Splenda is my Friend

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.