I've finally made the commitment to lose weight

I've finally decided it's time to actively work at losing weight. To that end, I'm now seeing a nutrionist monthly who has given me diet and exercise goals - I met her for the first time today. I also have to keep a food journal (UGH!) detailing everything I eat, along with calorie counts, fat and sugar grams, and how I was feeling. It's a total PITA (did you know a Dot has 12 calories? Or that a slice of pepperoni has 10 calories?) but it has been enlightening.

The hardest part is that I LOVE to cook, so it's tough figuring out calorie counts when I make a pot of spaghetti and meat sauce for example (whole wheat pasta, and 3/4 ground turkey to 1/4 ground beef, with tons of veggies in the sauce, so don't start with me!).

I've thought about doing something easier like NutriSystem for a loooong time now, but I just don't know. I'm not a terribly picky eater but I do have several foods I hate (any type of pea or bean for example), so I wonder how it'll work for me. Since I can't pick up their food at the local store I've never tried it, so I wonder about the taste.

One Savvy Mom! is trying NutriSystem for the next 16 weeks and blogging about it, and in conjunction with that she's offering one lucky reader a full MONTH of NutriSystem food! I envy her that she only needs to lose 25-30 pounds. She'll be blogging about her progress weekly, and then selecting a winner on Friday February 25, 2011. Entries will be combined from all her weekly posts.

If I lost half my body weight, I'd still be technically overweight. It's sobering. I just have to keep in mind that it went on 1 pound at a time, so it has to come off that way, too. I'd love to drop 50 (or 100!!) pounds overnight but that won't happen.

Update 11/30 - I got weighed, and I've lost 3.84% of my body weight since I started on 10/25. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The hardest thing for me is eating breakfast every day - I generally don't. I've been cheating a bit by drinking a Boost on the mornings where I'm rushed (which is most weekday mornings) which the nutritionist is OK with. Plus it boosts my fiber intake for the day (which I don't really have a problem with, but it doesn't hurt).

I actually think I lost more than that before Thanksgiving, but that weekend I indulged a little (ham, mashed potatoes, red velvet cake). No where near as much as I used to eat, but I definitely exceeded my 1600 calories/day for that 4-day weekend.

Update 2/1 - I got weighed again today, and I'm down almost 10% from when I started. I still really struggle with portion control and meal composition though - which is why I'm REALLY hoping I win One Savvy Mom's giveaway!

You can read her updates over the last 4 months and find out more about Nutrisystem and their food/plan by checking out the posts below:

Getting Started *squee*

Week 1 - she's down 1.5 pounds!

Week 5 - another 11 pounds gone (and this was over Thanksgiving!)

Week 8 - a New Year, another pound gone

Week 10 - another pound gone... but more importantly she's learning healthy eating habits!

Week 12 - yet another pound gone!

Week 13 - buttered popcorn? Sign me up!

Week 15 - another 3 pounds gone!

Update 2/27 - YAYAY I won, I won, I won! I'm so excited I can't even tell you. I can't wait to try this for myself :)