How NOT to Lose Weight on a Diet

Resolutions for '09

2009-01-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of making resolutions. I try to set goals year round so New Years is the perfect time to reevaluate the previous year and set challenges for the new year.

While losing weight tends to be at the beginning of every resolution list but this year I've come to realize that I'm not actually ready to do what needs to be done in order to lose weight. I'm not ready to exercise regularly or follow a diet that tells me I cannot eat the foods I love.

Instead I've decided to make my resolutions more specific, pointed and achievable.

1. I will learn to like myself as a size 14
2. I will drink water daily
3. I will start moving for fun. I will walk, run, bike ride or just play at least 3 days a week.

For the first two months of the year I will focus ONLY on these 3 personal goals.
I will NOT worry about

My weight
My measurements
What other people think about me

What will you resolve for 2009?

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T17:20:00.000-08:00

Today is the final day of the year. If you are at all like me, you will find a way to celebrate with friends and a bottle of champagne. Tonight is a night for celebrating all the success you achieved in 2008.

For tomorrow is a new year, with new challenges, new goals and new successes.

Have fun while you can tonight, because tomorrow you will begin making new resolutions.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

I wish you and your family a happy holiday.

Bread, the greatest thing since well...

2008-12-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

I love bread. I love all forms of bread - rolls, biscuits, toast, bagels - I love them all. This morning I made a loaf of white bread in my bread machine. My apartment smells heavenly, all that soft, white, squishy goodness that is bread.

I'm guessing my bread obsession is why I never succeeded on a low-carb diet. I mean really, who wants to give up squishy white bread, especially when it's fresh??

As a child when parents did the horrible threaten of sending me to bed without dinner or talked about those poor people who had to live on bread and water - I didn't see the harm personally. If I had to live on bread alone, I figured I would eat well. My five year old self did really understand the balanced diet and why our bodies need protein and fresh vegetables. Even though I understand that now I still can't seem to give up the bread.

I have no problem letting go of the pasta (though I'm a fan of lasagna and mac n' cheese), potatoes (a trip to Ireland several years ago lessened my urge for potatoes) and rice. I can give up sugar and artificial sweeteners.

BUT I CANNOT GIVE UP BREAD!

As of yet, I can't even say that being thin again would be worth it.

More I'm FAT

2008-12-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

I thought of a few more to add to my list:

It's hormonal
DIET is a four letter word
It's not my fault that I got this way
Drugs and birth control got me this way
I HATE thinking about food
I want my way
I don't like vegetables
I'm unwilling to count calories long term
Exercise is too hard
It's dark at 4pm
I'm too tired
I cannot sleep

Hopefully none of these are duplicates since I didn't look at the earlier list before making this one.

I'm fat because...

2008-12-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Today I'm fat because

I love sugar
I crave soda and use it for stress relief
I don't exercise enough
I hate to sweat
I am too weak to stay motivated
Weekend binges
Cheese, butter & bread are my favorite foods
I have no self control
Moderation isn't in my vocabulary
I'm capable of consistency only in my work life
I make excuses
I am busy
I am lonely
I embrace change only when it is comfortable
I am comfortable with being lazy

If you are asking why I made this list, bear with me for a few minutes. You see we all have excuses, reasons or rationalizations for why we are not as thin, fit or healthy as we want to be. Today these are the excuses I have been using. Tomorrow there may be different excuses. For this week I will challenge myself to list every excuse I can think of that I have used - EVER.

Once I have a complete list I plan to start crossing off the crazy reasons and the reasons I want to make sure are never true again. I'm making getting rid of negative messages a step in my new plan to take control of my life and my goals.

Welcome to Winter

2008-12-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

Today was the first snowfall of the season in my small town in Central Mass. The snow stayed pretty and pure until about 2 and then it became a mess of dirty slush. Not that you need the weather report but the snow announced winter and got me thinking about winter and weight.

You see the change of season means something to weight loss.

Winter Positives
Fat keeps us warm
We burn calories just trying to stay warm
No one wants to see your pasty skin
Sweaters cover a myriad of body flaws
Video workouts
Catching up on sleep
A new year to look forward to & reason to change

Winter Negatives

Too much darkness leads to couch potato syndrom

Holiday sweets

Stressful shopping and gift giving

Comfort food

Pasta and potatoes

Hot chocolate

Vitamin D deficiency

I'm guessing that the positives and negatives mean something different for each of us. So far I don't know which will win out for my life. Today I'm still weighing in at 180. I'm hoping for 170 by January 1.

What goals have you set?

Will winter get in your way?

Weight loss podcasts

2008-12-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

How to you feel about podcasts? Have you ever listened to them?

I am a huge fan of my iPod. Having my music available without interruption makes me happy, not just when traveling. I use the iPod to tune out office noises at work so I can focus and concentrate while writing. I also use my iPod at home to motivate me when I’m cleaning or organizing. This tiny machine provides the music I love at my fingertips and provides a sense of privacy that allows me to tune out the rest of the world. In short, it’s a modern marvel in the life of a semi-technophobe.

While experimenting with the iPod I have stumbled across several free podcasts available on iTunes. Recently I found some podcasts that are directed towards those who want to lose weight. I subscribed to a couple, the one I found recently, Inside Out Weight Loss with Renee Stephens. This podcast is all about using the Law of Attraction to change your mental state to help you lose weight.

Surrounding the listener for a half hour of motivational speaking and zen-like background music seems to be the goal. This morning I was catching up on a few of the older podcasts. Renee spoke in this episode about not putting off the now and living now for the ideal life that will occur when we reach our ideal weight.

The conversation was interesting and focused on changing how we think instead of how we eat. I’m not saying that we won’t have to change our food or exercise habits but the idea is that before we can be successful in changing those habits we have to change our mental habits. She recommends changing our views on the past and past events. She talks about changing our minds to rethink the events in the past that have shaped us or are holding us back from being successful.

I’m willing to try listening to motivation for a few weeks before I make a statement of opinion but so far I am skeptical. What about you? Would motivational speaking hold any sway over your mental challenges when it comes to your life, and your weight loss?

Have you tried podcasts, or other audio reinforcement?
What did you try?
How did it work for you?

Please let us know.

My Hormones are Hampering Me

2008-12-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

Why is it that I am most motivated 2 days before I start my period? Will someone please answer this question for me?

Once again I was motivated yesterday to begin to get back on track. I started to make note of my food intake and decided to cut back to one soda daily as the only sugar in my diet. And I did great for 1 entire day. I walked 3 miles and I ate according to plan.

Then I woke up this morning with cramps, my period and the only desire I had was to crawl back into bed and stay there for a week. I am often to exhausted during my period to do anything but stay awake. And in two more days when my period is over will I still have the desire to turn my life around and get my health under control. Of course I won't. I never do.

So what can I do? I hate to admit that hormones are making me feel crappy and that I don't have the strength of will to stay motivated after a few crap days. And yet, I still don't have an answer.

So my hormones are helping me NOT lose weight. How about yours?

What do your hormones make you do?

We're Baaack!!

2008-12-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

November is over and we have to come back from hiatus. I will admit it was nice to have a break from thinking about my weight loss.

Unfortunately, not thinking about it did not help me lose any weight. I gained 2 pounds total for the month but considering that I totally pigged out the week of Thanksgiving and didn't exercise, I'm not real upset by the small gain.

I love Thanksgiving with the pies, cool whip and any other baked goods I can think of. Sure turkey and ham are great but for me it's all about the dessert. Hopefully I gorged so much last week that I won't be tempted by Christmas cookies and holiday cocktails. We'll have to see how it goes.

I can't speak for Noelle but this month, I plan to get back on the blogging bandwagon and chat with you all about what is keeping me from being that slender, healthy girl I once was.

BLOG ON HIATUS FOR NOVEMBER

2008-10-31T18:37:00.001-07:00

I know we've been absent a lot lately but with moving, working and trying to keep my head above water as the economy plummets, I've been a little busy. And now I'm writing to let you know that Noelle and I will be absent for the month of November.

November is National Novel Writing Month.

We've decided to accept the challenge of NaNoWriMo of writing 50,000 words or a full novel during the month of November.

In order to achieve my goal I will be cutting back on all other writing as much as possible. I've set myself a 1000 word goal for each week day with a larger goal for the weekends, 5000 words each day for three weekends. I'm taking the other weekend off writing in order to move.

I'm not sure what Noelle's specific plan is but I'm sure she'll be working just as hard to win NaNo this year. She won last year and would love to repeat her success.

In order to make the goal, we will put this blog on hold. But don't worry.

We should be back December 1st.

Feed a fever, starve a cold? Or is it the other way around?

2008-10-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in writing but I've been down with a killer cold that had me using every spare moment to catch as much sleep as possible. In between naps I managed to go to work but that was about it. So all this rest may have helped me feel better but it did nothing for my weight loss plans.

Instead I put on 2 or 3 pounds. I'm not sure how considering I ate very little because I couldn't taste anything and it seems wasteful to eat when your taste buds are on vacation. Plus with congestion and crap floating through my system the last thing I wanted to do was add anything more into the mix.

So back to the point of this entry. Is it feed a fever, starve a cold? Apparently it IS the other way around. When I did a search I found more references to feeding a cold. But really I must repeat my earlier assertion, who wants to eat with snot running down the back of their throat and their taste buds on hiatus?? Sorry about the graphic reference but I felt like CRAP last week. I'm only now feeling a little better. But I'm hoping for back to 100% by Wednesday. By then I plan to get back to packing my apartment (I move in 3 weeks) and getting back into an exercise routine.

