So today is July 24. I have been at AOS for almost seven months. I have lost fifty-two pounds. It is amazing to think that I could have never lost this much weight at home. It would have never been possible. I also have gained so much from this school.

Oh, and I have pretty great news, I maintained my weight on my off campus challenge! So yes, there are things I could have done differently, but this way I know for when I make a home visit in September. So my program is going well. I can't wait to get weighed in this week. I have been trying really hard with all of my workouts.

Hmmm, I also broke up with Mr. Anonymous because I found out that he lied about a few things. I can't date liars.

So this is about it for now. I am going to keep my program going strong.

So my off-campus challenge (OCC) went well. Many of you may be wondering what an "off-campus challenge" is. Well, it is basically a break from the school but not from our program. On an off-campus challenge you have to work your skills such as self-monitoring and exercise. You see at home, there is no planned schedule; you have to do the planning. It can be very difficult to do.

My OCC went very well. My mother and I had planned out all of my meals even before we left to go to Lake Powell. We had estimations of how many calories and fat everything would contain. My mom even put labels on everything homemade so I would know how much fat and calories to self-monitor.

I went home on Tuesday the 11th. I stayed up 'til one thirty in the morning and I woke up at five fourty five that same morning. Why? many of you may be asking yourselves. Well, I had made a promise to my bloodhound of one year that I would get up and take her on a walk. You see, since we were going to go to the lake, we were going to kennel our dogs. It would be great for her and me. So I got up and did it at the sound of my alarm clock. No questions asked. Then I went to go on a four mile walk with my dad. It was great spending time with him, and my dog.

Then my dad and I went out to eat. We went to JB's. It was great. They have a bar with yogurt and fresh fruit. I also ordered a plain pancake with fresh fruit and yogurt on it. No syrup or butter! So when we got up the the lake that night I already had 29,897 steps. That is two times the amound needed daily. So I did pretty well there.

Now, when we were out on the lake I had a pretty hard time exercising. It was hot so I didn't want to walk, I just wanted to float in the water and talk to my family. One day I did go for a long swim, but it wasn't enough since I did it only one day. I did eat well though.

So my OCC was good. However, I still need to learn. The first time I went home I gained almost three pounds. This time I gained .8. So it isn't too bad and every OCC I go on I learn a little more. It was great spending time with my family and friends. All of them supported me alot while I was at home. Coming back to AOS was hard. I was so used to doing what I wanted to and when. But I am glad to be back. I still need to learn alot and get some emotional things out of the way, but I'm getting there. I got back on Tuesday the 18 and the next day I was out and running on the morning walk. I felt confident that my OCC went well. Also, I got asked out by Mr. Anonymous. At first, I was unsure about a relationship here. Then I got to thinking, why not? Just so long as it doesn't affect my program, it will be fine. So life is good here at AOS!

Here at AOS, we have a level system. It shows how hard you are working and what you are doing. Our clinical team made our system up. When you first get to AOS, you are a Gumby. You get 10 minute phone calls twice a week. You can watch the on-campus movie, but you can not go off campus or go outside during free time. When you feel you are ready, you can move up to Boulder. This takes two weeks. You have to fill out an application along with an autobiography. You have to fill out at least 23 out of 35 meals and have above 10,000 steps. Along with being a Boulder, you get twenty minutes of phone time two times a week. You get to go off campus and can go outside during free time. You have study hall in the classroom. The second step requires a little more work.

To become an Ascender, you must have 27 out of 35 meals logged and 12,000 steps. This means you are starting to take your program much more seriously. This takes four weeks to complete. However, with your application you must also give a past and present paper. This paper goes more in-depth in your past and your present. With being an Ascender, you get 60 minutes of phone time, study hall in the dorm common room, and you get to go off campus twice a week.

Now, the third level is serious. To become a Belayer it takes 2 months of hard work. This means you are monitoring 30 out of 35 meals a day and getting above 13,000 steps. With your application you have to fill out a past, present, and future. Then you must read it out loud to the entire community. When you are a Belayer, your status is high and you're truly caring about your program. You get unlimited phone time, study hall in your room, and you get to get a paying job at the school.

The very last level is very intense. It takes three months of hard work to be a Yabo and this means you're truly becoming an L.T.W.C. You have accepted everything from your past and you are starting to move on. You must log all of your meals and get above 14,000 steps a day. You get no "controlled" foods and you truly get prepared to go home.

However, here at AOS the staff understands that not everyone is perfect. Therefore, they have a set of consequences for you to learn from your actions. A rappel is the least severe. For instance, let's say you were caught skipping activity and you are a boulder. You would become a Gumby for an amount of 24, 48, or 72 hours depending on who gave you the rappel. You would have to fill out a worksheet saying what you did and why you did it. These are the most common consequences. A stumble is a little more severe. A stumble means you may not be holding up to the level you are on in the system. Let's say that you are a Boulder and you are not self monitoring or exercising. You have lost your motivation. A behavioral coach will put you on a Stumble. That means you would move back to Gumby until you start to prove yourself again. You will also have some papers to fill out so if you run into a bump in the road at home you know how to fix it. Now if you get a long fall you'rr in the dog house. Let's say you are an Ascender and you get to go on the Ascender Shopping trip. You took some contraband money with you and bought candy. You will be moved all the way back to Gumby. You will be given a month or a month and a half to move back up. Therefore, that would mean that every three weeks you could move up a level. You would have to move up to Boulder and then back up to Ascender. Now if you get a solo, that's the worst that could happen. This means that your attitude or actions have been or have affected the community. You will eat and sleep away from the community. You will have many work sheets to fill out and this will go on for at least two days.

I'm finally back on my game. I did running intervals this morning, I lost weight, and because of that, I'm an ascender. This week has been pretty good. I have six days till I go home and I'm so excited. The days here lately have been calm and hot. Yesterday was bittersweet to me. It was the 4th of July. It was also my best friend's birthday. I usually spend the 4th of July with her, so it was weird without her. We went to the Grizzly game yesterday. The fire work show was pretty impressive. The best thing though is I am only 2.2 pounds away from losing a total of 50 pounds. With all of the weight loss I have had on other diets, I've never reached it this far. It also means I'll be half way there. So to ensure I get there I am cutting my calories way down, limiting my fruit intake. I'm going to run everyday on the walk, and I am going to keep hydrated. So my steps should be above 13,000 this week and my calories about 1200. I'm going to try to take it easy on the soda and hope I make 2.2. As for the rest of my weekend I am going on the ascender shopping trip and I am going to a football game over the weekend. Then I'll finish it off with a relaxing movie. Of course, I will invert some exercise in there but it should be a good weekend.

My weekend finally started off with a bang. On Friday morning, I ran the 3 mile walk and was the first to get back to the school. By the time I was headed back to the dorms it was 8:00. So Friday during school was good. Not to much happened, which is good. On Saturday, I got to go laser tagging. It was so much fun. It was my first time going and for anyone who hasn't done it I strongly recommend it. It is something I really want to do again. Well, I have 9 days till I go home for a week vacation. My plans consist of sitting on our boat on Lake Powell and relaxing. Of course I am going to stay on program my mom and I already have our meals planned out, since she is also doing the program. As for my exercise, I can go swimming, hiking, running, walking and water tubing. My off campus challenge is going to go well. I think I will be fine on this challenge, because there is so much to do. I promise to tell you all the details to my trip.