Update

The bad news is that I did not meet my weight loss goal for the month.  The good news is that I'm quite happy with meeting 90% of my weight loss goal! My initial goal was a little aggressive, and frankly, I was not willing to be THAT deprived.   Rather, I will opt for taking a little longer to meet my overall goals.  That I had an ambitious goal helped me get off to a good start.  I've not re-embraced the exercise part...but it's coming. 

It is great to feel more comfortable in my clothes.

Until I was 45, I was the same size as I was when I was 25.  I never bought bigger clothes.  I just used my discomfort to trim back down.  What changed?  I'd like to blame it on age, but I have to place blame where blame is due....I discovered the joy of wine.  I went from drinking nothing, except an occasional beer to drinking a glass or two of wine a few times a week, to everyday.  Well, the math on that is pretty clear.  If a glass of wine has about 140 calories (depending on alcohol content, etc), then 2 glasses is 280 calories.  (And if you are pouring your wine to fill your glass, then double that!).

(280 x 7 x 52)/3500 = 29+ lbs per year.  Your mileage may vary.  These sort of incremental daily  increases (or decreases!) add up over a year (years).  One thing that I've given up over this month is switching to drinking black coffee v. coffee with 2 tsp of sugar and half and half.  Let's see how that adds up in a month. 
2 tsp of sugar = 30 calories.
1 tbls of half/half = 20 calories
Combination of the two = 50 calories per cup of coffee.  I have two cups a day, so that is 100 calories per day or ~10.5lbs per year (100 x 365)/3500

These amounts aren't incremental so long as one is using them to meet his/her daily basal caloric rate.  However, more often than not, these are add on calories. 

Conclusion?  I'm happy to give up the cream and the sugar, and enjoy my wine on a moderated basis to achieve stasis!

But the above is based on what we commonly believe.  Here's an interesting source on calories etc from Zoe Harcombe discussing low carb diets.  I used to say that a carbohydrate free diet is not worth living. However, I'm beginning to realize the role of carbs/sugar in fueling craving.  http://home.theharcombedietclub.com/2012/04/a-calorie-is-not-a-calorie-and-heres-the-reason-why/

My goal for this month is to lose 5lbs.  Ironically, it will be less easy to lose those lbs than it was for the first 10 lbs.  But I'm motivated by my results so far.  Adding more regular exercise will help.  I've been in geek-out! mode in learning Crystal Reports as part of my CPE.