THE FINAL WRAP-UP!

On Saturday, 3/11/2011, I began a 21 day odyssey of tracking and reporting the food I was eating.  During that time I focused on watching and calculating certain amounts of specific nutritional standards each day.  Some days I did extremely well and others I could have done a lot better.  I tried to open myself to the vulnerability of what I was doing and for the most part achieved that during the last three weeks.  In all honesty, there were a couple of moments when I did falter and make a choice that was not the best (i.e. a KitKat candy bar or two), which at the time I did not "fully disclose" and for that I apologize.  I realize that there are still some lingering issues I face with being completely open about the food I eat and I must strive to work harder and not allow embarrassment or shame to affect me in my honesty.  Outside of the candy bars, everything that went into my body was documented and shared.  Even though I did fall short on a couple of occasions, the accountability and desire to be as honest as possible, did get me through several other moments of weakness when old habits began to creep in and push me off of my path.  The only issue I feel guilty about is not sharing those weak moments earlier.  I still have these feelings of needing to be perfect and not letting others down because of my poor decisions.  I know that is the main thing I still need to work on and I hope that I will continue to make progress toward becoming stronger.  The one positive out of those poor decisions and one thing that should have allowed me to be more open, is that on the days I did slip up and eat something that was not the best choice, those were the days when I was low on my calories and fat and could have easily fit the candy into the daily totals and been OK.  The stigma of "oh no, I ate the candy", which has been bred in many over eaters who try to "be good" and "stay strong" just devoured my psyche and put up a mental wall that I chose not to break down.  It is one of those by-products of a life filled with "dieting" and "weight roller coasters" that seems to always be lurking in the back of my mind.  So, there is a truer sense of "Full Disclosure" and it is something that frees me now to be able to share the results of the past 3 weeks.

When I began 3 weeks ago, I weighed 320 lbs.  By watching what I ate, limiting my poor choices and exercising (even just a little), I now weigh............

301 lbs

That's right....I lost 19 pounds in 21 days.  It is an amazing feeling!  Just knowing that I was able to lose that kind of weight by basically watching and charting what I ate is so encouraging.  I worked out some, but not as much as I should and I still faltered on occasion with the rogue candy bar here and there and yet I lost 6% of my total weight and now stand on the doorstep of something that has not been a part of my life in a few years...the 200s!  I want to thank everyone who supported me during the 21 Days of Full Disclosure...henceforth known as the 21 Days of Semi-Full Disclosure and who continue to support me in every choice I make in life.  I am still keeping my journal and still maintaining my goals each day.  I will continue to try and make exercise a more significant part of my day and will also continue to work on breaking the habit of hiding choices that embarrass me.  I will also continue posting to the blog with regularity and tracking my success into the future.  Thanks again everyone......and do not fear.....you have not heard the last of me!