost forgot that I was hungry.  I had an apple just to stave off any hunger.  For lunch I had some tuna and salad.  In the afternoon I had a handful of almonds and a vanilla latte from Crawfords.  They started making these super sized ones, really huge.