I have been skipping breezily along for the past month believing without a doubt that I was losing weight. Yesterday I got on a scale for the first time in a month and was shocked and saddened to discover I have only lost 3 pounds! In a month! Eh? I have been eating well; I have cut out sweets; I have been drinking a few cups of coffee every morning, which has always been a good appetite suppressant for me; and I have been trying to drink at least 32 ounces of water a day. Notice what I didn’t say. Exercise. I have not been exercising regularly, and this, my friends, is apparently the magic bullet. Or so it would seem. For your perusal, here is my daily menu:
Breakfast: a Zone bar and 2-3 cups of coffee
Lunch: a pita sandwich with some sort of homemade chicken concoction on it, either chicken salad (made with fat free plain yogurt and a drop of fat free mayo) or shredded BBQ chicken; a salad with fat free dressing; a fresh fruit smoothie, also homemade; water
Dinner: it varies–sometimes I eat eggs and toast, sometimes steamed vegetables and rice, sometimes more chicken; sometimes I eat out; sometimes I eat Tostitos flour tortilla chips and salsa or ranch dip
Maybe it’s the dinner that’s killing me. I’m thinking of eating cereal for dinner from now on. Except that when I only eat cereal for dinner I end up hungry at bedtime. Any suggestions?
As for the exercise, I had a great little indoor routine going before I went back to work. Now when I get home I want to sit on the floor and play with my daughter. If it’s warm we walk in the neighborhood some, but not as much as we should. Today it’s raining and cold, so no walking for us this afternoon. My friend P., who is back in her size 2 and 4 pants after giving birth 7 months ago, suggests yoga, which I love and adore, but for some reason I just can’t seem to get into it.
In the great scheme of things, weight loss is the least of my concerns. I am one size bigger than I normally am, and my current size is in the single digits, so I shouldn’t be complaining. Except that I have a lot of clothes I’d like to wear again; more accurately, I don’t want to buy a bunch of new clothes. Truth be told, I never should have stepped onto that scale yesterday. But I was feeling cocky, and I wanted some affirmation. Foolish pride. Now I’m feeling fat, squishy, and wide-assed, and I’d love to hear about any wonderful weight loss tricks you all have employed.
one small corner of the universe 
More water and less salt. I only wish my menu looked like that. I also remember dropping weight after baby in stages. I’d drop 5lbs one week and it would be another two months before I lose any more. And, sadly, exercise helps as well. Good luck.
R