I did manage to walk at lunch today for 2 miles without sweat dripping down my face and feeling like passing out. But I'm thinking once I have my energy back I'll be adding the strength training back to my regimen. It always makes me feel better but I still can't seem to stick with it.

We'll see how well I do. One another note, I won an award at work and from the list of prizes I chose a Trek Mountain Bike. Hopefully this expensive bike will inspire me to get out an ride. Winter's coming I know so maybe this wasn't the best plan but still if I spend the winter working with weights I'll be raring to hit the trails on the bike come spring. I HOPE!!

So I failed to feed my cold and still I survived? The only thing I lost was my motivation and yeah I took a couple steps back in my weight loss plan. So for this week a cold stopped my weight loss.

How about you?

What's stopping you this week?

Caught in the candy trap

2008-10-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

I know I said I wouldn't get sucked in to the endless candy that seems to flow from every nook and cranny leading up to Halloween but again I have failed. For the past two days I have consumed at least 500 calories in empty, mindless sugar consumption.

A coworker placed a container full of some of my candy favorites - Lemonheads and red hots - within easy reach of my desk. Within three steps there is also a tub full of Twizzlers. I'm a big fan of the sweet that comes with the sour and I cannot help myself from mindlessly popping these tiny candies into my mouth while I work. I created a Power Point presentation while eating 2 90 calorie boxes. Then I checked my email during another box. I cannot put the candy down.

I have bought no candy myself. My cupboards are empty and there are no bowls or containers available on my desk or at home to put candy in. YET, I'm still consuming candy at an alarming rate. Those tiny boxes of Lemonheads have 90 calories in them, 90!!

At the rate I'm going I could be consuming my daily calorie allowance in sugar by Halloween.

I just don't know how to stop myself.

Being the Fat Girl

2008-10-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't been in the mood to write much lately because I've been busy with other things. Plus I'm down about 3 pounds - the stage where my size 16s look baggy on my butt but size 14s are still a little too tight. There hasn't been much else to say.

I was a little bored earlier so I was wandering around in blogland and hit on some blogs that were a bit distressing. I know that we are a weight obsessed culture and for those who feel fat, the feelings of distance and ostracism can be overwhelming. I guess I've just never had it in my face as much before.

I stumbled across the following blogs:
http://101reasonsihatebeingfat.blogspot.com/
On number 97 of things this blogger hates about being fat. If you are looking for things to add to your list, there may be a few you haven't thought of.

http://angryfatgirlz.blogspot.com/
This blog covers more than just ranting about weight. There are some good life tips here.

http://www.pastaqueen.com/halfofme/index.html
If you're looking for positive and reasonable inspiration, start here. This blogger tracked her weight loss over 3 years for a total of 178 pounds and now works at tracking how she keeps it off.

http://www.dietgirl.org/dietgirl/
Check out another woman who has lost half her weight. This blog tracks weight loss that started in 2001 and is great for the maintenance stage.

http://www.myallnaturalweightloss.com/
A weight loss journey with a dieter willing to experiment with almost any diet out there.

Some of these are great blogs full of awesome inspiration while others rant. There are a few moments of negativity and laughs but these are well worth the visit.

Free food fandango

2008-10-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Why, as adults, can we still be bribed with food?

Our insurance agent came by today to check in, see how we are doing, answer any questions, just basically remind us that his company loves ours. He brought muffins. And not some skinny little muffins like your mom used to make in the 12-cup muffin tins, but huge, gooey, multi-thousand calorie muffins that are really small cakes. People were lining up in the breakroom to get some. Luckily, the things were so damn big we had to cut them in half, so there was plenty for everyone.

Why are we like that? None of us are starving. All of us could afford to go buy a similar treat for ourselves (or something healthier or more appropriate), but we all go crazy for free food brought in by a vendor. And we think well of them for bringing us this stuff that is really not good for any of us. Granted, we also like it when they bring us calendars and pens and other desk accessories, but nothing turns us into cavemen like food.

This is something I've had to make a deliberate effort to stay away from, so I think I'm a little resentful, too. I have an eating plan and big muffins aren't on it. I have to be one of those people who declines the original offer PLUS has to stiff-arm all the office people who want to encourage me to partake in the bounty. There is no polite way to say, "No, thanks, I'd rather those calories were on your thighs, not mine."

The winter holidays are coming and this free food phenomenon is only going to get worse. How do you cope? Do you just give in or try to fight the food frenzy?

Comfort Food

2008-10-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

I'm half way into what I feel will be a killer cold. I have the itchy ears, throat and congestion. The fever seems like it's creeping up and will probably knock me on me tail this weekend while I'm in the middle of a serious enterprise at work. However, there's nothing I can do but pop some pills and suffer through. I can't take off work because there's just too much to do during the next week.

Anyway, the most prominent side effect of having a cold is that I cannot taste anything. Why this makes me want to snack I cannot tell you. I'm not hungry and have no appetite yet I feel some compulsion to eat something every now and then. So today what did I grab for comfort food?

Was it soup?
Maybe some hot chocolate?
How about something hearty and nutritious?

NAH, I reached for cheese and crackers with a side of apple.

I can't tell you why but I do believe this is my favorite food. As a snack it is perfect. It makes a damn good dinner too (although since it was lunch, I made do with a mini bag of popcorn for dinner). I found that standing long enough for the popcorn to pop in the microwave made me tired and ready for a nap. I decided to write this quick update then I'm off to bed.

Before I sleep I suggest you might want to consider the following:
What is your comfort food?
Is it crazy?
Healthy?
Sugar?
Salt?

And the most revealing question (if you ever find an answer) WHY is that your comfort food?

Are you hungry??

2008-10-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hunger is a fascinating word that has over the years achieved a variety of definitions. Consider some of the following from Encarta Dictionary for the word hunger:

the need or desire for food
a lack of food leading to sickness or death
a great need or desire for something

In deciding that you are hungry, what are you really saying? Is your hunger a biological need for food for fuel, for energy, to exist? Or is your desire caused by some other trigger? Are you an emotional eater? A stress eater? A bored eater? Or do you eat just because it is lunch time?

Determining the source and reason for your hunger will help you find your starting point, maybe even one reason behind your initial weight gain.

I've been thinking about this a lot since reading Rethinking Thin and writing this blog the last few months. What I've discovered is that I am rarely if ever hungry. I eat because it's time or because I have a headache. Sometimes I eat if I am bored. For my situation hunger or even the desire for food are not my primary motivators for eating.

Realizing this I have no idea why I can't lose the weight. I've just begun the journey of determining my root causes and motivations. But for now, at least I know that hunger is not my reason for eating.

"Rethinking Thin" or Should we just Give Up

2008-10-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I read Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata on the recommendation from Noelle. My partner in crime has been a bit slammed lately which is why I've taken primary blogger duty of late.

Regardless, she mentioned this book so I checked it out from the library and took a look. As a side note, I have decided that I will not EVER buy another book about diet, weight loss or getting healthy. I have dedicated one shelf of one of my larger bookcases to these type of books and I'm disgusted with myself over how much money I've spent on books that did nothing for me (or my health). So NO MORE. I will borrow from the library and hopefully one day, I will just stop reading these things.

But for now, I did spend a few hours this weekend reading this book written by the New York Times Science Writer, Gina Kolata. To Kolata's credit (or detriment, I haven't yet decided), this book reads like a science book. If you are not at all interested in the history of the science investigating obesity, then leave this book on the shelf (or just read the short sections at the end of each chapter that talk about the research test group studied for this project).

I admit I'm not a huge fan of the science jargon so I skimmed some of the chapters. I wasn't too interested in the discovery of leptin deficiency in rats (or mice) so I read enough to get the gist.

I finished this book with 2 problems:

1. It seems like there is no hope for most people wanting to lose weight; AND

2. This book doesn't apply to me

So I guess personally I wasn't disheartened by this book but for others, I felt irritated. The book reads as though there is a genetic component that forces people to maintain a high weight because the genes make them eat more (some are insatiable), it adjusts so that they constantly need fewer calories to maintain their weight.

The reason I say this book doesn't apply to me is because I am not a big eater, I don't have any drive to consume massive amounts of food in the evening and I'm not so obese I cannot move. In relation to the participants in the book, my heavy weight isn't high enough to qualify. So I'm not the audience she is speaking to. Still, it seems distressing to think that for some people, weight is completely out of their control which in turn means that their health and life are out of their control as well. For some, reading this book is the answer to a prayer. It is a reason to just give up and never try to be thinner. It is the ultimate demotivator.

The 20 Minute Walk Fantasy

2008-10-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

We've all heard it from any number of sources, all you need to do is walk 20 minutes a day and you can increase your health and decrease your weight.

If this was true I would weigh 100 pounds. The thing is that 20 minutes of walking even at a pace where your having a hard time breathing is NOT ENOUGH. I walk a half hour at lunch almost every day. I struggle with it, EVERY TIME. My cardio does not get better, my heart and lungs don't feel better and I certainly do not lose weight.

So why does every program you see, almost every diet and exercise plan tells us that we just need to move a little, to have those 20 minutes a day or get those 2 miles a day and you will be healthy and thin?

For those who do ZERO activity, I guess 20 minutes a day is better than nothing from the viewpoint of the weight loss experts. Maybe the idea is that something is better than nothing.

