Long-term Goal: Fit into those pants! Current Goal: Drop fat so I can do yoga (Not do yoga so I can drop fat!) Most people want to exercise to lose weight. Well, of course I do too. But really, since discovering that yoga is just about the perfect exercise for me, I've realized that being overweight really sucks when trying to do yoga! So my goal this time is to really knuckle down on my diet, dropping excess fat so that I can work in a bigger range of asanas. I seem to have a hard time focusing on diet with multiple goals, so this will be my only stated goal. I will still be trying to walk (or other exercise) three hours per week and aiming for 2-3 hours of yoga (spread over at least three days per week). I've tried just about every diet under the sun, diet defined as any way of eating that limits certain foods. So yes paleo is a diet, not a "lifestyle" in that respect. And they all fail eventually as I just love different foods too much. At this point I'm convinced that moderation, though difficult, will be my only path to long-term success. So I will be focusing on moderate eating, which isn't easy to define or measure! The only thing I can say is that I know when I'm moderately full and when I've overeaten, so I will follow my stomach and not my eyes. One problem I have is eating second helpings. So one fixed rule I'll have is to eat using a small plate. After finishing, I will set a timer for 15 minutes, and I cannot get any more food (but can drink water/tea/coffee) until that time's up. That will give my brain time to catch up with my stomach and help keep me from overeating. I'm still going to try to limit refined grains/sugars, junk food, alcohol, and other "empty" foods, but I will not deny myself entirely. In order to keep myself honest and also relate my physical/mental state to certain foods, I'll be keeping a food journal. Given that I have a smartphone and never go anywhere that doesn't have network access, I'll expect myself to update a tracking spreadsheet after every meal/snack. Each main entry (meal/snack) will count as one point, so my final score will be based on a % (# of moderate meals/snacks over total). tl;dr -- Eat moderately, wait 15 minutes before getting more, keep a food journal (and keep walking/doing yoga) I hope to drop a pant size by the end of the 6 weeks, which I think would be roughly 10lbs. I'll take new measurements/weight Sunday evening. Here we go (early)!!! Before Stats: (sadly these returned to pre-previous challenge levels ) Weight: 212 Waist: 46" Hips: 39.5" R. Thigh: 26" R. Bicep: 14" Neck: 16" Chest: 42.5"