A new goal for a new me, Part 2

In August I set a weight loss goal for myself and wrote about it here. To sum up, in case you forgot, my goal was to lose eleven pounds in eight weeks with the help of the Steve Ward Diet (also known as the Line Diet). My eight weeks were officially up last weekend. How did I to? Well, let's have a look.

You can see that it was one bumpy ride. Very bumpy, for me and my graph. But it does trend downward and you can see definite improvement. And I came within a pound and a half of my goal, something I am very proud of! You'll notice that my line stops abruptly one week before my end date. That's because I was on vacation and enjoying a little indulgence and the daily weighing-in (and the weight gain) was ruining all the fun, and so I decided to end the dieting session. I have since started a new chart with a new end date to get myself back on track and lose the last few pounds (and possibly a few more).

I didn't reach my goal, that's true. But I came very close. This "diet" is proving extremely effective for me. Having to weigh myself each morning has made me very aware of what I eat and how much exercise I get. And I have more self control now than I've ever had before. The satisfaction I get from stepping on that scale and seeing real results is so much more than the fleeting satisfaction I may get from straying from my healthy regimen.

The main thing this diet has taught me is that up until now the weekends have completely ruined my healthy efforts. I would be very good during the week and eat right and exercise nearly every day. But then came the weekend and I guess I just thought that two little days couldn't undo five. I'd start Saturday off with a big delicious, and calorie-filled, breakfast and it went downhill from there. Literally every pound I lost during the week was put back on by Sunday and each week was the same cycle, as you can see in my graph. It took me several weeks before I was able to change my habits and get to the point that even with a slight weight gain each weekend (you've got to live a little, right?) I was still down for the week overall.

I've been home from vacation for over a week now and I'm finding it hard to get back into my healthy habits. What is it about going on vacation that makes maintaining weight loss so hard? Do you have any advice or tips for staying healthy on vacation? Halloween and the other quickly approaching holidays won't help either. At least my daily hop on the scale should keep me from going too overboard.

I know some of my readers expressed interest in The Line Diet after I wrote about it. Has anyone tried it and have results to share? I think I'll report again in a month on my progress. Wish me luck!