These of course are the same people who promise if you would just drink your 64 ounces of water ice cold instead of lukewarm, you will notice a difference in how it speeds up your metabolism.

This crap just doesn't work. Plain and simple.
I don't know what the solution is yet but I do know that it takes more than 20 minutes a day.

I’m not ignorant; I also know the bad side

2008-10-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

If you read yesterday’s post and thought I had lost my mind, all that positive when our economy is falling apart and people are losing their jobs and savings all around us. I am not insensitive or crazy. I’m just trying to find a way to get by, just like you are.

The economy sucks and I’m afraid to even look at my 401k again this month. Still I have to be positive or I will want to give up. What’s the point of working 2 jobs and trying to write in my spare time if the world is falling apart?!

For you Negative Nellies I will acknowledge the following health negatives that the economy may cause:
1. Job loss = income loss = inability to buy food and basic necessities
2. Job loss = benefits loss = no health care
3. Stress is bad for our physical and mental health

AND THE EXTREMES
4. Hunger and starvation
5. Increased rates of suicide
6. Increases rates of violent crimes
7. Rise in infant and child mortality rates
8. ETC.

Still, the US isn’t a third world country as of yet and hopefully no matter how far we fall, we won’t let people starve in the streets. I try to be positive that even if our leaders cannot prevent this, we as a people, will band together and those who can help others, will do so. Call me sentimental or foolish but I want to stay positive.

Good news about the economy

2008-10-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

I was reading the NY Times online this morning and came across an article that may perk up your mood (or depress the hell out of you).

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/health/07well.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

The article Are Bad Times Healthy? discusses a few ways that economic hard times can be good for our health. For dieters there are some obvious advantages.

1. Less eating out
2. More cooking at home from scratch
3. Walking and biking more to save on fuel expenses
4. More time at home with the kids
5. Less cable TV watching (I added this one on my own)

Look at your own life. Has the economy changed how you eat or exercise? Can you make changes to save money and improve your health?

I took two steps this year to save money that are helping improve my health

1. I planted two tomato plants in the spring that have yielded one or two ripe tomatoes per week on average. I save money and eat fresh produce with the added bonus that the tomatoes grown on my patio have tons more taste than the ones I buy in the grocery store.
2. I gave up the cable TV. I did this a few months ago for 2 central reasons – my cable bill was costing $150 per month which I could no longer afford and I realized I was getting home from work and planting myself in front of the TV to watch reruns of The OC and General Hospital and losing an average of 4 hours per day. I’d like to say that I use this time to exercise but it would be a lie. I haven’t gotten that far yet. I do use the time to work my second job and I’m more productive without the TV on so that I finish before 10p each night and therefore am able to get my 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

What small step will the economy force you to do that also benefits your health?

Back in Gear, sort of

2008-10-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the diet mood again. More I'm working on a healthy diet option with one caveat - I'm not giving up the soda. Maybe it's counterproductive but there is too much stress in my life right now to give up the crutch that is caffeine and sugar.

I have however set a different goal. I intend to consume no more than 1300 calories per day (this includes the soda). I'm not sure if this means I will be cutting too many vitamins and minerals but I've decided to try getting healthy my way, the half way.

So other than the soda, I will be all raw fruits, veggies and lean proteins but my sugary simple carbs will be in the soda. I'll cut out all the others - pasta, bread, candy. Whatever it takes, I'm thinking that I can give up the others as long as I have the cold caffeine.

I don't know how this will work in the long run BUT everything I've read argues that weight loss is about the simple step of creating a calorie deficit. I need to eat less than I burn. With this 1300 calorie goal, I will definitely eat less than I burn. We'll see if it works.

I'll let you know in a week or two.

For now, start thinking about what modifications you make in your quest to get healthy and thin while trying to maintain your sanity.

Crazy Alternatives

2008-10-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today I'm not really interested in talking about myself. I guess I'm in a bit of a mood. Instead I did some research and gathered 5 diets that were guaranteed to be crazy. They may have been just crazy enough to work but there were obvious and sometimes complicated side effects. So today I shall celebrate the Crazy Alternatives out there in diet land.

Number 5
Diet pill containing a tapeworm. I may have even seen this one on ER or one of those other medical dramas, it's so difficult to keep them straight. Anyway the point is that you swallow a pill and soon you are dramatically losing weight, no matter what you consume. Of course, eventually you may notice what appears to be a tumor growing in your abdomen because the tapeworm you ingested has started growing due to the constant food you've been feeding it. All I can say is GROSS!

Number 4
Master Cleanse promoted by some celebrities that requires you to drink a mix of maple syrup, lemon juice, water and cayenne pepper. If you vomit often enough, you will lose weight.

Number 3
HCG - The pregnant woman hormone that you inject into yourself on every day while you reduce your calories to between 500 -800 per day. Difficult if you are not a fan of needles. I've actually tried this one and I hate to think of the side effects that may one day creep up. I recall being hungry constantly and it was impossible to eat so few calories without a constant headache.

Number 2
Weekly colonics - this says it all. DISGUSTING and I'm not sure how it helps anything.

Number 1 - THE ALL STAR
The Druggie Diet - choose your drug of choice - cocaine or heroine - and consume copious amounts while forgoing all forms of food. Not much to say about this one. You will get thin quick but you might not be around to see it.

What are your TOP 5 CRAZIEST DIETS?

Which have you tried?

How important is the sun to our health?

2008-10-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

I’m a native Floridian so I’ve spent much of my life exposed to sun. While I am fair skinned and therefore careful about the sun and using sunscreen, I still am used to getting most of my Vitamin D straight from the sun.

Fall is coming to Massachusetts where I now live and the new season has been ushered in by a week of dreary, rainy days lacking in any sunshine. I did fine for a few days but for the last two I’m pretty sure I’ve been losing my mind. Getting out of bed each morning has become more difficult. Plus I’m plagued by morning irritation that lasts until about 3 in the afternoon.

I've been doing a little research and found that one of the reasons many women are Vitamin D deficient is that other than sun exposure, the vitamin is hard to come by. It is found in some foods such as fish oils and in small quantities in liver, eggs and cheese. When most of us drank whole milk it was fortified with Vitamin D for better calcium absorption. But now that 1% or skim is becoming the norm, we aren't getting enough of the D. As a result, our bodies also aren't metabolizing calcium as well either.

Without Vitamin D our bones and muscles become weak which can lead to rickets, osteoporosis and insulin resistance which can lead to weight gain. Even with all these the bigger problem of Vitamin D deficiency is the symptoms of fatigue that lead to irritation and a general tendency to avoid doing anything.

If you are like me and don't take a multivitamin daily then you risk a Vitamin D deficiency contributing to the stress and weakness you feel on dreary days. I'm thinking that starting today I will be adding a multi to see if it boosts my fall and winter mood.

Welcome to October the month of endless CANDY

2008-10-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with the month of October. Last year I spent more than $50 on bags of candy for the office and will be the first to admit that I ate more of the sugar than anyone else. I probably reach 3000 calories some days with the empty sugar calories and foolishness.

I'd like to say that one day I will have willpower and just avoid buying the candy. This year I will likely not get sucked in when in the store just because the money crunch has me on a strick budget. However, I work in an environment where there is candy on every desk and in every classroom - year round. But we seem to get a little extra for the days leading up to scary candy day.

I wonder if I should just scrap the entire month then start over in November. Of course, November houses my favorite holiday (and its requisite chow down) Thanksgiving. So then I would have to give up again until December.

This just doesn't seem to be a good idea.

While candy may be my nemesis I think I will try not to give an entire month to it. I already gained back 2 of the pounds I lost last month. SO my goal for this month is 6 pounds instead of 4. Since my workout hasn't been working either I'm going to go back to the drawing board. I want to still take what I was learning from Turbulence Training and start smaller again. Right now my right wrist is swollen and sore so pushups and weights are out of the question for 2 or 3 days. So starting Saturday I will go back to working out but for the first week I will plan a simple body weight routine that lasts about 15 minutes. Then I will get back to the TT workouts the second week.

Fighting candy and lack of exercise WILL NOT get me down. Be prepared to SMACK ME if I give up this month. I'm headed back to Fitday.com and getting into a routine again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Something's got to give

2008-09-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

I tried to get back into the workout routine today. I've done OK this week getting back to eating natural foods and avoiding processed foods but for some reason I'm so exhausted that exercise is a problem.

I mentioned a while ago that I've been trying to start Turbulence Training which is a strength training program that looks like it would work wonders and help jump start getting in shape. The strength training isn't just about losing weight; it's about building a better body. Which is really what I'm after.

The problem is that by the time I get home at night I am so tired I can barely see straight. Then figure in 3 - 4 hours of writing time for my many projects and I often forget to eat dinner until after 9.

Today I tried to get the routine in as soon as I got home at 530. I figure if I just do it when I get home, I can then shower and have dinner before diving back into working. Today I made it home a few minutes early. I changed clothes and began the workout. I made it through the warm up with no problems and all the way through the first set of exercises before I became a little light headed. Now I had eaten 2 meals and 2 snacks spaced throughout the day and had 48 or my 64 ounces of water -- so I shouldn't have felt light headed. There was just no reason for it.

I paused for a minute then tried to get back down to the routine. The second set of exercises started fine until I had to lie on the floor for an exercise. Half way through a set of 10 all I wanted was to curl up and go to sleep, right there on my living room floor. I was so tired.

