Our Family Getting Healthier in 2011

I think I have posted about every diet there is or at least tried every diet.  I have tried the online diets, Atkins, soup and many more.  The three things I'm finding no matter what when one pursues an attempt to lose weight that are needed:  1.  mental state geared towards getting healthier versus dieting; 2. support from family and/or friends; and 3. ability to track food and exercise.   The key to the programs like Nutrisystem and Weight Watchers are food portions, calorie intake, exercise and tracking those calories and exercise.  You've seen all those commercials for those miracle fat loss supplements and in tiny print are the "results not typical."  No kidding .... but can they be a little more realistic and state that the few that actually did lose weight did so because they started eating better and exercising?  If any claim was that easy, everyone would be in shape.

I signed up to be a Nutrisystem Ambassador and probably won't make it because the competition is quite stiff.  I purchased my domain and lost my page rank of 3 unfortunately so that taints many in spite of my large number of followers.  Before that starting in January, I invoked a challenge to my family as I saw that many of them needed to get healthier so I started a private Facebook group and invited them to it.  There we share our struggles, our weekly weigh in and whatever else we feel like.  I have my mother, my sister, my daughter, her fiance, my cousin and my sister's husband to include myself all competing for the first prize of $100.  Money motivates them!  After being on the "whatever you choose plan," all but one has lost weight so I find this a big success.  My sister wrote me yesterday after visiting the doctor who was very happy she had lost 8 pounds since her last visit.  She thanked me for motivating her and even though I'm not looking for the kudos, it's so wonderful knowing my actions are making a difference.

Out of seven of us, we have lost 22 pounds since January 1st.  The power of motivation and family support are big!  Most everyone is just watching portion control, calorie intake and exercising.  Two are on Weight Watchers Online, one is on Nutrisystem and the rest are just eating healthier.  If you have a family like mine, why not try with them to see how far you can take it to get everyone feeling better and living longer!  I'll post an update with the mid results and who was using which program.

Week Three of Nutrisystem

I'm ending week three of my Nutrisystem program and have struggled along the way.  The first time I tried Nutrisystem, it was easier and I find myself being hungry more than I was but am hoping it will pass soon enough.  One of my problems is I get little sleep so that doesn't help with the hunger and the number of allowed calories.  However, the number of calories allowed is more than adequate and the food is good.  With any program, the food isn't always great pending on what you choose and you learn from trial and error.  One of the reasons I quit the first time is they substituted a lot of my food choices with foods that I don't like such as mushrooms.  I rejoined due to the guarantee clause added and much to my surprise, only a few items were substituted.

For those of you not aware of Nutrisystem, the plan isn't just their food.  It  does have a great online feature that allows you to track your intake, your exercise, your water intake and any journal thoughts.  I love the electronic food diary as it has drop down menus allowing you to quickly choose your food you consumed while an easy way to add foods that are prepopulated.  Each day is full of fruit and vegetable choices too so you get to snack and supplement the Nutrisystem food.  My favorite is the desert ... grin!

With next month's shipment, I choose to pay a little more and I purchased the frozen breakfast, lunch and snack meals for one week.  I decided to supplement those days where I'm more tired or just feeling blah.

To date, I've lost six pounds in three weeks.

Losing Weight in the Sistahood and #Mamavation

I've been trying and trying to lose weight and get healthier and ever since I hit 40 (will be 42 in July), I'm realizing the importance of getting in shape for longevity over appearance sake.  I finally joined the Mamavation Sistahood to further the encouragement and success.

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Since I started working on the weight loss track (again), two weeks ago, I've lost five pounds by counting calories and sticking to the Nutrisystem plan.  I bought the EarthFootwear shoes and wear them everywhere to add a little extra to the weight loss and I ride my bike minimally for one hour a day.

Yahoo Health had a great article on easy ways to lose weight.  After reading it, it wasn't anything new or truly informative but I considered it further reinforcement to help make little changes that will equal big chances in the long run.  The summary is:

• Eat hot soup before you eat lunch or dinner as hot foods forces you to slow down and eat.  If you are like me, you are an unwilling marathon eater and can't control it!  I multi-task so much and for so many years that I cram food in to get to the next task or I eat and task at the same time.  Before I know it, I just consumed a 1700 calorie Wendy's meal in 10 minutes flat!
• Don't eat heavily before bed.  In fact, I've routinely read that you shouldn't eat after 6 pm.  I don't understand that one as so many people eat dinner after 7 pm but aren't overweight but then again, they probably eat less than I would at a meal.
• Live like a city dweller which means find ways to walk more.  Park down further at Walmart or park and walk to get your food order.  Little things add up and this is an easy way to do it.
• Try dashing chili pepper on your food as it helps to stimulate your metabolism while possibly curtailing your hunger. I also read the cinnamon does this.
• Limit your calories in drinks.  You would be surprised how quickly those Starbucks or apple juices add up.  I also have been wondering how calorie free the fake sugars are.  Every time I quit drinking them and switch to water, I drop weight.  I'm sure it's a benefit to having the water to flush the body but it still seems like there has to be something about the so-called calorie free claims.
• My biggest one: weigh yourself daily!  This is so true even though many experts state you shouldn't do this.  How many times have you forced yourself on the scales after a couple of weeks, trying to shift to one side over the other to trick the scale only to find you packed on a few pounds?  When you weigh yourself daily, you are more accountable in ensuring the scale doesn't go up and it's motivating to see it staying put or going down.  One way it's bad is when you are trying to lose weight and you see no movement.  With any weight loss program when you incorporate exercise, there is a period of weight increase as you shift from fat to muscle. 

Overall, I think the biggest changes are recording your intake, drinking water, exercising and weighing yourself daily.  You can read the entire article here.