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Not surprisingly, I am just barely into this program and I am changing the program. I suppose that's why my success rate is at zero from attempts of the past. The exception is that this time I have an element of determination that I haven't had before. I wish that I could bottle the determination it takes to lose weight successfully. It's the one element that MUST be present in order to lose. And I haven't had it for a looonnnnggggg time.

Thankfully for me, and anyone that knows me, I am not interested in looking like the model on the right. Funny how she's called a "model" when probably the opposite is true. I wonder if she was thinking about chocolate donuts or Ben & Jerry's ice-cream or something when they took this. Pretty sad. As for me, I am too old to want to be a size 4, or even a 6. I don't want to spend the rest of my life struggling to maintain some unrealistic goal. I'll be happy if I make it to a size 10. At the moment I am an 18. BIG. Bigger than I have ever been. Bigger than I should be. Ugggggg!

So okay. Let's talk about my yesterday. I didn't start my exercise regimen as I intended. I started taking down my Christmas decorations and it took several hours. I cleaned and vacuumed and hauled big tupperware storage containers. But according to my latest and greatest web discovery (I'll tell you about that in a minute), that activity allowed me to burn 675 calories. Hmmm..... I don't know about that, but I will attempt the two mile walk again today.

Food. I ingested 1170 calories. I really need to make a plan for meals. I change my mind by the minute as to what I am going to eat. What I ended up doing, instead of sticking to the "protein shake" plan, was waiting until I was starving. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I should know better. Anyway, an english muffin w/peanut butter, string cheese, wheat thins and later a small piece of deep dish pizza were what I "grabbed for." Planning is going to be essential for me I think. So, I think today I will sit down and try to plan lunches and dinners for 5 days ahead.

Okay, on to my great discovery!! I LOVE this website I have found. I was looking for a social network for people like me who are trying to lose weight, and found www.traineo.com. If you are looking for a way to track your eating, activity -- basically the whole diet routine -- this website is fabulous. I created an account right away yesterday and I am really excited to watch my progress on the graphs the website generates. I'll keep you updated on that.

Alright -- that's the 411 for today. I am not at all disappointed that I am down 1/2 pound. It's a 1/2 DOWN, not up. And frankly, if I lost 1/2 pound a day, every day, I'd be pretty skinny in a few short months. I'll take what I can get.