I kept thinking to myself -- there is so much I have left to do today. Yet I could barely keep my eyes open. I lay there for at least 5 minutes before I pushed myself up off the ground and decided it was time to give up for the day. Even if I had completed the workout I wouldn't have had the energy to really push myself.

After a cool shower that should have made me feel alert, I was still dragging. So much so that the idea of cooking dinner was more than I wished to deal with. I pulled out my emergency tomato soup for one and combined it with some low fat cheddar and crackers. I even brewed a pot of coffee since I really did have work to do.

The problem was my eyes were drooping before I finished my meal. I gave in for a 30 minute cat nap then forced myself to wake up and get to work.

So now here I am, it's late, an hour past my usual bedtime. The coffee didn't keep me alert but the headache leftover from the nap has kept me slogging through. I'm writing this to try to relax some of the tension in my headache so that I will be able to sleep when my head nears the pillow.

I only hope it will work.

I just keep thinking, how will I ever lose weight if I am so busy and SO TIRED that I can't even get my work done much less exercise and sleep.

Apartment Hunting - One of life's distractions

2008-09-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I have gotten behind on blogging is that I've had to look for a new place. You see, my lease is up in about a month and since the place where I live has decided to jump my rent it has become out of my comfortable reach.

I don't mind having to pay rent, it's a part of life. But I do mind when the cost jumps hundreds of dollars every year. With the economy going to crap, how can anyone reasonably expect to pay increased rental costs?

What you ask does this have to do with losing weight? Not much. EXCEPT that when I have to deal with searching for a new place and arranging a budget to afford a new deposit and moving charges, I don't actually have time to work out or think about my diet.

I hate to say it but this is one of my top ten reasons for not losing weight. If I'm honest with myself I can admit that life and its distractions often keep me from losing weight. Moving isn't the only life distraction that has this impact. Some others include

Changing jobs
Working a 2nd job (which I have been doing for about 4 months)
Traveling
Starting a new relationship (or ending an old one)
Studying for continuing education tests
Working overtime
Reading a really good book
Eating out as part of social time or interaction with friends

These are just a few of my life distractions.

What are yours?

Start making a list of your life's little distractions that keep you from losing weight.

2 Steps (lbs) forward, 2 Steps back

2008-09-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

For some reason I've chosen Wednesday as my weigh-in and measure day at home. Sometime near the end of the day I sit down with my laptop and update fitday.com with my new weight and measurements.

So that's what I did tonight. I also caught up on my food diary entries. I've been tracking what I eat on paper but not putting it into the computer for about 5 days. What I discovered tonight is that it is tons easier to go overboard when the calorie count isn't staring you in the face.

I've also learned that soda really will keep you from losing - no matter what else you do. At my status check today I discovered I have gained 2 pounds and an inch on my waist. Which SUCKS!!
I made good progress then I went of vacation and even though I was active, I wasn't active enough and I wasn't pursing my weight training. Of course I also drank wine and soda while I was away. And the access to fresh fruit was limited.

Of course today I also ate awesome lasagna at lunch and had mac n cheese at dinner. You see once I get started on the pasta, I crave it constantly. So it's possible that today's weigh in was all about limited fiber and an overdose of carbs.

Maybe I'll do better next week. The problem is that when I back step I get frustrated and irritated. My first reaction to irritation is to grab an ice cold soda and a junk magazine then curl up with both on the couch until I feel relaxed and don't give a crap about what the scale or tape measure said. So every step backward initiates a second, larger step in the wrong direction.

For this week, I am NOT losing weight by stepping back with soda and pasta -- and doubling my carbohydrate intake for the day! Sucks to be me today.

Good news though, it's almost midnight so today will soon be over and I shall start again tomorrow. Have a nice night!

Delay in Posting

2008-09-22T17:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delays in posting but traveling does more than trash my diet, it trashes my intentions to keep up with blogging.

I actually took my laptop with me to the Poconos in the hopes that the relaxation and solitude would give me the time to write. It did. The problem was that where I was staying blocked my cell phone and wireless service. I was completely out of touch for 4 days so I've gotten behind.

The good news is that I have an entire blog entry about gravity weighing us down that I will input as soon as I get it typed up. So you may have to go back a day or two since I will post date it to the date I wrote the blog.

Anyway, enough of the excuses. Back to not losing weight.

I've started participating in weekly weigh-ins with a group of my coworkers. We weigh-in on Monday mornings in an attempt to motivate us to maintain a diet over the weekend. This should help me since weekends are when I tend to blow all my progress.

So this morning I weighed-in at 2 pounds less than I did two weeks ago. In theory I should be happy about this - right? I lost two pounds in two weeks even though I skipped weight training for an entire week and I completely sabotaged my diet.

SO WHY do I feel like a big, fat failure??

And WHY did this morning's weigh-in make me want to give up all over again, even though I am making progress?

Gravity getting you down?!

2008-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

Gravity is the force of nature that gives us out weight. It also is what holds us firmly to the planet so we don't go soaring off into space as the Earth turns on its axis. SO most of us have a love/hate relationship with gravity.

You see, gravity is what makes me weigh almost 180 pounds when I step on the scale. It's a safe bet I would weigh much less on the moon or floating in space.

Of course we can't blame our shape or size on gravity. We cannot blame our relative weight on gravity either but sometimes when I just need to blame someone or something other than myself, gravity is as good a target as any.

While on vacation I spent today hiking in the Poconos. I wandered to Bushkill Falls which is a series of waterfalls. The view was pretty amazing and I counted the hike as exercise since it took about 2 hours of walking through the woods, climbing up and down steep staircases and trudging over rocks and uneven ground.

By the end of the walk I was sweating (even though the temperatures were calm for fall and in the 60s) and I had to stop three times because I was breathing so heavy after walking up the stairs. So this was definitely exercise. BUT it was also fun and relaxing.

A side effect of my trek through the woods was that I got some great photos of the waterfalls and started thinking about gravity in a positive way. Sometimes just getting out and looking around gives me enough of a new idea that I start to force myself out of negative attitudes. So I decided to share a photo from my vacation with you.

This waterfall is another side of gravity.

Without that force, the water would have no reason to fall over the edge.

Traveling

2008-09-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Noelle and I are both on the road this week. She is attending a conference in Florida while I am vacationing (in Florida then Pennsylvania).

Since we are both gone at the same time, we have been getting behind on this blog. Still, we will try to keep up when we can this week.

Since we are traveling we have both been experiencing the difficulty of sticking to a diet and exercise plan while on the road. Healthy food and snack options are hard to find at airports and hotels. Plus there is the urge to snack or splurge because we are away from home.

Traveling is one of the fastest ways to NOT lose weight on a diet. Noelle and I had a few meals together on Sunday which is rare for us because we live in 2 different states. It was great to get together as friends and chat/catch up on the other's busy life.

Still, I could not stick to my healthy (no sugar, no soda, no processed carbs) plan. Instead I walked for an hour on the beach to make up for the seafood pasta I ate the night before.

For me the biggest difficulty traveling is the soda. I can resist the pasta, the Cinnabon at the airport (that one is difficult) and even sucking on candy while flying. I cannot resist the urge to grab a bottle of soda to take my mind of how cramped I feel shoved into a middle seat for three hours while flying up the east coast.

What is your travel difficulty?

Is eating out what catches you?

Portion control?

Being unable to maintain a schedule?

Or do you treat yourself since you are on vacation?

Whatever your difficulty, you can take a break on vacation and get back on plan as soon as you return home. Can't you???

I'll be finding out next week.

Family Time

2008-09-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest detriments to any diet may be the people who love you most. Your family, friends - whatever your support system - may do more harm than good. There are two types of family defeaters

Intentional saboteurs
Well meaning enablers

Find out which you have in your life and then find a way to work around them.

Why am I bringing this up, you might ask?

I'm home in Florida for a few days this week. While here I make the rounds to visit my extensive family and a few friends. My family is mostly of the well meaning variety. For example, I had lunch with my dad who is supportive of my getting in shape and losing weight. He fights the weight battle himself though he gets tons more exercise than I do. So we had a healthy lunch, chef salad with shrimp cocktail to start. Very healthy.

But dad has a bit of a sweet tooth and wants to take care of people. This means that he is always offering a drink or dessert. Knowing that for decades all of his kids have been big soda drinkers, he tends to have a variety on hand when we visit. I think it hurts his feelings when I said no thank you (about 6 times) and explained that I am off sugar.

Still, dessert was another story and I have to admit that I caved when he brought out the Boston cream Little Debbie's. I only had one but after more than a week without processed sugar I thought my system was going to overload from the sugar high.

The thing is, he means well, family usually do. No one likes to see others having to deprive themselves. It hurts us to see the people we love unhappy and most dieters are unhappy because of deprivation.

Take a look at your support system and the people you encounter every day - at home, at work or during social time. How are these people helping or hurting your quest to slim down?

You cannot cut them out of your life or convince them that they are not helping you (whether they are intentionally trying to sabotage you or not). Instead you have to find a work around.

Try not telling them about your diet so that they don't see you feeling pressure. Or consider taking one bite of what is offered and make up for it by taking an extra long walk. Whatever you do, do blame them for standing in your way. They probably don't even realize what they are doing.

Make a list of work arounds to have on hand in case you need them.

What will you do?

How will you stop a saboteur from changing your new habits?

What will be on your list?

