Round 2- 6 weeks to make this happen.

Although i have completely destroyed today, i am going to consider it day 1 of my diet.
WAY over 10 bites/day today, but its day 1 nonetheless and i have to accept it and not say "oh well, tomorrow is day 1 then"
NOPE today is day 1, tomorrow will be completely on track. im looking forward to being back to my last summer's weight already.

Hi Tea! Good to see you again! I too have been trying to get back on track. I had a successful day one but Day 2 and Day 3 weren't so good. In fact, now that I type this. I think I'll head out and see if I can find the book at Barnes and Noble.

Keep at it, I'm going to keep trying!

LC

not horrible.
morning was 5 bites of scrambled egg
then i got my lady time... which explains why ive been feeling so chubby and miserable.
-- so i ate 1 roll, 1/2 a muffin, and 4 cookies.
yes over 10 bites but way less than normal.
tomorrow will be pain free and ill be much better. TMI sorry all the males on this forum

alright so today has been GREAT
first thing, since yesterday i didnt over do it i woke up and i felt like i was on a diet, u know that lighter feeling....
that kinda motivated me to stick with today.

breakfast- 1 cup coffee
snack- 1 more coffee
lunch (around 4pm)- 5 bites of a carrot raisin muffin (120 calories)
dinner (around 7pm)- 1 bite prunes (3 was about one bite worth- 60 calories), 2 bites dinner roll (45 cal), 1 bite oatmeal cookie (30 cal), 1 bite goat cheese (25 cal)

=== 280 for the day ===
i know im just starting off on this diet again, but i already feel a sense of accomplishment. Gotta stay motivated!! really tough to eat just one bite of a cookie and put it back, but i feel really in control knowing that i took 2 bites of a roll and the remainder is in the fridge, and the rest of my cookie is in there and i resisted the urge to go nuts and eat not just one but like 4..

To tell the truth, i actually feel kinda full. I feel satisfied, and not starved at all. I guess its cuz i thought so much about the food before i ate it, like i budgeted out my 5 bites so that i could have a little of what i was craving for. Im done eating for the day and i just microwaved some water to sip on for the evening. If i start getting munchy i plan on trying to just sip on water, and breath and remember that the weight will come off if i remain focused and wont budge if i attack the kitchen. Just have to maintain focus and remind myself that I am on the way one day at a time.

Tea,
good job with keeping your mind on this despite all the snafus. that is much more than i can say for myself. keep up the good work!

thanks ruby!! always helps to see how others are dealing with this weight loss. Its not easy, but the sooner you commit the sooner you can enjoy the new you! - gorgeous weather is coming up and i want to feel hot!

ALRIGHT yesterday was perfect tho i was really feeling a little midnight snack. Today im home since its the weekend, which usually gets me in trouble and i eat till i burst (i know i disgust myself too), but im determined to prove to myself that i can do this properly.

Breakfast- nothing
Lunch (12:30)- 2 bites of a frozen dinner roll (45cal), 2 bites cookie (60cal), 1 bite goat cheese (25cal)
then took a nap cuz i was so tired! -- woke up around 2:00 and had another 8 bites of a muffin (190 cal?), 1 bite goal cheese (25cal)
Dinner (7:30)- SKIPPING

== 345 cal ==
okay so.. that was bad bad bad. i then sat for a while and gave myself a manicure as a distraction for a bit and i felt better. Grand total on bites thus far is 14. im going to try really hard to call it quits for the day, chug water and keep myself out of the kitchen. If i keep it at 14 i will still call this day a win since thats way less than i would have eaten normally both with calories and bites. I'm going to weigh in on monday and i really want to see an improvement. I have to stick with it hard for a few days to shrink down my stomach.

I went over my bites yesterday as well but today I am focused again. Weekends are hard. stay strong tea.

good luck with your weigh in! you only went over 4 bites so should not be too bad at all! stay strong! we can do this!

hey guys thanks so much for your support, means a lot that there is a forum out there that can hear me rant yeah weekends are so hard cuz im home most of the time. Its about 6:30 now and i am getting kinda hungry, but i think its more emotional that physical, so im going to hang tough. Best of luck for you guys too!

ok so obviously im having self-control issues... today was a flop. Honestly there was no reason for it i just was having a down day.
so, in an act of total frustration, i threw out all the food that i was losing control with. INSTANT FREEDOM. i feel like if i cant control myself then i shouldnt have it in the house knowing that im only self-destructing. atleast not until i have gone down to my goal weight and learned to eat more sensibly.

