Reflection on the first day(s)!

Monday was a pretty bad start to the healthy eating challenge I have given myself. I am not even sure if I will call it a day out of the cycle. Yesterday was much better, although I still faltered (who doesn't?). Mostly in the afternoon and evening and mostly out of complacency, lack of will power, and fierce sugar cravings. I use this handy chart and some extra notes to record what I plan to eat and actually do. Now usually I have a bunch of these charts printed off and I hand write on them. But this one I did up all fancy, just for you. This is what I ate yesterday:

Meal :	I plan to eat:	I did eat:
Breakfast	Protein: 2 hard boiled eggs Probiotic: yogurt Fruit: pear	Protein: 2 hard boiled eggs Probiotic: Oikos greek low fat yogurt –raspberry pomegranate (100g) Fruit:
Lunch	Protein: 2 hard boiled egg whites Vegetables: Pre-made salad with strawberries, grapes, lettuce mix, and 2 tbs nuts, seeds, and raisins.	Protein: 2 hard boiled egg whites Vegetables: Pre-made salad with strawberries, grapes, lettuce mix, and 2 tbs nuts, seeds, and raisins. Probiotic: Liberte 0 greek yogurt- blueberry, and sillouettes- kiwi (200g total)
Snack	Fruit: berries and grapes in Lunch salad	Fruit: berries and grapes in Lunch salad, 2 mini crème eggs.
Dinner	Protein: steak Vegetables: salad greens, caramelized onions	Protein: Steak seared and baked with garlic and steak spice Vegetables: leftover lunch salad
Snack(s)	Probiotic: yogurt	1 cup 1% chocolate milk, 2 oreo cookies, 1 homemade chocolate chip cookie.
Oils	-Salad dressings	-         Salad dressings  (totaling 4 tbs)

I did pretty good on the starchy carb front. No Bread, chips, crackers, pasta etc. None of it. And I didn't feel hungry or deprived at all. Probably because I wasn't. Likely because of the sugary snacks that I grazed on without thinking about it or with ridiculous justifications ("one mini egg right now will be all right, it's just one, and I have done so well today!" and "It's just one cookie" and "the chocolate milk will replace the fruit sugars and dairy that I missed by not having the last 100g of yogurt I was supposed to eat"). These excuses are not valid, and deep down I know that. But similar to the first time I went on this eating plan, I am sort of weaning myself onto it, and weaning myself off of the unhealthy stuff. What I had for my snacks throughout the day (I did not eat them all at once, I just list them in the same place on the journal page) is about the equivalent of what I was eating all at once in the evenings a few days ago. All in all I am quite proud of myself for the way I ate yesterday, and I hope to improve on the bad habits that die hard as each day passes.

 I also did not get my 2L or 8 glasses of water for the day. This is something that I regularly struggle with and often find myself dehydrated, which is never good. There are a few techniques I have heard of to help drink more water and eat less. For instance- drink a large glass of water before each meal so your stomach will seem full and you will eat less. Another one is to put the fork down and take a drink between each mouthful of food. While I cannot say I am going to adopt one of these ideas it did get me thinking that I have to be more aware of when I drink. I also have to make the conscious decision to drink water more often instead of waiting until I am thirsty and only drinking enough to wet my thirst for a short while.  What things do you do to make sure you drink enough water?