Saturday, October 16, 2010

Facing Every Pound, One by One

I haven't posted in awhile, but that's because I haven't been happy with how I've been handling my health. I finally reached the tipping point. (Something about not being able to fit into certain pieces of clothing...)

I was inspired by my partner, who joined Weight Watchers. She had joined WW before, without much success, mostly because of the issues re: weighing in. She is now working with an online group, and is quite encouraged by her feelings of control over her own body as well as her dramatic weight loss.

But I didn't want to do that. Counting points...ugh. I don't want to write a food diary. I've tried that, and was really bad at recreating what I had eaten - in amounts and ounces. The other issue, and this is the BIG one, is that I can't figure out how to judge (1) how to control the number of calories and fat in one meal, and (2) how to judge portion size. When I had to eat out one night, I had a BLT, what I thought was one of the best choices I could've made. Oh, My God. Lots of calories, and obviously lots of fat.

So, with those challenges, I found that Nutrisystem was a pretty good match. You don't have to memorize the point system. You enter in your weight every day, or whenever you feel like it, and your meals. And it became a computer game.

I've been on the system for a week, and I have lost 4 pounds. I'm encouraged, more than the weight loss, because my glucose levels have been outstanding in the meantime. Well, that's easy to understand: since I'm not buying cokes and candy - I don't want to have to have the challenge of entering them - my blood sugar level is coming down to "normal."

If I could change one thing, it's the food Nutrisystem offers. It's not that it's bland, it's that some of it's weird. At least, unlike some other systems, you can order a la carte. I think I can do the breakfasts by myself, and I'm learning how to do lunch, but dinner is tough. So I have gone to some of the other sites, found better food on one, and ordered some from there, just to compare. We'll see how it goes.

The one thing I've learned is that the portion size is SMALL. I am so surprised. I thought I knew it all. I don't.