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:
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 13 - buttered popcorn? Sign me up!
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 :)
Dear Crissy is giving away an HP TouchSmart 310. I would love to win this for my mom - she still doesn't have a computer, I've tried to give her ones in the past but she's not very tech savvy (luckily for me, I didn't inherit that trait. HA!)
ove Red Envelope at all times of the year, but they're really going all-out this year for Valentine's Day. They've teamed up with a ton of different bloggers to host giveaways all over the blogosphere! They've created a catalog of their suggested Valentine's Day gifts, if you're not sure what to get that special someone. Me personally, I've picked out a couple of things that I liked:
brewery - changing gears a bit, my son would love this as a gift anytime of the year!
Edy’s Slow Churned Shakes & Smoothies are a new single-serve product (found in the freezer section) that you just add milk to, stir, and drink! I first learned about them because of some giveaways I saw posted. On my last trip to Walmart, I found the Vanilla shake, and the Tropical smoothie (mango, passion fruit and pineapple) varieties.
