My bro, the aspiring master chef...

I've been up to 162 daytime and 158 morning. 156.6 and 157.4 the last 2 mornings. 104 to 105 pounds lean mass.

At first I thought my scale was lying because of being squashed in a suitcase for 7 hours, but Mrs. Bro's scale matches mine exactly. Ouch. It's an ugly combination of food baby, period bloat, and actual possible weight gain, though I think the Real Gain is pretty small.

I'll sort it out after January first. In the meantime I'm going to keep checking daily and see what my lean mass averages out to, since I want to make building muscle a big goal this year. I have 10 pounds less lean mass now than I did last spring, and that makes me sad. Muscle is good. Even if I lose it again later, it'll help me get all this blasted fat off.

Oh, Crap

Daytime clothed weight today 161.8 on both my scale and bro's. YIKES. I would specify "post-meal" but every waking moment was post-meal. Mom made vats of Christmas cookies and my bro keeps cooking for us. My bro's bro-in-law made a Facebook comment along the lines of my bro making everyone on the cooking channel look like kids in home ec. <sigh> I'm doomed. On the other hand, I've already had more than my share of the cookies, so hopefully I can convince myself they're "gone."

Like a bowl full of jelly

Screw you, holidays. 153.6.

The proper family Christmas gathering is the 26th through the 2nd. Longer than originally anticipated due to my recent voluntary liberation from a bad job.

How do I bring my scale so that I know my 2013 start weight without drawing attention to myself? Will it even give me the right number after being mashed around in a suitcase and hidden away between checks?

How do I get 3.6 pounds off in the midst of family meals?

Ugh. My first thought is to allow TWO meals of unbridled foodiness that week, and tell people I'm being "healthy" the rest of the time, whilst munching veggies constantly and not much at mealtime. I will NOT slip into a new year without hitting my goal yet again.

The puffy Cheetos are gone

and the Oreos are following soon behind. After that I'm behaving myself again. I would probably have dusted myself off sooner but the scale insists I'm only 151.0 today. I *feel* like 154 but I guess that's silly.

How on earth

am I 151.8?! I'll take it, but the thirst continues. One last day before I get back on the wagon?

I've been so incredibly

thirsty today! I'm trying to brace for the number's inevitable climb from water retention. I ate total crap - french toast, more brownie sundae. But I also ate a fresh veggie tray, which I haven't gotten myself to do for a few days.

It's so sad that I have to buy expensive single-serving veggie trays to get myself to eat them, but I hope to soon graduate back up to big trays and eating them one serving at a time. I don't use all of the dressing in the single-serve trays, then I feel guilty for wasting it or I feel guilty for trying to finish it and getting used to using a ton of dressing.

I guess eating veggies is better than not eating veggies, regardless of the dressing, eh? And I try to remind myself what we could never convince my grandpa (who grew up during the depression): if you eat food you don't need, it's still wasted.

I suppose that

152.4 is not a bad post-binge bloat weight, all things considered.

I had just kissed the 148's but all hell broke loose at Nut House and I've been comfort eating since I quit late Wednesday night.

But tomorrow is a new day.

Thank goodness

for Glucerna shakes, or last night at work would've been a lot harder. I haven't been religiously counting, just ballpark estimates. By now I know the carb content of foods pretty much by heart. It's working. 151.0 today.

And I need you know somehow

Because numbers give me comfort.

The goal: 150 or less by January 1.

The plan: No calorie limit. Less than 15 grams carbohydrate per meal or 100 g per day, duration at least one week. Some leniency for work days and nights where I can't sleep if I don't get a few extra carbs in.

High weight: 191.4
Current weight: 153