Three months in and my cheekbones came back

Saturday at 12:20 AM 1370 views 6 posts

I run a small cafe, so I'm around pastry and bread all day — that's always been my hardest part. Started this in January, and I'm down about 22 pounds in 12 weeks, but the weirdest change is my face. My jawline is back, my cheeks look less puffy, and two regulars have asked if I've been on vacation. My work apron is on the last hole and my old jeans fit again.

I still taste everything I bake, just tiny spoonfuls instead of finishing the day's leftovers. That habit alone probably saved me 300 calories a day without me noticing.

Honestly the face thing is what's kept me going, because the scale stalls and I spiral. Anyone else notice their face changed before the numbers did?

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Okay, the apron hole is the real NSV. I’m a broke dorm student, so my equivalent temptation is the dining hall cookie tray and the vending machine that accepts my student card like it’s a personal attack. Weirdly, the only thng that helps is pre-logging a boring protein snack before I leave my room—Greek yogurt, tuna packet, microwaved eggs—so I’m not making decisions while hungry and surrounded by carbs. Also my face deflated too and now I look like a tired Victorian orphan, but with better cheekbones. Question: do you actually track pastry bites

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The cheekbone thing is real — I remember a thread last spring about how faces change before waists do, and a few of us joked it was the only “vacation” we’d get. For the cafe, what helped me wasn’t willpower; it was moving my first real meal earlier. I keep a tub of Greek yogurt and frozen berries in the walk-in and eat that before I break down the day-old pastry case. Otherwise the broken croissant ends disappear on autopilot. Curious: is it the smell that gets you, or the little quality-control tastes?

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Hi! Total newbie here—day 5, so I’m lurking for hope. Congrats on 22 lbs and the cheekbones. My hardest part is an office snack drawer, not a cafe, so I’m in awe. Small nervous question: when you taste something for quality at work, do you put a tiny piece on a plate and track it, or just call it a work cost and move on? I’m trying to build a plan for unavoidable nibbles. Also, the apron hole is such a good NSV. Did you notice face changes before or after the scale started moving?

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Congrats—22 lbs while running a cafe is no joke. The face thing hit me too; my cheekbones showed up before my waist did. What surprised me was how much I was sampling without really logging it: pastry corners, a spoon of ganache, crusts. I started putting any deliberate taste on a saucer and counting it, which made me way more honest. Are you finding your cravings for the bread have changed at all, or is it still a daily white-knuckle? Also, the apron hole victory is huge—way better than the scale some weeks.

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I hit goal last spring and still maintain. The apron/jeans stuff is great, but the face changes kept going after the scale stopped. Mine was less about cheekbones and more about puffiness—poor sleep and salty shift meals made me look like a different person by Friday. A monthly photo in the same bathroom light was way more useful than daily mirror checks. Since you’re around bread all day: what’s your “not actually hungry, just smelling the bake” move? For me it’s a cold drink and stepping into the walk-in for two minutes. Sounds silly, but it breaks the autopilot.

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