Doing things different

So I swore I'd never be a yo-yo dieter. I am. So how do I pull everything together, that I've learnt, into something that works for me. I'm a little tired of throwing my money away on one size fits all schemes. I'm going to have a go at writing my own program. I've figured out what motivates me. And it's not the 'I need to be healthy' or 'I need to get fit' line of thinking. It's a pure and simple desire to be a size 10. That's MY holy grail. So I need to make changes, set some goals and do things in a way that I know I can achieve. Measuring my success by a number on scales doesn't work for me. I have a week where the number doesn't move much, or god forbid goes up, and something snaps in me. I also know I'm sneaky. I know my weigh in days, so I eat like shit for the few days after the weigh in, then starve and stress for the three days leading up to the weight in day. EVERY TIME. So, how do I measure success in MY programme? How am I going to set goals, and reward myself for reaching milestones, when I can't measure those points in a traditional 'number sense? I want the SIDE EFFECT of my program to be weight loss. Not the focus. So I'm setting myself a bank of changes I need to make to my lifestyle, small, manageable chunks. Thinks I can change without thinking, that will have a side effect of wight loss. 1. Stop the afternoon binge.  Either have a coffee, go to the gym, or choose fruit. 2. Portion size. Plate up, on a small plate. 3. Drink more water.  Take my water bottle to school to sip. 4. Chips on the weekend MUST be served in the small green chip bowl.  One serve. Savor the flavor. 5. Use the food tracker on my IPad.  Track what I eat. All of it.  Every day. I'm making myself a star chart! Yep, spot the teacher. So I have this star chart. A star if I Exercise for at least 30mins a day, Use my small plate, No alcohol Monday to Friday, No afternoon binge, coffee and fruit, Finish my water bottle everyday, Use my food tracker on my iPad, Small bowl of chips only on Saturday and Sunday only, Gym class 3x week. I get a star in each box for my achievements. So my first goal is to finish a week, with a star in every box. I've printed out 4 weeks of my initial change star chart (which by the way is going on the fridge) I'll reasses my statements after the four weeks. I'm also going to do a measure. Bust Waist Hips Thighs Upper arms This will be the only numbers I'll record. No scales. I will not weigh again until I'm successful. I know I'm successful when I'm in size 10 Jeans. xxx Rach