so there- i wont bore you with the details of todays demise, but it wasnt all bad- just had like 8 of those mini rolls things, 5 bites of a muffin, and then 5 bites more of another muffin.
- not completely terrible, but not on the diet at all either.

hopefully this approach will allow me less freedom to make poor choices. I on the other hand have lots of varieties of coffee and tea at my disposal, and cold water already in the fridge, and gum to bring along with me to work.

alright so today is going nicely. I always find that starting long term tasks on a monday is mentally more achievable.
i got up early for work so that kinda helps with distractions.

breakfast- nothing (1 cup black coffee)
lunch (12:30)- 5 bites of a muffin (threw the rest out) + 1 cup coffee with 1 tsp creamer
dinner (6:30)- 5 bites muffin (chucked the rest) + chug of cold water

starting from today i have exactly 6 weeks left till i have to go home (and then go to a wedding!!!) which i absolutely cant be fat for, so this weight needs to slide off me as fast as can be. My work schedule has gotten a little strange- but i think thats going to make eating less of a priority since im jumping between locations. thank goodness for that!!

i didnt weight in today cuz i was ashamed of my lack of control yesterday, but i have set a new goal- i will be perfect for 5 days and then i will weigh in on friday and i will post here regardless of what i find. Hopefully with my new "kitchen clean out" i will be more able to keep things under control. Being out of the house is also what helped me get this diet started last time, so when i feel like eating i will take a little walk. There is a target about a mile from me and its a pretty pleasant walk- especially with the nice weather we've been having, so i plan to walk there if i struggle just to get out of the house- not to get food! maybe with all the money im saving on food i will invest in some clothes instead ( a much nicer way to spend my money- i will wait till ive lost a few lbs)

thanks for all the support fellow nibblers.

good luck for the 5 days. you can do it tea!

thanks!
im trying to stay as strict as possible, maximizing the weight loss for the time i have. gotta stay as positive as possible. Through a twist of fate, i have the next 2 days off of work (yay for gas, nay for the diet).

breakfast- skipped (1 cup coffee + 1 tsp non fat creamer)
lunch- 5 bites muffin (chug of water)
dinner- TBA

no idea why this is so hard for me this time, im only able to stick with this for one day before having something go wrong. i was feeling really light headed and weak, so i had some banana bread- i was going to stop at 3 bites and then it turned into 15 i think-- kinda lost count... omg.
well its around 4:00 right now, i figure if thats all i have today, then fine i had 20 bites ish, ill go with that. i feel so guilty right now. but on the bright side- i have no more banana bread, so tomorrow as long as i keep out of a store i should be okay. haha. but yeah, i didnt have THAT much - but im stuffed!!! glad to see that my stomach shrunk down some. bad dayyyyy. atleast its early enough that ill probably burn it off before i go to bed.

ugh, i have to get better than this. I dont remember struggling this bad last time- but then again, my mom is a much better cook than me and when im home im much more "flavor satisfied" than i am when im living alone- perhaps that has something to do with it? no idea, just a theory.

as a side effect of my stupidity-- HUGE HEADACHE!!

to try to help a little, im going to go for a walk... thats at least better than sitting here and moping!

just want to add a little side note- i weighed in
before i went for a walk and i was 118.5- i just want it down on the
record. Its not as horrible as i feared but atleast at this point i now
know exactly how much i have to lose. For me getting on the scale the
first time is the hardest part, and then i go on each day and the ups
and downs motivate me to keep going.

Remember not to beat yourself up! In the grand scheme of things, it's just a little mistake, and think about how much less you ate than you normally would!

I have a hard time on days when I'm home too. I get so bored! I think dieting is easier when you have hobbies that keep you busy.

As for the weigh-in, that's not bad at all! I haven't had the courage to step on the scale myself. I want to get some more good days on the diet before I do so, seeing the number will psych me out, since I know it's going to be higher than I want.

Keep going, good luck!

hey Lisa, thats exactly how i felt. I was going to wait till friday to weigh in but the not knowing was just messing with my mind set. I just got on the scale out of frustration with myself- just kinda wanted to assess the damage, and seeing that the weight wasnt HORRIBLE even after a binge kinda thing kinda makes me feel like on a good day i may have been 1-2 lbs less than that even, which brings my goal into perspective.

