Yes, here I find myself in need of losing weight yet again. I weighed myself almost every day while living in Virginia, during my extended Christmas break, (something I have never done) and that daily reminder of just how heavy I have grown helped me make good food choices each day and kept me eating wisely throughout the holidays,which resulted in no weight gain.
Yesterday I spent some time reading through my Weight Watcher books and I have decided that I will try a new program called Switch. And I will spend this week on the “no count” program.
No count is a slightly inaccurate title because I still have to count certain things like: Bread, Chocolate, sweets, certain cooking ingredients, dried fruits, nuts, fats & oils, juices and sodas, milk with a higher fat content than semi-skimmed, salad dressings & sauces and some spreads. But the reason I have chosen it is that I don't have to count every single thing that goes into my mouth, if I eat food from the “No count food list”. This plan seems more likely to succeed because I have a really hard time counting accurately with Russian labeling which more often than not does not tell me the calorie and fat content. Something I need in order to do the regular Weight Watcher program. On no count I get 21 points a week to spend on the above listed “counted” items. So yesterday I spent 3 points. 2 on the yoghurt I ate that wasn't fat free and 1 on the low fat homemade onion gravy I ate with my lean roast beef that is free/no point if I eat a sensible portion. I also drank another 1 point for dessert a lovely hot chocolate Dean stirred up for me. That I earned by exercising.
Yes, it looks like this month the only desserts I'll be eating are the ones I earn by exercising. I have the handy slide rule in which I formulate how many points I earned by deciding how hard I worked, low, moderately, or hard, then the length of time. Then I look on the other scale find my current weight and that tells me how many points I earned. I jogged strenuously for 30 minutes which earned me 4 points. And I saved 3 and spent 1.
So with persistence and a bit of time I hope to be a lighter trimmer me.
Now for the fitness part of the plan:
I will begin following the “Escape your Shape” workouts from the book of the same name. My shape is “ruler”, so each day I will do the unpleasant Ab work the author proscribes as well as the other resistance exercises. And do at least 30 minutes of strenuous aerobic work 5 days a week. He has set for me the challenge to be able to jump rope for 20 minutes continuously. (Last time I tried I made it to one minute before the rope bumped a chair) He says once I am proficient at jump rope jumping then I will have no weight problem, if of course I jump rope at least 3 days a week.
This month my favorite aerobic activity is cross country skiing. Or what I think of as “over the river and through the woods” skiing. (Although I don't have a Grandmother's house to end up at.-)
It is also Sasha's favorite pass time too. She loves snow so while I huff and puff I get to watch her cavorting through the snow.
So now you know and hopefully having people to report to will give me that little edge of self control. I really want to establish the habits before I face my week of temptation in Sharm Egypt.
Okay, we are gonna be watching - stay strong!
ReplyDeleteWay to go Shaura - Love all the posts so far, but thought I'd send words of encouragement here. I too am struggling with weight gain. I am trying a no egg, no dairy, no gluten, no soy, no peanut, and low yeast diet. Even in America, that's a tough one to weed out. I'm finding though, that its entirely possible. I've increased my fiber and rice intake to reduce hunger and move things along. And, I'm taking Probiotics to boast the good bacteria and reduced the bad bacteria so the food digests better. Its a cleaning thing. If it works, it promises to "jump start" my system in 3-weeks to promote better digestion and easier weight loss. But honestly, the reason I talked to my doc about this is the fatigue and joint pain that has been lingering for about 6months. In less than a week on the Probiotics/fiber/rice supplements, I gained back so much energy...now 2 weeks on the supplements, my energey is back to my "normal" self. I can't imagine what next week will bring now that I am 100% free of common food alergens like the dairy, gluten, etc. I'm not dropping the weight so much but man I can move now! The weight will come off with the increase in energy. Its amazing how when you find the RIGHT combination, it makes all the difference in the world. Good luck my friend, its a hard road but so worth it.
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