I was so proud of myself yesterday for not eating the Halloween candy we bought to hand out to the little kiddies. Unfortunately, I left that self discipline home today. Our secretary has a big bag of candy corns on her desk and they have been much harder to resist.
Today my company celebrated Halloween in the office and many wives came in the office with their children. If employees wanted to participate in the festivities, we were to hang a balloon outside of our office door, which meant that the kiddies could come visit and trick-or-treat.
I intentionally bought two types of candy that I don't like, so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the extras. So far, I haven't had any... although, my boss has Dots and Junior Mints, that have been harder to resist. I've done pretty well all things considered.
Still loosing weight - YEAH!
]]>There's a very interesting article in today's NY Times called "Seduced by Snacks, No, Not You". It was a nice morning read for me, since it stresses the importance of visual cues when eating.
I actually went on Amazon and bought this guys book - It's called Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. I also bought myself "The F Word: Feminism in Jeopardy" and the new Killers CD. I love treating myself to Amazon.com goodies!
]]>The girls that sit in my office have witnessed first hand the Nutrisystem experience that I am going through... they have been somewhat supportive, but mainly perplexed by what I have been putting myself through. They have seen me make funny faces before throwing away some of the more disguisting entrees. For weeks, I have been promising to bring in as show-&-tell one of the items I found too repulsive to even try... today I finally remembered.
The Flame-broiled beef patty. Think of the sound a hocky puck makes in a small cardboard box -- that's how this is packaged -- sounds appetizing, doesn't it. So, we decide to cook it up and see how it looks. The instructions say to take it out of the box, but leave it on the plastic tray -- then, pour boiling water on it. After two minutes, the patty had absobed all of the water. it was still crumbly, and smelled a lot like lamb. None of us were brave enough to take a bite.
I have lost 8.5 pounds so far (since Labor Day!)
]]>Some of you know that I recently decided to try the Nutrisystem Program. I am trying to get down to my pre-Janney weight. When I was on my feet all day working at J Crew (at the end of 2001) I slimmed down pretty easily (40+ hours a week on your feet makes a big difference) to a weight that was appropriate given my frame. Slowly the weight crept back on, almost 20 pounds in 4 years!!!! That's an awful lot on my 5'2" frame! I managed to slim down for the wedding, but got lazy afterwards and it all returned, along with some extra "friends".
My sister's friend Lauren had had a lot of success with Nutrisystem and was very helpful in suggesting food that was edible and those I should stay away from. I've been doing the program for 5 weeks and have only been following the program on days when I am in NYC. I have run out of breakfast foods I like, so I would say that I am very loosely following their program. In five weeks I have lost 6.5 pounds!!! I would love to have lost more, but I'm happy with the results considering how lax I have been over the past two weeks. I hope to stay on track to loose roughly 1lb/week and should be at my target weight, assuming a certain amount of occasional lapses (Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Xmas are tough!) by the end of the year.
The trick to Nutrisystem is portion control. By simplying eating off a small plate or bowl instead of a big plate, I find that I am eating less. Its amazing how much of eating is visual. I am much more aware of what and how I eat. I have scaled back eating too many carbs, but am not depriving myself of bread or pasta. I'm still drinking wine, enjoying the occasional klondike bar, etc... so it is easier to stay on the program when you don't feel like you are being deprived. Good thing I enjoy eating salad, veggies, and fruit, or this would be really difficult to stick with.
Truthfully, I think my new New York lifestyle has just as much to do with the weightloss as anything else. I'm being a little more diligent about going to the gym (my boss lets me go in the afternoon from the office) and I am walking 15-25 min a day back-and-forth to the office. Usually I take the bus 1/2way in the morning and walk the entire 20 min walk back home at night. Compared to my commute to Janney (practically nonexistent), this alone is probably making a difference.
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