I had to stop being a scaredy-cat and do it!! now atleast i know what im dealing with and i can weigh in with confidence that each day it should go DOWN from there. i'm a very analyticaly person and i always need all the details, so for me to not know was probably adding to the start up difficulties. Knowing that im heavier than i want is keeping me farrrr away from the kitchen too. ha!

weighed in at 117.5lbs (my official starting weight- i cant believe i have 12 lbs to lose-- omg). im hoping if i stick to this really hard i will be down to 115ish by saturday... LETS DO THIS!

yesterday was good- the last thing i ate was at 4:00 and i went to bed at 12 so it had plenty of time to digest thru before bed time. I woke up way late today to try to keep the hunger down over the next few days i have off- its almost 12 now, just got up and i think im going to eat my "lunch" at 2 and dinner ill keep at 6:30 since i dont want to shake up my rhythm too wildly. Tomorrow i will try to do the same. To keep my digestion rolling im going to strategize my bites.

Lunch (2:15)= 5 bites dried plums (200 cal)
Dinner (6:30)= 3 bites baby carrots (15 cal?) + 2 bites dried plums (80 cal)

=== total 295 cal & 10 bites ===

so really weird- i had some dried plums during my stupidity yesterday in an attempt to at least move that food along by my weigh in today (which it didnt)- BUT what it did do was cut off my appetite all together. Now i dont know if that was cuz of my walk, or cuz of the plums or cuz my stomach did shrink and i overextended it- but ordinarily if i ate that much in the middle of the day- keeping away from the kitchen is impossible after i have the ball rolling. Today im going to experiment and see if this cuts out my appetite when im on an empty stomach and thats the only thing i eat. I will update you guys with what happens!

- update- i had those little prunes around 2:00, and im not hungry at all really. I wanted to keep it consistant so i did have a few more for dinner and a threw in some raw baby carrots, but i wasnt crazy hungry. would love to see if anyone else has results like this with other dried fruits.

weighed in at 117.1 today.

about .4 lbs down- but i was 100% on the diet yesterday!! i was expecting more, but ill take it i guess. the weight shouldnt take long to get rid of since its pretty new. Im going to keep myself busy today and keep myself disciplined, hoping for a 115 on saturday still.

lunch (3:00)- 3.5 bites prunes (140 cal- oops lost count) + 2 bites carrots (20 cal) followed by chug of cold water, preceded by a cup of tea with 1 tsp creamer (10)
dinner (6:30)- 5 bites energy bar (180 cal) + 1 cup tea w/creamer (10)

=== total 350 ===
im going to go for a little walk now, kinda having trouble focusing on my work today, even tho its been a few days of being on this diet im still a little jittery and my body still hasnt really adjusted to it yet- makes it kinda hard to study. Figure when im out ill pick up something tiny to eat for dinner.

Have you guys heard of the "baby food" diet? its been a recent celebrity diet- but its almost exactly like the 5 bite diet cuz it focuses on portion control, and those little jars are just about 5 bites, except that its kinda bland and pureed. There is also the "cookie diet" which i saw boxes for in costco the other day. That is also based on 5 bites of portion control except they make it more marketable by saying just eat the cookies that we give u instead of "eat anything u want". I dont understand why the 5 bite diet gets such a bad rep when there are plenty of other diets that focus on the same idea- just with more marketable strategies. Yea Dr. Lewis isnt making money off of cookie boxes- he is allowing us to do what we want and eat whatever... much better for us i thinK!

I'll bet you get your loss for Saturday. I agree, Dr. Lewis really gets a bad rap for no reason. As far as cost, if we so choose, we have the one-time expense of buying the book. Otherwise, this diet is very economical.

thanks insanity i really hope so! im eager to be thin again!
- after having that little protein bar i felt so so full. It was only 5 bites and it was kinda small but since i knew it was 5 bites i took my time and broke it up into like 15 nibbles while sipping on tea. Really filled me up. This is the first time that ive used a "bar" of any kind to do this diet and man i TOTALLY understand now why that works so well. (so for future reference- when im having a kinda hard day i will make a note that one protein bar eaten slowly will get me thru the rough patch)

most of them are 180-220 calories and they have a lot of protein and calcium and all sorts of nummy yummy stuff- sweet and chocolatey and satisfying and u feel so guilty for it! but if thats ur total meal ur only getting in like 440 calories total for the whole day. I dont think i would want to make a habit of it cuz i know im going to break out with all the sugar- but i really wanted to give it a shot and how it goes. Enlightening.

But yeah, i like to keep an eye out for calories as well as bites- i have to make sure i dont go too low (10 bites of veggies/day) or too high (10 bites of peanut butter), or else the next day gets really hard.

