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Last year, I struck a fairly uneasy balance between eating right and exercise: I was able to make up for any poor eating I did because I was training so many hours a week. I could have - and probably should have - been losing weight, but instead, I just maintained.

Well, it's not like that this year. Without a major goal I'm training for, I'm only working out about five hours a week or so. That's a perfectly reasonable amount for most people, but it doesn't require extra food. Nor does it really allow for extra food - and by extra food I really mean goodies.

It seems that every week since school started - and yeah, I know that's now six months - I've been trying to start my diet anew. Now, my weight isn't much higher than it was before, but I am finding that my pants are a little tighter and cute going-out clothes just don't hang right anymore.

Last night, it came to a head. I was trying to find something to wear to work for a goofy competition we're having, and absolutely everything I tried on looked horrible to me. Finally, I got on the scale: 10 lbs higher than my happy weight.

Now, it was the end of the day; I was half dressed; and I hadn't been to the bathroom in a while. But still. It was the proverbial straw.

I went to bed resolving to do things right beginning today. And that means planning.

Dieting without a plan is impossible. The littlest thing can throw you off. I realized this as I drank my coffee and contemplated breakfast. I hadn't brought anything to work, and the cafeteria was filled with mostly-unhealthy options.

I settled on an apple and an ounce of cheddar cheese as I forced myself to stick to healthy eating instead of abandoning the idea immediately. I then said to myself, "What were you thinking, starting a diet without food shopping or meal planning? Ridiculous!"

But I resolved to use my skills and get through the day and create a full-on plan tomorrow once I have more time.

For lunch, a team member said, "Let's go to Crossroads!" Crossroads is a mall food court with tons of interesting (not your typical mall) choices. I decided to have a Thai veggie and chicken stirfry - no rice. They kindly offered me a salad instead - how perfect!

In the afternoon, our team event featured beer and cupcakes - but I stuck to the cut veggies (no dip, either!).

And for dinner, a nice chicken salad with avocado at a local casual restaurant the kids like. I decided before I went in not to even look at the menu, but instead to order exactly what I wanted. And of course I was accomodated.

So tomorrow, I'm going to do even better - I'll shop for the right foods so I'm not constantly being random and allowing myself to get off-track. And I'm also back to writing down all my food and my calorie running totals every day - that way I can't sneak those little pieces of candy from the administrative assistant's basket and pretend it doesn't count. It does - and my waistline shows it!