New place, new challenges

Well, I'm finally getting pretty settled into my new job and new apartment on the west coast. So far things are going very well. I lost a little bit more weight, but for the most part i'm doing a pretty good job maintaining my weight. Some weeks I gain a little and other I lose a little.

Everyone told me during my weight loss that that was the "easy" part and maintaining the loss was the hard part. They were definitely right! Its been a little hard, but so far I feel like I'm doing pretty well. I'm continuing to use some of the HMR foods where it is convient. Specifically, I do an entree for lunch, usually oatmeal for breakfast and some kind of shake fruit combo for desert at night. Its a pretty comfortable routine for me, and really helps keep me on track. It usually means that I have plenty of calories to "spend" on dinner, which means I've been able to have things like pizza and hamburgers and it isn't totally knocking my off track.

One of the hardest things for me is making good decisions at resturants, but I have a companion that really really helps. My cell phone, and diet tracking program have been an invaluable resource. When I'm out to eat I'm able to look up food to see what the calorie content is like. The program itself is chocked full of data, but I'm also able to connect to the internet on my phone. This means I can even hit up the resturants web page and use tools they provide to help make smart choices. Its been really nice. Sometimes, I even visit the site before going to a resturant and choose what I'm going have ahead of time.

I'm still trying to figure out my exercise routine, which right now largely consists of walking. I like walking, but I really want to get back to doing the elliptical in the morning because its much more efficient at burning calories. Unfortunately, I've been having a hard time waking up... However, the last couple nights I've slept really well, so maybe I'll be able to pull it off tomorrow :-)

Tonight I'm going to face one my largest challenges since starting my program: I'm going to someone elses house for dinner! Hopefully I'm able to be good without offending anyone... but one day isn't going to ruin my last years progress :-)

Iced Mocha

Ingredients

• 1 Chocolate Shake Packet
• 6 oz cold coffee
• Ice

Directions
Blend all ingredients

Super Creamy Hot Cocoa

Ingredients

• 1 Chocolate Shake packet
• 6-8oz hot water
• 2 tsp fat free hot cocoa mix

Directions
Mix all ingredients (I prefer to use a hand blender for hot drinks)

Raspberry Truffle Coffee

Ingredients

• 1 Chocolate shake packet
• 6-8oz hot coffee
• 1 Raspberry Ice Crystal Lite ToGo

Directions
Mix all ingredients (I prefer to use a hand blender for hot drinks)

Fiesta Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken Soup Shake Packet
• 6 oz hot water
• 1 tablespoon fiesta ranch powder

Directions
Mix all ingredients (I prefer to use a hand blender for hot drinks)

Caramel Latte

Ingredients

• 1 Vanilla Shake Packet (I prefer 800 here)
• 6-8 oz hot, strong coffee (with a shot of espresso, if you so desire)
• 1-2 oz Sugar Free Caramel syrup

Directions
Mix all ingredients (I prefer to use a hand blender for hot drinks)

Caramel Mochiatto

Ingredients

• 1 Chocolate Shake Packet (I prefer 800 here)
• 6-8 oz hot, strong coffee (with a shot of espresso, if you so desire)
• 1-2 oz Sugar Free Caramel syrup

Directions
Mix all ingredients (I prefer to use a hand blender for hot drinks)