I'm Losing It

As I approached the last two weeks in my 20's, I decided to get my mind set right and was determined to get on a lifestyle change that would help me kick this extra weight I've been carrying around. I started off last week trying out the 3 day military diet. I was skeptical to even try it because it claims you can lose 10 pounds in 3 days. Anytime you lose weight THAT fast, chances are you will not keep it off. At first my goal was to lose some weight...not 10 pounds although I do need to lose 10 pounds, but I decided not to make it about weight and make it about decreasing the amount of mello yello's I drink during the day. I struggle the most with this while I am at work. As stress piles on me I tend to get up and get a mello yello to give me that extra humph that I need to make it through the day. I knew this diet was going to be hard and technically I started cheating from the start because your two choices of drink are coffee or tea. I didn't have any tea made and I didn't want coffee. I told myself I would have one mello yello and then drink nothing but water. Here is what the first day looks like:

I also didn't have all the foods I needed so I had to improvise, which also is something you shouldn't do because the foods they have chosen works with the chemical reaction your body has in breaking it down so it won't hold as much fat. I did surprisingly well during the first day. I actually had to break my dinner up because I was so full I could not eat it. Day 1 I only got hungry at one point and that was the stretch from lunch to dinner. Day 2 and Day 3 is where I struggled...no more caffeine, strictly water to drink. I managed to get through day 2 but day 3 I just didn't have it in me. I do think I slimmed a tiny bit from what I did do because I was drinking a lot of water and was only having 1.5 soft drinks a day. I felt like I needed something that let me have the foods and drinks I wanted and when I wanted them. I have done weight watchers in the past...like 8 years ago and it did work. I went ahead and signed up for it online last Wednesday night. It hasn't even been a full week, but I can already tell that I have at least lost some inches. No, I don't mean literally lost inches but I have slimmed down. Pants that were starting to feel tight are no longer feeling that way. I am almost to the point now to where if I could get my stomach toned back up I might actually be able to get back in a two piece. I mean I have a long way to go before that actually happens but it's amazing to me how far I've already come. The best part about it is it is SO hard not to cheat. You get weekly points as well as your daily, so if you go over your daily points you start eating into your weekly points. You won't gain weight if you use your weekly points, you will just maintain your current weight. My first real day on it I ended up eating into my weekly points, but it was only because a silly salad without dressing was 30 points by itself plus my guesstimated amount of dressing I did use cost me 4 points so 34 points. I didn't feel bad about it though because I hadn't eaten very much. I woke up still feeling slimmer and I knew I was going to be happy with this plan. I know this isn't for everybody, but it works so good for me. For the most part I am only having one soft drink a day, however, if I need another one I can but it will cost me 5 points. I don't find myself hungry throughout the day. I have noticed my appetite has already shrunk too because the frozen meals they have I used to still be hungry after I ate, but now I do good to eat a whole one in one sitting. I can eat half a meal and be stuffed. It's all about the choices you make...you can go for that yummy hamburger over there, but it's not going to stay with you for very long and you will use up all your points, or you could go with that baked chicken and vegetables that will not use up a lot of points and keep you full. I am a huge pasta lover and I will go ahead and admit that on my 30th birthday, which is coming up, I will be indulging in some Olive Garden that will send me over my points the entire day plus some of my weekly points. I've already looked up what my points will be for what I eat. Here is the breakdown: The yummy salad is only 2 points. The breadstick is 4 points. The chicken alfredo....30 or 33 points. Plus the coke I will probably drink...a gazillion points lol. A 12 ounce is 4 points. A grand total of 43 points. My daily allowance is 26 points so I will almost use up half of my weekly points. I do have a plan for this day though. I will choose not to eat until I get there and I plan to do portion control and eat maybe a quarter of the alfredo and I hope I can make myself drink water, but I hate ordering water in restaurants because it's tap water and I can taste the chlorine...yuck! Anyways, I think you get the point. I don't know if I've lost weight or not because I don't keep a scale in the house nor do I care to step on one. I'm going off of how I feel and how my clothes fit to tell if it's working or not and it is! Here is how the app looks:

As a little tip I just wanted to point out that I think this go round with weight watchers has been easier for me than it was last time because I started a diet prior to joining. The last time I joined I had a point allowance of 29 and they did not count carbs. Now I only have 26 points and they do count carbs. It does make it harder because I love my carbs, but so far I've been fortunate in not feeling hungry and being able to stick with it. This could all change a month down the road, but in the few days I've been on it it's been great. I love that I get to decide what I want to eat and when I want to eat it. I love that I can still have candy or cake or soft drinks if I really want them, but I have to live with the consequences of possibly being hungry due to having no more points. I hope this time next year I am still feeling good about where I am going with my health and weight and will at least be close to my pre-pregnancy weight/body because I can tell the changes my body has already made in preparation of turning 30 and it just loves to hold on to everything :)