Entirely too full

2008-09-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

I realize that it isn't kosher in the world of dieters to say that you are too full unless you have gone off the wagon. The thing is, I've never been a big eater. I snack often and have a soda addiction but when it comes down to it, I don't eat a lot in terms of volume. In switching to healthier meals with no processed carbs I am now eating about 1200-1300 calories every day and the majority of that is raw fruits and vegetables. I get some whole grains in a Kashi bar every day but it's that and protein. No pasta, potatoes or other carbs.

The thing about eating lean protein and raw fruits and veggies is that you have to eat a fair amount to get up to the calories and then it takes a while for your body to digest. So come dinner time I really don't want to eat. I feel bloated and uncomfortable.

So my question is, does this ever end? How are we supposed to feel like we are losing weight or will lose weight when are systems backed up or bloated and uncomfortable? How can you keep your motivation when eating healthy makes you feel tired and crappy?

Today I feel entirely too full and I only ate 1200 calories. I'm so full I feel lethargic and unmotivated. How about you?

Kicking it old school

2008-09-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hi, Noelle here. Colette has been busy trying some new diet ideas and I have decided to go back to an old favorite - Atkins. Actually, I've never done the diet as written by the late doctor, although I've done very low-carb with a nutritionist, but my husband tells me that some of his best success as a dieter was on Atkins when he lost about 60 pounds (starting from a number well into the 300's). And apparently this diet has been around for some time - I was on a message board where a woman said she was doing the version of the plan from 1972.

I'm doing this because I'd like to do some eating that I enjoy for a while. I'd like to eat meat and cheese and eggs (and romaine lettuce, too, since I do like salad) and take a break from oatmeal, high fiber bread, sliced turkey, and low fat cottage cheese. So, this is a blatant attempt to quell my emotional eating angst by eating foods that will satisfy my hunger and let me feel like I really ate something good.

While I was doing DASH I had to give up most of the simple carbs anyways, so now I just have to give up the carbs made with flour and sugar, but I get to keep the leafy greens. I'm not too worried about missing sugar - I can't even say the last time I had chocolate (six weeks, maybe?). The induction phase is two weeks. I can't say I'm positive this is going to work, but I feel like I want to do something tasty this time.

Oh, and 5:30 AM Jazzercise starts tomorrow, too.

Fit Day (Again)

2008-09-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

I tried Fit Day. Don’t worry I’m not giving up after less than 24 hours. Instead I came to a revelation in just one day. You see, I did really well with my meals yesterday. Tracking my meals was fine through about 5 pm. I had consumed about 950 calories so far for the day with only dinner remaining. I left work and headed to the grocery store. I’ve started going to the store twice a week so that I can get fresh fruit and vegetables. I got tired of buying fruit on Saturday and having it go bad by Wednesday or Thursday.

Going to the grocery store twice a week means I am tempted twice as often to buy things I shouldn’t. I’m also tempted to buy junk when I stop at the store on my way home. Still, I stopped. I bought the fruit and some fish. But then, I walked down the past aisle and was tempted by the mac & cheese and they had cherry coke in the cooler while I was waiting to check out.

I was so tired I just wanted to go home but I picked up both items, even though I knew I shouldn’t. Mac & cheese might be OK in moderation but I live alone and for some reason I can’t make myself cook just half the box. So I made the entire box, served it with 3 ounces of steak and the soda that had called to me. The meal was filling even without veggies.

I entered the meal into Fit Day this morning and watched my calories consumed blossom from 950 to over 2300 for the day. I totally bombed the day, consuming 500 more calories than I burned for the day - all because I shopped when I was too tired to care about sticking to the plan.

What I learned from this was that Fit Day may be a great tool for me. I instantly was forced to see the stupidity of eating and entire box of mac & cheese for dinner. The nutritional value shown on the chart online along with the calorie consumption smacked me in the face. That one slip, that one mistake, trashed the hard work I put into the day.

What Fit Day also showed me was that I could have made it up. The instant data on the site let me know that I could have added an exercise with some serious cardio or strength training and brought my calorie intake at least to even (instead of eating so much more than I burned). I’m going to try to stick with the program for at least a month to see if I can track trends. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Fit Day Tracking

2008-09-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

I never feel like I get anywhere when I diet. I expect dramatic results in short periods of time which is why I am usually disappointed. Even knowing this I haven’t been able to change my habits. I know that starving won’t work because by the end of three days I will be cranky enough to chew someone out for no reason (and I’ll want to eat their arm). Setting a goal of exercising an hour a day doesn’t work for me either.

I know what doesn’t work, yet I still keep plugging along. I’m a sucker for a gimmick. If it promises I can lose weight fast, I’ve probably done it. I stop short of volunteering for a tape worm but I buy exercise videos, machines and even diets off the internet or infomercials. They never seem to work.

I decided a few months ago to try to stop wasting money on losing weight since money wasn’t getting me anywhere. I no longer will join a gym or pay for personal training when I know I won’t stick to it. Even if I think I will show up every day, let’s be serious. I can only delude myself for so long. So for now, there is a moratorium on buying anything with the intent of losing weight.

Imagine my surprise today when looking at an article about tech tips for time management. I came across a recommendation for www.fitday.com. Being the curious diet nut that I am, I just had to check it out. Before you become concerned about my obsession I should tell you that I also checked out a site for managing your to do list at www.rememberthemilk.com.

I did sign up at Fit Day, however, for a free diet tracker. This tool was cool. I could input what I ate and the tracker would track calories and nutrition. There are even pie charts that show how much of your diet is carbs, fat and protein. The activity tracker allows you to enter your activity, time and intensity and the tracker figures calories. You can set goals and track them. You can enter your body measurements and weigh-ins and track these as well. Fit Day also does the math to figure out how many calories you should eat and estimates how many you burn even when sedentary (based upon your weight). If you want to know your body mass index, that’s available too.

I don’t know how this will work but I’ve decided to give it a try. Maybe all the bells and whistles will motivate me.

Junk food Withdrawal

2008-09-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Is junk food addictive? Is there something in high-fructose corn syrup that has us addicted?
I do believe there must be.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a series caffeine addiction. I have trouble functioning without it most days. Even though I have given it up for months at a time in the past and each time I felt 10 times better than I do now, once I recovered from withdrawal.

But what about sugar and processed food? Why is it that I never crave sugar or even mac n’ cheese until I can’t have it? Of course with mac n’ cheese all I have to do is smell it and I’m going to want it for dinner every night for a week. Let’s just say that I suck at the whole moderation thing. I keep telling myself that in order to do anything about my physical size and shape, I have got to get moving.

Then a week of bad headaches and constant cravings and I give in on Sunday night because I’m bored and frustrated while sitting on my sofa with a book. I read a book a few months ago called the Body Ecology Diet which was very interesting and talked about dieting for health not weight loss. The big focus in the book was breaking the connection with sugar and yeast in our bodies. The book recommended probiotics and complete cessation of sugar in order to kill the yeast that is overtaking our internal processes and slowing down everything from metabolism to our immune systems.

There is no proof that sugar is addictive but plenty of people crave sugar as soon as they get a taste. Many others suffer headaches and body aches in the first few days of dieting, usually as a result of giving up the sugar and processed foods (that are often full of some form of sugar).

Is going cold turkey with your sugar habit the reason you give up your diet?
It has been mine.

In the 1990s “the average American eats the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar a day” according to the FDA article “Sugar Substitutes: Americans Opt for Sweetness and Lite”. A decade later and we are consuming even more sugar since corn syrup is found in everything from brownies to chili.

With the preponderance of sugar in foods that aren’t sweet, can we really give up the sugar habit for good?

Dream Big

2008-09-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

I’m about to embark on a new diet/exercise plan (as usual). I was thinking about the Zone but came across something I hope may work even better. I have a thing about thinking about food. I hate to have to think about food all the time just to be able to monitor my calorie intake. Having to think about food all the time is the biggest obstacle for my losing weight (even more so than the soda and sugar addiction).

To I’m planning to try Turbulence Training http://www.Turbulencetraining.com. What appeals to me about this plan is that it is about effective weight training and fat burning. There is a nutrition component with a focus on balanced, natural foods. But more than that, the exercise seems to motivate me more.

This week I am reading the ebook and some of the supplemental/bonus materials that come from ordering the ebook. One of the bonuses is Mastering the Fat Loss Mindset by Dax Moy (founder of the Magic Hundred) and Craig Ballantyne (founder of Turbulence Training).

The point they repeat in this 31 page e-pamphlet is contrary to all other weight loss suggestions. Instead of losing big and quick or slowing down by setting small goals, this pair recommends dreaming big. They advise instead of setting a goal of losing 10 or 20 pounds and then setting a new goal once that is achieved, to set a true goal. To decide what you really want and then aim for it. So if you really want to lose 100 pounds, setting a goal to lose 15 is not inspiring or motivating enough to get you through. The argument is that even if you do set a small goal of 15 pounds and you do lose that weight, what’s to keep you on track to setting a new goal.

So what do you think? Is it better to set a true large, long term goal that you really want OR to set up a smaller, short term goal that you can actually meet?

So far the short term hasn’t worked for me, so I’m going to try the alternative.

Starve a cold?

2008-08-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, the only redeeming part of being sick is that you get to lose weight with no extra effort. It's something we brag about, "Yeah, I was so sick that I couldn't even get out of bed. I lost like five pounds!" This is not a good plan.

I have been dealing with a bad tooth (root canal coming next week, I'll probably lose a couple pounds not eating for a few days - lol) and some sort of stomach bug that my boss was nice enough to pass around last week. Consequently, I feel like crap and I don't want to eat, because there are bad consequences every time I do. So, I try not to eat, but then I get starving and eat whatever is around. Or I feel crummy and try to go for the comfort food and very few things on my comfort food list are good for me.

