Plan Change!

I have decided that I no longer wish to follow the Weight Watchers plan. Although it is great for some, it is not the program for me and I don't want to continue in a plan that makes me unhappy. I am going to use Spark People instead and track calories and other nutrients that way. I really enjoy that site a lot more. I have had great success with it in the past. Weight Watchers is okay, and I do agree it is very helpful in learning good food behaviors to last a lifetime, but it just doesn't vibe with me. I feel like I eat way too much on that plan and get lazy in imputing all of the information to come to a points value. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating when I'm not since I can eat so much on that plan. It doesn't give me a "good feeling". I don't like that fruit is "free". I can't make the plan work for me at all. I did lose weight - that's not what I am trying to say. Like I said, it doesn't jive well with me. So let's just leave it at that.

So, now I am on SP (Spark People). This plan is so user-friendly, I can better track what goes into my mouth, and the people there are so friendly. (On WW, the message board is very cliquey...One other reason I did not like the plan. I NEED moral support from others to get through this journey. This is a must!)

I'll be back here in a few days to track my progress! Off to get the kiddos into bed....

Let's kick it into high gear!

This past week was particularly difficult, but I still made it through with a loss. A 1.1 pound loss. Not too shabby for the 4th week! I am going to kick it into high gear this week and stop being lazy with tracking food. I admit I sometimes gloss over or guesstimate Points on the WW tracker too often. And I snack too often as well. I have a problem with taking bites of my kid's snacks and meals. I hate those cravings. It is so hard to stop doing that. It's hard to face and handle these foods everyday. I swear, food is like my drug. At least when an alcoholic or drug abuser quits, they don't have to still face it numerous times a day. I am faced with food many times throughout the day. It is very difficult to turn it away. Quite often, I take bites here and there of food that was unplanned for the day. I am pretty good at tracking it, but it messes up the day still. I find myself eating every hour, even if it is one bite. I just want concrete, planned healthy snacks.

Having kids makes dieting difficult. (Oy, I mean "lifestyle change"!)

But all in all, I've lost nearly 14 pounds this first month. Go me!

Someone (or something!) kill my appetite, please!

I had such a difficult time today with my ferocious appetite. It has really gotten to me. I somehow managed to stay in my points range, but I tell you it wasn't easy. This whole week has been like this. I weighed in on Monday with an astounding 4 pound loss at the completion of week 3, but I have a feeling the scale will give me a sad story come next Monday. Even though I am within my range, I feel like I am eating garbage. I downed Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops in a hurry this afternoon. (My sister brought it into the house, damn...) I finished the day with a light dinner of Progresso Chicken Noodle soup to balance it all out. I am still disappointed in eating that sugary cereal. Oh well, what's done is done and I still came out okay in the end. I just hope this appetite of mine is gone by tomorrow.

New Food Review of the Week: Jicama

I've been on the look out for this vegetable for months. This is because I thought it was a fruit. Someone on the Weight Watchers message board straightened me out! I was looking forward to trying this...ahem, vegetable...for quite some time so I just had to run out this evening and track it down with my new-found information. I found it at Whole Foods (of course! I always seem to find what I am looking for there...). Anyway....I cut this sucker up the first moment I was home....

Okay, everyone told me Jicama reminds them of a cross between a potato and an apple....Um, no...Where are people getting the "sweet" from? Mine tasted like I bit into a raw potato. Yes, it's texture was crunchy...But the taste wasn't pleasant at all. I still used it in my dinner salad anyway because I didn't want $5 to go to waste. The dressing covered up the taste and I at least got to enjoy the texture. I am going to try to add cayenne pepper to it tomorrow and see how it goes (snack perhaps?). (This was suggested - I swear. They do this in Mexico where the vegetable originates from!)

I give Jicama 2/5 stars (in it's natural state).

I have a feeling I am in the minority as everyone (on the WW board, anyway) seems to love it!

How it all began....

So here I am, seemingly jumping into another attempt at losing weight. Weight Watchers. This plan is somewhat uplifting and refreshing. A good plan. A plan that I am sure can be successful. As of tonight, I am closing on my third week and entering into the fourth week of this lifestyle change. I've lost about 9 pounds - and as of tomorrow morning - I'll likely add to that. I hope.

Quick background (I will not dwell too much on this, let's just get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?): I've always been overweight for as long as I can remember. I was a chubby toddler, overweight child, and morbidly obese adult. I weigh more than I appear. My highest weight was 269 pounds. I am currently 245 pounds. Most people would guess not a pound over 200. But, who cares? I am obese. Morbidly, disgustingly obese.

The only time I "stuck" to a plan was in college. (Oh, by the way, I am 27.) Freshman year of college....I went from 220 pounds to 170 pounds and was a fitness freak. I was obsessed with fitness. And dieting. Going along my own plan (i.e. calorie counting) I did okay. What ended my fanaticism was a bout of the stomach virus. After I recovered from it, I went on eating by the truckloads and slowly gained and conveniently forgot my wits and let loose. Fast forward....Got married 3 years later, gained weight; got pregnant with twins, gained weight (though surprisingly not much at all); worked through serious matters with my children, gained weight. What has been affecting me most throughout the past 4 years is my twins. Though I will not elaborate too much on their special needs here (that's another blog), I will say that it has significantly impacted my weight. My now 4 year old twins were born prematurely, three months early, and have health issues. My son is autistic and my daughter has a feeding tube. The stress of raising them has impacted my weight immensely as I am what they call an emotional eater. Truth be told, a lot of their issues are "quieting down" for the most part so it is time to shift attention to this weighty matter of mine:

I have high blood pressure.
I am severely overweight.
I have high cholesterol.
I have heart palpitations.
My body aches from this weight I have to carry around.
I am psychologically impacted from my body image.

The list goes on. What really matter is the old cliche: I need to do this for my children. But it is not cliche to me. This is serious business. My life is on the line. My children depend on me. I HAVE TO DO THIS. It is now, or never. And I choose now.