This almost brings me to almost a week of no binging. im most proud of the fact that the last 2 days i have been the most strict i have been in the whole week and it was the 2 days that i had OFF of work-- which are always my absolute WORST days and its so so hard for me. Just wanted to share that, cuz i know u guys would understand why im happy (no one else seems to get this! ha). Although this is day 5 of my "diet" its really only day 3 of being strict and totally 5 bites without screwing up. So i will consider this day 3 of my diet and move forward from here. Weighing in really helped me to crack down and get started. I have to weigh in every day to keep myself honest with this diet and keep myself focused. Thanks guys for all ur support, i truely CANNOT do this without you and i appreciate each and every one of yoU!

also- im going to make a little list and keep it around. A "rescue" list. Cuz sometimes when i get in crazy binge mode i forget what my options are to avoid caving in. Sometimes i remember and i can circumvent the episode, but other times ill just be a monster and eat my face off and then feel really gross after and THEN all my options will creep up on my mind and i will feel really dumb.

my list thus far of things that really save me:
Chug cold water before eating 5 bites and after 5 bites, Hot tea/coffee, Hot "soup" (see recipe in other post), Protein bar meal, chew gum, 5 Prunes, reading this forum, Going for a walk.
- i placed that on a post it and put it on my kitchen counter.

current weight- 116lbs
getting close!!!! wow thats a lb lost in just one day. amazing. i have to stay focused and no slip up. this is usually the time when i have a little cheat. Its been about 4 days, feeling kinda weak today when i woke up and my legs ache!! probably due to all my walking lately haha. Last night when i went to bed i was feeling weak as well and kinda woozy but then i just lay down and went to sleep so t was alright. Today im not dizzy, but i do feel a drained. On the flip side i dont feel hungry. I guess my stomach has learned that its not getting anything more than 5 bites when i say so. At this point i just have to get used to the tiredness and power thru it. Bought some splenda yesterday so that should make my coffee more satisfying.

Lunch- 11:45- 3.5 bites died plums (140 cal) with a huge cup of coffee (10 cal)+ 1.5 bite baby carrots (15 cal)
Dinner- 5 bites protein bar (180 cal)
midnight snack- half an apple (40 cal)

=== 385 cal 10 bites + 1/2 apple cored and peeled ===

That is an awesome loss! Way to go! I know it's tough to stay focused over the long-term, but I know you can do it. Is struggle with staying focused too, but that is how we achieve our goals. Your feeling tired probably means your body is burning fat, so that's a good thing.

yay congrats on your loss tea! yeah i totally know what you mean about being at home being the hardest! especially if there are snacks lying around or your bored. sometimes il be eating chocolate and i can't even remember how it got into my hand!

weighed in this morning at 115.3 wow, its close enough ill take it as a success for this first week! i def need to start adding in some toning exercises- maybe ill start up the old yoga again, i feel like especially around my stomach area its slim but i have rolls when i bend (how attractive). Gotta get my abs in order.
yesterday was great, stuck to the diet exactly. today i have to just SLEEP, just came off a night shift. omg so tired.

lunch= 1 cup tea with tsp creamer (10cal) + 5 bites granola bar (100 cal at 1:30pm)+ 7 bites prunes (280 cal at 5:00pm)
dinner= Skipped

im kinda achy all over even after taking 2 motrin, kinda felt like i needed to eat SOMETHING to recover so i had all those prunes. I lost some 3 lbs 5 days so i guess im kinda weak from it and i have no reserves. i was going to get some chicken or something before work but after those prunes i think my energy is coming back to speed. I will bring a 5 bite granola bar with me tonite and only eat it if i need it. Otherwise if i stop eating for the night i will still be at a good "bite" amount for the day. I really dont want to mess up this diet since im on such a roll. My appetite is no longer begging for me to eat and i dont have the jitters anymore and i want to keep it that way.

Update- so I felt fine after those prunes so I went to work without a problem. That keeps me at 12 bites, still a win so I'm proud of that. Guess I was just so tired that I needed some sugar to get myself back on track. Whooo I'm hoping for a great weigh in when I get home! My stomach is for sure thinner and I feel like I've lost weight off my face tho it's only been a few lbs off. I love how this diet sucks, but it works so fast that u want it to just keep going so it can be over with ASAP and u can enjoy ur new thin life already. Def a motivator! And in not even hungry anymore. Took me three-four days for the hunger to leave. Keep it up guys, one day at a time. Everyone is doing so great.