Fortunately for me, I had packed all healthy lunches last week (still doing the DASH diet, down about 5 pounds in about 2 weeks), so when I went to grab the nearest thing because I had to eat *something*, it always turned out to be my stupid health lunch and snacks. And, this long weekend I am home with my husband, who is actively dieting and exercising to avoid going on insulin, so I am not willing to make really bad food choices in front of him because I don't want to mess him up.

Turns out there could be something to the ideas of "plan ahead" and "get support."

Tomorrow's Fat Friday

2008-08-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

I work in an office that has the luxury (or curse) of having lunch provided most of the time. The facility is a training department that is far from any convenient choices to allow students a lunch break in a reasonable distance. Instead when we have students lunch is catered in. As an employee of the department, I get the chance to make lunch out of whatever leftovers there are.

The caterer is feeding a large number of people most days and therefore makes economical bulk meals usually containing pasta of some form. We also have a fridge with a constant supply of sugary sodas and a snack room full of snacks and treats.

I’d like to say that when dieting I am above the temptation of all these options but I would be lying. Truthfully, the urge to snack comes more from boredom or the desire to step away from my desk rather than any sense of hunger.

My workplace is the first saboteur of any diet I am on. One of my coworkers has a lot more willpower and control that I do. I admire her strength and ability to avoid snacking, stick to green tea instead of coffee and salad instead of pasta. One of the ways she sticks to her diet (she has lost 50 pounds in the past year on a low fat, moderately controlled diet) is by allowing the occasional indulgence.

The office is aware of one of her favorite rules. She sticks to her diet all week except at lunch on Friday. The time is now known as Fat Friday. Whether we have pizza leftovers or order some other treat in, she allows herself a moderate treat on some Fridays. She doesn’t seem to feel like she has cheated or fallen off the wagon by allowing the indulgence.

I wonder how she has talked herself into such control. I realize that most of weight loss is mental. You have to have control in order to practice moderate eating habits and regular exercise. I apparently don’t have what it takes.

So if giving in just once ruins my entire attempt to diet,
how am I supposed to get anywhere?

Yuck

2008-08-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

I read Noelle's post from yesterday and the Caesar salad frappe made me about lose my dinner. I have to agree, however, that starvation whether by choice or by broken tooth seems like a horrible way to lose weight.

Anyway, now that our stomachs are turned a little sour I have a few comments of my own. I've decided ONCE AGAIN that it is time to think about going on a new diet. I'm not interested on any that I've tried before so I'm looking for something new. I should say that if I could find an ALL SUGAR diet I might be able to survive or maybe an all carb diet. I mean seriously, is there any way that I can keep my sugar and caffeine dependency and still lose weight??

Apparently not.

So back to the new diet. I can't decide what should be next. I was thinking the Flat Belly Diet because hey who doesn't want a flat belly and I got the ad for the book in the mail from Prevention last week and crazy me I actually ordered the book. However it hasn't yet arrived.

Since I'm feeling the spark of motivation I don't want to let it go to waste (or is it waist?). Anyway so I heard an ad for the Zone diet on my way home to work.

I'm headed to www.Zonediet.com to check it out. I can honestly say, I've never tried this before so I plan to read up on it tonight and maybe I'll start on Wednesday. I'll let you know if this one bombs like all the others or if there's something I can work with.

Just stop eating!

2008-08-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

There are a variety of starvation diets. I remember one from my childhood in the 70's where people would have their jaws wired shut so that they could only drink liquids. People were highlighted having their meals made into shakes - a Caesar salad frappe, anyone?

What a horrible idea - it reminds me of Inquisition-type tactics. Why not just manacle yourself into your bedroom for a week? You'll definitely lose weight - until you start eating again, which is where these programs always seem to fall down.

Of course, for me the prospect of not be able to TALK for months actually seemed like the hardship, but any sort of voluntary medical intervention seems like a really extreme measure to take, although I have to admit I've considered bariatic surgery more than once.

I got to do a mini-version of this diet last week when I cracked a tooth over the weekend. I couldn't chew anything hard at all and only soft things on the right side or I experienced excrutiating pain. It felt like I was chewing tinfoil. I couldn't drink anything, at any temperature, without wimpering or even yelling.

By the time the dentist got me fixed up Monday afternoon, I'd lost at least two pounds. Sorry, this is one diet plan I'm not willing to recreate for anything.

It's DASH, but it's not quick

2008-08-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

As I end my first day on the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet for people (me) with high blood pressure, I am reminded why so many of these diets are flops so quickly. They are too much work. I have to make a meal plan with the special guidelines. I have to go to the grocery story and buy the foods for the plan. And, since I have not been eating all this healthy, multi-grain, low-fat, good for me stuff, it takes over an hour in the damn store to find everything. Then I have to come home and put it all away. That’s exhausting.

Then, a couple hours later, I have to prepare dinner to include sensible protein, a starch, vegetables (frozen is easiest) and a salad. I didn’t plan very well, because after I got everything cleaned up and put away, I realized I had to pull it all back out to prep my lunch for tomorrow. Don’t think the Kraft mac and cheese wasn’t calling me, with its fifteen minute preparation time from putting the water on to boil to eating the artificial orange food yumminess.

I have to present the counterpoint, of course – Optifast, which can be done with zero food preparation time, has been a diet failure for me, too, but for different reasons, although missing real food was one of them. Where is the diet with the right balance of food preparation, which can definitely be an enjoyable experience and usually leads to healthier eating, and convenience, which every tired, stressed one of us needs?

Jenny Craig, Part I (1990)

2008-08-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

The first time I tried Jenny Craig, I liked it. I tried it on the suggestion of a new acquaintance at work who could not say enough good things about it. At the time, I had been married for about 15 months and had gained about 40 pounds since the wedding. I was approaching 200 pounds, which seemed like an impossibly large number (ah, youth!). Looking back, I wonder about the circumstances that caused a 20 year old to gain that much weight that quickly, but I put it down to eating out with the new hubby, getting through the last year of college, taking on the responsibilities of an apartment and almost full time job, etc.

Things went well for about six months. At the time, I think they gave you a 1200-calorie eating plan with 90% their food and a few things you bought – fruit, lettuce for salad, some veggies, milk. It cost about $75 a week for the food. You had to meet with a counselor once a week to weigh in, talk a little and get next week’s food. You were also supposed to attend a small group session – usually a video and discussion led by a counselor – preferably on a different day. The idea was that you were in the center at least twice a week for encouragement and reinforcement.

It worked while everything in my life was going well. I had graduated college and was in a job I enjoyed. I had friends at work that I liked and a gym in the office building that was convenient and fun. My husband was supportive – he was preparing his own meals and we were not going out to eat.

At some point though, things started to fall apart personally and the diet fell apart with them. I switched departments at work for more money and began working for a guy that I discovered I truly could not stand. Even all the other great friends I made in the department could not mitigate the awfulness of the man. The husband got tired of taking care of himself and wanted me to cook and/or for us to eat out more. We had a higher income – a move I made to help get us out of debt – but it was getting burned up on dinners out and buying extra crap for the new, bigger apartment we took on.

I started eating an entire fast food meal in the car on the way home at night, stopping at a gas station to toss the trash, then coming home and making dinner or going out to eat. Of course I stopped losing weight. When I wasn’t visibly making progress at weight loss, the husband announced that we were wasting money at J.C. (not knowing what else was going on since I wouldn’t tell him and risk getting criticized for being a fuck-up). I agreed, embarrassed to talk to the counselor about my inability to lose weight and unable or unwilling to talk to my husband about my unhappiness. So, I cancelled a few weekly meetings and just stopped going.

Overdoing It

2008-08-09T03:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier I wrote about getting too much exercise before you are ready. Moderation seems to be one of the most lasting catch phrases in dieting as well. I didn’t last even 2 weeks on diets like:

South Beach
Atkins
Grapefruit
Slimfast

The single biggest reason why I did not lose weight with these diets was that it was way too much change in too little time. Such drastic limits on my food intake were often combined with an all or nothing approach to exercise. I have tried to completely change my life with the flick of a switch. On more than one Sunday night I have sat on the porch and made a list of how I would change my life starting the very next morning.

The list often looked something like this.
Lose 20 pounds this month
Start South Beach
Start exercise plan
1 hour cardio before work each day
20 minutes of weights 3 days each week
Read one diet motivational quote every morning
Weigh in on Wednesday and Sunday

I tend to be an overachiever so a plan like this might also include 2 work goals and 2 or 3 writing goals to be accomplished in the same month.

For some reason I’m still surprised when I’ve given up by Thursday because I just want to go to sleep and not think about exercise or how far behind I’ve gotten on writing my 1000 words per day.

Overdoing it, setting too many goals with too high of expectations is a great way to stop yourself from sticking to a diet. It is the fastest way I’ve found to not lose weight. Yet I repeat the pattern at least 3 or 4 times every year.

Too much exercise

2008-08-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

I prefer adding exercise to my life instead of dieting. There are 2 main reasons for this:

I like to eat
I hate to think about food all day long

Like anything in life, it is probably best to add exercise in moderation. One of my favorite workout options is tapes from http://www.beachbody.com/. They have great options including:

Slim in 6
Turbo Jam
Tony Horton 10 Minute Training
Power 90X
Hip Hop Abs
Rockin’ Body

I’ve done the first 3 and while I was doing them, I loved them and they worked. The problem was that these programs start off gradually (usually 30 minutes a day), then work up to 45 minutes or 60 minutes a day. However, the plan is that you work at least 6 days a week. I don’t know about you but if the plan is 6 days a week and I have a crappy Monday, then the rest of the week is blown.

