November Update:

One of the aspects I wanted to test had to do with the weight gain after you get off Nutrisystem. So, in October I took the month off. During this time, I cooked my favorite foods, ate fast food, and used the skills taught through the weekly and daily classes online.

I can't say that everything went perfect, but I did learn what foods make me gain weight. For example: I can't eat bread. It is an almost immediate weight gain. I was shocked how apparent this revelation was; however, sugars don't seem to make me gain as much.

Once I figured out my hot zones, I've been able to maintain my weight the entire month. I left Nutrisystem at the beginning of October at 147.7 and I'm returning to the Nutrisystem diet at 147.5. Based on these figures I do think that if you use the information from the program, you do maintain your weight.

So why am I coming back? Simple: I'm not happy with 147. My goal is still to get below 130 and I'm going back to Nutrisystem to make this happen. I'll keep you posted. :) The good news is that I did get my little ten pounds lost bear! I'm thrilled! Great incentive.

Katie

Week 10

Welcome to Week 10!

I am very excited to write this week, especially since I actually hit 150. I did see 149 briefly but since it was on a scale belonging to someone else, I don't really feel that I can count it. So if I saw 150 why don't I have 150 on my weight? Answer: I've stopped counting a weigh in at first glance. It just makes you depressed when you bounce up a little during the day, week... hour.

Here I am writing on Labor Day. I've spent the weekend making chocolate cake for my nephew's birthday, and helping to run the party. Not the best diet situation, I have to admit. However, my sister is pregnant and I couldn't leave her to do it all by herself. She needed help. I went, and alas I cheated. On the positive side, I cheated only in the- I didn't eat Nutrisystem. Fortunately I ate right. Turkey Subway with all the vegies and no mayo or sauces. I did I'm afraid to say splurge on a piece of birthday cake, and I did have ham. I can't say that this is a falling off the wagon incident, since I knew when I went up there that I was going to eat outside of the diet. I just told myself that I would eat smarter.

However today is another day and I'm ready for the diet again. :) It should be easier coming up. My parents are leaving on a cruise which means Sunday Dinner will be absent for a while. This is good, because no matter how much my father is cooking right, he still can't give up the salt, the carbs, and the butter- especially when my sister and her family comes to dinner.

Because of all the cheating I really was certain that I would gain inches, pounds, etc. I'm still not entirely certain that I won't see some gain. I do have a short delay, but it seems as if playing with the kids all day helped me burn off the pounds.

I am also thrilled to say that I have branched into my skinnier jeans. I put on a pair of jeans that I have been wearing over the last six months and they drowned me. I had to go to the side of the closet where my jeans go when I can't fit into them. I'm happy to say that they fit me without any sucking in. ;)

So in retrospect- this really wasn't the best week for the diet, but I'm continuing to lose weight. I hope this trend continues. I'm into my last four weeks of the diet experiment. I would be delighted to report that I lost ten pounds in three months. Hopefully it is coming. As it is my total weight lost right now is 8.8 pounds and 27.75 inches. Yay!

Katie

Week 8 to 9

Since I moved my blog entries to the weekend rather than Tuesday, I've had trouble deciding whether I'm blogging about the week I'm finishing or the week I've just started. Thus my silly titles.

I have no idea if it's the diet, just my emotional cycles, or whether it's the stress from the new school year, but boy am I a worrier this week. The thing is I'm worried about the silliest things. Whether a fellow teacher smiled when I said hi, if it's a horrible thing that I didn't associate half mast flag with Sen. Kennedy when someone asked about it (the person probably didn't care), whether I troubled or offended a student when I said I hadn't studied the Mexican Government to the point of stating whether it was a Unitary or Federal Government (probably the student doesn't even remember they asked the question). Still these petty concerns are running around and around in my head, and I can't shake them. It's really frustrating.

The only thing I don't seem to be worrying about is the diet. (Sigh) I'm starting into my third month. I have to say at this point, I'm not sure that I will receive a bear at all before the end of my experiment. My body seems very reluctant to give up pounds. Inches seem to be flying off of me- I'm now down 24.5 inches. However, I'm hanging steady at 153-154. Sometimes I get a cursorily 152 only to have it spring back to 154 the next day. That means this whole month I've really only lost two pounds. If they say losing one to two pounds a week is healthy, what does that mean for me?

This week I do have to report a major slip. Monday after a long day at school- 7Am-5:30 pm and I had to work through lunch. The thought of pouring water into a cup and eating it was more than I could take. I did go to Wendy's and get a burger. However, I did get a potato instead of fries and ate it mostly without butter. (10 squirts of I can't believe it's not butter spray) I had a diet coke- and for penance I did do double aerobics that night. The good news is that after my slip it's been easier to stay on the diet for the rest of the week. Do I think this is going to be an annual occurrence? No. Mostly it is because I'm down to the end of the month and the cupboard is close to being empty.

Speaking of which, I have ordered week three. My order is a lot of repeats, but I've added a few new items- despite the fact I still can't take the beef and potatoes off the shelf. I'm still thinking I should have ordered more Grilled Chicken Breast. According to tracking it is supposed to be here today. If that is the case, I will post the review later today. If it does arrive today, it is the fastest processing yet! Ordered on 26th- arrived on 28th.

I guess that's it for now!

Katie

Day 45:

Good Morning!

Today I have lost another pound and I'm now sitting at 152.6! This week has been incredible. At the beginning of the week I bounced back up to 155.4 and I've been descending by bits and pieces every day! I love being at 152! I realized today that it is the lightest I have weighed in quite some time.

As for the experiment, I stepped outside the Nutrisystem menu this week to see what I have learned. On Friday I went to Applebees. It was surprising to me that the blurbs beneath the menu selections have become more important. I'm now looking at what the side is that I'm ordering, and the sauces that are involved with the food. In the past I have simply looked at the entree and figured the rest would handle itself. There were a few items on the menu that were listed as Weight Watchers that I chose specifically to avoid because the carbs were too high. I did end up with the Cajun Tilapia with broccoli on the side. It was quite tasty, and I gained confidence that eating out is not impossible.

I also made my own dinner last night- mostly because I have been dying for real beef!!!! If anything is really missing in the Nutrisystem program it is the dinners and I have been missing my beef. Freeze dried hamburger patties do not make it for me-- I guess I could have opened up the beef and potatoes in the cupboard, but I wanted something that I knew would be good. Happily I was able to stick to the program. Is it a little weird that I now weigh literally everything? :)

My explorations outside the Nutrisystem menu have taught me one thing. I really do believe that if you do the program--- that includes reading the Daily Dose, the weekly email, and utilizing the chat boards, you will pick up the tools for eating healthier in the real world. It takes quite a while--- I wouldn't have tried eating out in my first month, but it does work.

The question is: Am I going to step away from the diet regularly. Answer-- No. For the sake of the experiment I allowed myself a bit of latitude to see if the "Training" Nutrisystem touts actually translates to the real world of food. However, to step away from the program all together would make the experiment moot. I will remain on the diet for another month and a half and stay faithful. Any steps outside of the box (little joke-- if you try Nutrisystem you'll get it) will be posted here. :)

Teaching begins in earnest this coming week. It will be a good test to see if the program is as convenient as Nutrisystem advertises.

Till Tuesday,

Katie