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 :)