I usually plan Friday as the day off because I try to exercise in the evenings and I want Friday evening to lounge in front of the TV and turn my mind off from the week at work.
Still, adding an exercise program that makes you work out 6 days a week could be a good thing. It could help you gain muscle and lose fat fairly quickly. UNLESS all that stress on your muscles causes a tear or extreme fatigue that leads to injury half way through your second week. At which time you end up having to spend a month on the sofa while you heal and your muscles lose strength.

The weight blog

2008-08-05T01:10:00.000-07:00

I ran across an article today about blogging to lose weight.

Check the blog site: http://www.diet-blog.com

Check the specific entry: http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/04/04/could_writing_a_blog_help_you_lose_weight.php)

The argument is that writing a blog about your quest to lose weight will help motivate you. The benefits of blogging about your weight include:

Community support
Accountability
Tracking your progress
Helping others
If you’re lucky – getting a book deal

For some people starting a blog may be exactly the way to go for all (or most) of these reasons. If you need support and guidance from others (even strangers) then a blog might help you. If you know that having to write about or track your diet and exercise daily will make you stay on track – consider a blog. After all, experts say that keeping a diet and exercise journal is a great way to be accountable and helps people keep weight off once they’ve lost it. Your blog may be what it takes to make your accountable and successful.

Having been working on this blog for a few weeks now, I have also found some problems. For me, writing a blog about weight loss has not helped my dieting or exercise for several reasons:

I’m thinking about dieting all the time
I look at every diet I’ve even been on to find material
I focus on the negative
Getting readers is takes work
Working on the blog distracts me from exercise
I crave soda and caffeine while sitting at my computer
Whenever I think about what I didn’t do (eat right, exercise, drink water, whatever) I get irritated

But remember I write about not losing weight. It is possible that the topic of this blog is sabotaging my weight loss.

Losing too fast

2008-08-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

While we all want to lose weight fast, this is not always healthy. This became obvious a few years back when my mom tried the cabbage soup diet. I should tell you that the soup smells terrible. It is successful encouraging you to avoid food because it smells bad and the taste isn’t welcoming either.
It is very possible to drop 10 – 15 pounds in the first week or two. The few people who make it more than a month on this diet usually have impressive weight loss – sometimes as much as 30 pounds.

This might sound ideal but I’ve noticed that most people I’ve know who lost weight that fast found themselves weak and ill at the end of the month. You see all that weight loss was water and muscle – rarely fat. That diet is similar to starvation.

The end result of this diet – rapid weight gain when you stop the diet and weak muscles.

Food Poisoning

2008-08-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

The greatest quick weight loss I ever managed was purely unintentional. Three years ago I managed to combine a night out drinking heavily with a dinner that gave me food poisoning.

The result – in less than 12 hours I was so ill I couldn’t hold my head up. At first I thought I just had too much to drink. I figured once I tossed it all up I would be able to go back to sleep and feel better the next day.

I was not so lucky. Two days later I was still in bed, still sweating and puking my guts out at regular intervals.

By the time I recovered and stepped on the scale I had lost more than 10 pounds in less than a week. I kept it off for more than a month too. I’m sure that’s unusual but I remained dehydrated for several weeks no matter how much water I drank.

The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size

2008-07-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

I came across information about an unusual diet book I just had to tell you about. The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size from author Julia Cameron. Ms. Cameron is the author of several books I admire including

The Artist’s Way
Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance
The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life

Cameron is an excellent inspiration to writers and artists. She helps them find their creativity, motivate to write daily morning pages and generally take their art seriously.

So when I came across her book I was at the very least intrigued. You see, in her previous books one of the most effective techniques is the activities she suggests for getting your brain and your habits on the right track. I was interested to find what she might suggest about dieting.

If you are the creative type and need someone to guide you through the self-actualization of find your emotional triggers and why you overeat – consider this book. Be aware that there is little new information. You should already know everything she suggests – journaling, determining why you eat, walking for exercise, eating when hungry not angry, bored or to please others.

The best review I came across was on Size Ate –

http://sizeate.blogspot.com/2008/03/another-non-diet-thats-diet-sigh.html

Weight Watchers Commercial

2008-07-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the Weight Watchers commercial about eating out? There is a woman who is going out to eat and socialize with her friends but she's still dieting because she is on Weight Watchers. She will succeed because their plan works and allows her to eat out, to live her life while dieting.

This is all fabulous and motivating. EXCEPT eating out and socializing isn't where my dieting fails. My problem comes when I am alone. Whether I am eating alone at home or at a restaurant doesn't really matter. I do fine for about a week, sometimes two.

Then I get a little lazy. I go home on a Sunday with little to do. I completed all my weekend errands on Saturday, I caught up on my reading, my shopping and my housework. So Sunday is pretty much aimless.

Aimless is a problem for me. And for my diet.
I don't know if boredom is just my trigger for eating or if having too much time on my hands is what causes me to think about food incessantly and then eat whatever is in the house.

So what do those commercials do for you?

Do they motivate you? Or just frustrate you?

Jenny Craig

2008-07-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

I like Jenny Craig. The commercials are uplifting, the newsletter comes at the right time every month, just when I feel like quitting. Even the weekly meeting with my consultant wasn't bad. Although having someone look over my shoulder while I'm on the scale is not my idea of a good time.

I made 2 mistakes when I started Jenny Craig which is how I managed to NOT LOSE WEIGHT on the plan.
1. I started a diet in November. Now November is better than starting for New Years, I agree. I even managed to make it through the holiday season right on target. Lost 10 pounds during the month of December. RIGHT ON!! Then I moved to New England (from Florida). Not my brightest decision, moving in the dead of winter. But hey, we take the opportunities that come our way. So I managed to survive winter better than I expected except when it came to dieting. It wasn't even the food that was the issue. It was going into the center every Thursday night and having to strip out of my coat, heavy sweater and boots before I could weigh in. Yes I wanted the scale to show the least possible number but I didn't want to get naked first.

2. I didn't factor in the cost. Here's the thing about Jenny Craig. It is expensive. No matter how many commercials you see about $20 a week or just $30 to start, that isn't where they get you. The trouble comes when the food is costing you $100 a week plus fresh fruits and veggies. Frozen & processed food that let's be honest, has more taste than cardboard but isn't really tasty. Before that diet my grocery bill was about $40 bucks a week and that's if I was eating well. So when the cost of dieting made my food bill more than double, it became a problem. I just wasn't losing enough to justify the enormous strain on my personal budget.

Get the real numbers, the real cost of any diet upfront or you may have to quit no matter how good your results.

Start With a 10% Goal

2008-07-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is another goal I'm not sure I can work with. Some say that a goal of 50 pounds or 100 pounds is just too many, too daunting to begin. Instead these same people recommend starting with a 10% goal. This means if you weigh 150, lose 15 pounds as your first goal. It sounds like a good goal, a reasonable goal that you will stay motivated enough to get to.

It sounds good. That is, until you get there.

In my own attempt to just lose 10% I did OK. It took 2 months but I got rid of the 10%. I was one step healthier, right? Now what?

I reached the 10% and had to set a new goal. But being the difficult woman that I am, I couldn't just continue on the same path I had some success with, no that's not my style. Instead I bought a pair of jeans and some new shoes to celebrate reaching my first goal. Then I went out happy with the new size. I thought great I can do this. I can lose weight.

Somewhere along the way I forgot that I had to set a new goal. I should have decided from the first what I would do once I reached the 10% mark. I didn't because in reality I didn't think I would ever get there. So a month or 2 after reaching the first goal, I still hadn't set a second goal and was starting to gain back what I'd already lost.

So now what? Set another 10% goal - 10% of what I wonder??

Look at your ass

2008-07-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the swear word but seriously if you want to know the easiest way to give up on a diet, this is it. Take a look at your own rear view in a 3 way mirror. If you are at all like me the area it takes the longest to lose is the rear end. I could lose 20 pounds and 2 dress sizes and still have an ass like an elephant.

This is a deal breaker for any diet. No matter how motivated or inspired I am, one look in the mirror at my rear and I'm done. I give up. What's the point of hours of exercise and starving to stick to a diet if I pull on a pair of jeans and the view still sucks??

I happened to catch myself in a side view earlier today. I'm not a big fan of mirrors in general so I don't catch myself often. But today I guess I was a bit slow, before I had my coffee. I got a side view of my rear right out of the shower. How pleasant do you figure that was??

Don't think I'm down on myself because before this I was having a great week. I'm down 5 pounds and not starving or working out to exhaustion. I'm trying Change One - which means I am gradually cutting out my calories. So I'm mostly eating what I want just half as much as I was before. Anyway it is probably working but all day after that glimpse in the mirror I've considered quitting. I mean seriously how's a girl supposed to be motivated to walk, run, diet, lunge, squat or whatever to get toned and lean when she can't stand to look at her rear in a mirror??

So if you need motivation to QUIT a diet, to NOT lose weight - try this one. If you actually want to stay on something avoid the mirror from any and all angles. Trust me.

Christmas Holiday

2008-07-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I was making excellent progress on a diet for the first time. I tried Michael Thurmond's 6 Week Body Makeover. I followed the diet and exercise plan for 8 weeks with no cheating and no deviations. I ate 6 times a day, tiny mini-meals with 2 oz. of protein and each one. I spent an 2 - 3 hours each week preparing and organizing meals so I could follow the diet while working on the road.

At the time I was working as a claims adjuster in the field. I spent 8-10 hours each day alone in my car driving from house to house and inspecting damage. I ate breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks in my car. The temptation to pull through a McDonald's or other fast food restaurant was sometimes overwhelming. Some days I would count the number of Taco Bell's I passed when working on the road. Spending so much time in the car also means that my meals were eaten cold. No microwave in the car.

My meals consisted of 2 oz of cold chicken or beef with raw veggies and cold rice or a boiled egg with a piece of fruit. For those 8 weeks I gave up my beloved soda, all caffeine, processed sugar and alcohol. I ate beef more often than I was used to and I missed bread and cheese more than I could ever have expected.

So for 2 months things were going great. I felt better, I exercised and I was energetic. During that time I lost 30 pounds and was very pleased with my success.

The trouble started when I went home for the holidays. You see my family all lives in Florida. At the time I was residing in Atlanta. I did OK on the 7 hour drive home by myself. I even took a cooler of meat and veggies so that I would be able to prepare my meals. I was determined to stick with my diet even during the holidays. I was so confident I could do it.

There were 2 problems I didn't consider
1. The stress of my family and having to divide my time to make sure I visited everyone with an equal amount of time and attention was exhausting. When I'm stressed I reach for the caffeine and sugar combo. All it took was one sip of an ice cold Coke and I remembered what I'd been missing. The rush of that first soda reminded me how I'd survived college and my teen years - fueling up on soda and putting off sleep for days at a time.

2. The same exhausting effort that caused the stress made it impossible for me to prepare the foods I brought with me. I spent no time at one single place, no time in the kitchen to cook and portion my meals. I ended up with a cooler full of food that was going bad and grabbing meals at restaurants and family dinners. While I was there I tried to keep to the mini-meals for frequency and portion size.

The drive home proved the most troublesome. After a week of constantly being around people (I'm a bit of a loner by nature) I was ready for some time alone. I turned the radio up and sang along. I also reached for a soda and a bag of cheese curls at my first stop for gas.

That was my big mistake. Cheese curls and soda are the best junk for a road trip and I caved. I caved to the craving and the emotional comfort of those foods. I never went back to the diet.

The sad thing is that I could have gotten home and gotten back on the diet without any real problem. You see even though I went back to my old habits I kept that weight off for almost 6 months. At about that time I started to feel the weight creeping back up but I let being busy and my previous failure stop me from getting my act together. 6 months after that I'd gained all the weight back plus 5 pounds. I didn't even bother to try dieting the next Christmas holiday.

Cream Cheese

2008-07-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes weight loss gets couched in other terms so it sounds more holistic and healthy. I once tried a system "cleanse" that involved basically fasting for three days by eating only 5 ounces of either cream cheese or ripe olives. Not both – one or the other. I think the idea was that your body would get some minimum amount of calories and fat to barely exist on for three days and it would "jump start," a favorite diet phrase, your body for the stringent plan that would follow. And you'd probably actually be looking forward to even a tightly regimented plan after eating practically nothing for the three days before. I don't remember a lot of the details of the eating plan, because I didn't make it there.

On the morning of day one of the fast, I opened up a sixteen-ounce package of cream cheese and carefully weighed out five ounces of the white gold. I cut it up into five pieces so I could spread my intake out over the day. I wrapped the rest up and put it back in the refrigerator for the next two days. It was hard eating the first piece of cream cheese. It was thick and stuck to the roof of my mouth. I actually thought that I might not be able to eat the rest of it across that day, that I'd rather just skip eating instead. Three hours later, I did have to force myself to each the next piece. I was a little hungry, but still not looking forward to eating a chunk of bagel spread. Three hours more though, and I was counting down the minutes to the next piece. This was repeated twice more the first day, including in the evening when I served dinner to the family but didn't eat any myself. Whew, it was hard, but I made it through.

On the morning of day two, I pulled the opened cream cheese package out of the fridge and considered it. There were eleven ounces left. Wouldn't it just be easier to split the remainder in half? How different were five ounces from five and a half, really? I eyeballed it, cut about half off – it might have been a bit more than half, but who was counting – divided it up into the five servings for the day and put the rest back. Serving one was immediately, no problem. Servings two and three, okay. Serving four was supposed to occur about four o'clock as I was getting ready to leave the office. I am usually in a hurry to go because I am on a deadline to pick up my kids after school, so I decided to just have that serving as I was driving home. Somehow, my car ended up in the drive-through lane at the first fast food restaurant in my path. Not for a whole meal, though, just for some chicken nuggets and a Diet Coke. As I was driving home, I told myself that it was a slip-up, they happen, but that I would get back on plan and have cream cheese number five instead of dinner. That idea lasted until I got home and started cooking. I rationalized myself into just having a salad while the family was eating - the dressing could be the fat substitute for the cream cheese and I even threw some ripe olives on there. I don't know if I even bother tried rationalizing this next part, but I know I offered to clean the table so I could eat the leftovers off everyone's plates as I was washing the dishes.

On the morning of day three, some autonomic part of my brain, the part that wants to make me happy and/or keep me from starving, took over. I got dressed, got the kids out the door to school, got in the car and drove right to Burger King for my usual breakfast. God as my witness, I did not even remember about the cream cheese diet until I was on my second croissanwich. As soon as I got to work, I looked up information on starvation diets so I could reassure myself that it was a dangerous plan and the effects on my metabolism could be very destructive. Clearly, I had dodged a bullet with that plan and was much safer on my two-fast-food-meals, one-big-home-cooked-meal plan, which I went right back to with relief.

A final note: I did not waste the remaining cream cheese. It did end up on a big, toasted, "everything" bagel the next weekend.

Noelle

2008-07-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here's where the idea for this project came from: I have been dieting for 19 years, since two months before my first wedding at age 20, and I have doubled in size across about two decades. How is this possible? How can a person attempt to lose weight, a lot of times and in a lot of different ways, and yet manage to turn into the equivalent of two of herself? Let me be mostly truthful here: I weigh (about) 300 pounds. Since I am 5'5'' this means that I am at least twice what the height-weight charts and the BMI charts say I should be.

I don't have a graph for you – I'll make one if you really want – but the trend is my weight stair-stepping up across the years. The first year I was married, I gained about 40 pounds. Then I went on a high cost, we-feed-you plan and lost 50 pounds in a year. Then I got into a lousy job situation and gained back 60 in the next year. Then I stayed the same for a long time, probably six years, even while working in a restaurant. Then I got pregnant, gained 60 pounds, had the kid, lost 25 pounds, got pregnant again, gained another 60, had the second kid and never really lost any more. I stayed at the new higher weight for about eight years, went on a low carb diet, lost 35 pounds in 6 months and gained it back in 3 months, all while doing the hardest workouts of my life in the martial arts. I got divorced, gained 65 pounds due to: lack of exercise, getting a full time job for the first time since having kids, going out to eat with the new boyfriend, and acquiring sleep apnea. Last year, I tried a liquid diet, lost 30 pounds, stressed out and ate real food, and gained the 30 back.

I only hit the highlights, but in the midst of the big weight loss attempts, probably once every other month, I try a new plan and generally fizzle out. And every time I think, "Okay, my body has to stop here, this is really the most I can be," but I often manage to add some more weight. Holy cow!

And feel free to laugh, because I do. We've got to laugh at the crazy things we do to lost weight and the seeming futility of most of the plans we all have tried. Colette and I – and you if you'll share – would like to tell our stories of trying to fight the weight loss battle and (usually) losing. We'd like to commiserate about what doesn't work, so maybe we can all laugh a little and try not to worry so much about our slip-ups as we keep trying to get to our magic number, be it pounds or pants size.

I know there are people who have actually succeeded at losing weight and maintaining it. I'm sure you have advice for us. The advice probably has to do with portion control and overcoming emotional eating, right? Okay, share that advice. Let's have a discussion about what's worked for you and what hasn't, because the first diet is not the one that works. Nor is the second, third, or fourth, if I had to speculate, but maybe you finally got to your magic number and can stay there. Let us hear from you, too, because with weight loss, hope springs eternal.

Colette

2008-07-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Lucky me - I get to start this blog. My friend Noelle and I have decided to write this blog together. We are hoping to one day collect enough stories and viewpoints to put together a book with the same title. We are also hoping to have a laugh, find some motivation and give a kick in the pants now and then.

This post should be the only time I tell you my vital facts - including my weight. If I do it again, yell at me - LOUD.

I will call myself a 130 pound woman in a 185 pound body. (I can't believe I put that in writing.) Now 185 pounds is just not attractive on a woman who is 5'2". Trust me.

I will say however that when I gained the weight I mostly considered that it was nice to have bigger than a B-cup bra (until I went for a fitting and letters like F & G were announced). I almost had a heart attack. I did however get a more comfortable bra & an idea that I might need to start dieting.

The problem is I HATE DIETING. I hate thinking about food and I love cherry coke. I consider it the best thing since sliced bread and pretty much use caffeine to make me a nicer person to be around. Every diet I've tried made me give up what I loved most - no wonder they didn't work.

The thing is they didn't work for a ton of other reasons. AND I will tell you about them one day.