Last week, you may remember I was getting annoyed and frustrated because I wasn't really losing any weight. I couldn't break through the 8.5 pound range. I was following the program (although I could drink more water and exercise more) and I wasn't really seeing results.
So Nutrisystem suggested I drink more water, add in more exercise, eat a dinner for lunch, a lunch for dinner and vary up my daily menu. I tend to happily eat the same thing every day. I'm the farthest thing from a foodie there is. But day after day, the same foods started to have an effect on my weight loss and I needed to switch it up.
So for me, that meant conquering that Beenie Man song in Dance Central, a Kinect game for the Xbox I adore, eating real salads again instead of drinking a lot of (reduced sodium) V-8 and varying up my meal plans. The result?
I'm down 10.8 pounds as of this week! Woo Hoo! That was technically as of last Sunday.
Sunday also happened to be the day I left for the lovely city of Charleston, South Carolina to visit family for Passover. If you aren't familiar with Passover, think of it as a long meal, with lots of Hebrew and storytelling and no bread. Families gather from all over the country and tell the story of Passover. Little kids recite the Four Questions and we sing songs about buying a goat that causes nothing but trouble for the cost of two zuzim (which, I imagine, are like pennies). So it's kind of an eating holiday, like Thanksgiving, but with a lot of rituals.
My Charleston strategy was this. No sweet tea (as a southern-born girl, I do declare I am against my own strategy already). Follow the same eating plan as Nutrisystem, but make healthy choices along the way. For me, that means eating five small meals and a little dessert each day.
Here is how it went.
Day One: I had my regular breakfast at home before we left. For me, this means a Cinnamon Bun from Nutrisystem, a hard boiled egg and a kiwi. Lunch was a salad at the airport. I had a yogurt for a snack and a deck-of-cards-size piece of salmon for dinner with a nice salad. I was proud.
And then I had Ben and Jerry's Cluster Fluff ice cream. The name should have been a warning. Since it's been almost two months of not eating those kinds of foods, my stomach no longer accepts full fat ice cream, even in the smallest size. Maybe I'm a little lactose-intolerant or maybe there was too much fat. Either way, I spent the night catching up on Law and Order re-runs instead of sleeping. Hopefully, I'll remember that the next time I want to eat something called Cluster Fluff.
Day Two: I still wasn't hungry for breakfast, as the ice cream was a frozen brick in my stomach. Still, I had a Nutrisystem Low Fat (and totally awesome) Granola cereal with some yogurt and a banana. Then, like many family trips, we did a little shopping and then we had lunch.
We had lunch at what must be the Willy Wonka equivalent of a southern restaurant, The Hominy Grill.
The Hominy Grill is almost magical. The list of "vegetables" available as sides includes the following options:
Macaroni and Cheese, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Cheese Grits, Tomato Pudding and Cornbread. All of which, minus the mac and cheese, do have vegetable bits in them, I suppose. But I don't think Patrick or Meredith at Nutrisystem would agree that they count as the type of vegetable they are looking for. Everything I tasted was better than the next. I've never actually licked my fingers and at that lunch, I became a finger-licker.
This is one of the places being a vegetarian saved me. I would have gone for the legendary fried chicken, but since I don't fancy that or the fried catfish, I opted for a side of Mac and Cheese, a side of Tomato Pudding (it has cornbread in it!) and a large side salad. And the Toasted Pecan Caramel Cake, of which I mainly ate the icing. Lucky for me, the portions were all on the smaller side (about half of the size of a softball, give or take) and after the meal, I didn't feel over stuffed (or even stuffed at all). I'll take not having that bloated and gorged feeling as my victory in this part of the story, thank you very much.
Then only three and a half hours later it was time for the Passover seder, or holiday meal. But, since there was no bread and I am a vegetarian that doesn't like chocolate-covered matzah, no damage was done. A delicious salad made of homegrown veggies, charoset (a nut and wine mixture that is part of the seder) and watermelon made up my meal.
So how did I fare the day back from my trip? I was certainly nervous to get on the scale. I didn't think I had done poorly, but you never can tell.
Well, I am up.
But I'm only up 0.4 pounds, as of this morning. Considering in the past, that would have been several pounds, I'm glad I did so well. I also took my measurements again and I a down a total of 9.6 inches!
I spend a lot of time wondering how manageable a program like Nutrisystem can be in real world scenarios, once my weight loss goals are met. And based on my trip to Charleston, I'd think it's totally manageable. Nutrisystem is about eating balanced, healthy meals and cutting out the garbage. Creating habits like eating small meals five times during the day teaches you how to eat differently. In the past, I craved a snack after lunch, after dinner and while watching TV at night. Now it seems normal for me to only enjoy one snack. I am not even missing the other snacks, for the most part. My habits are obviously changing and I am starting to get more confident in my abilities to continue to stay on the program and see success. And while it's only ten pounds, I think you are starting to see a difference.
(My official before Nutrisystem photo)
Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting here.
I am part of the Nutrisystem Blogger Nation and Nutrisystem is providing their plan and food in exchange for my reviews. As always, opinions are my own. Photos by me.
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So Nutrisystem suggested I drink more water, add in more exercise, eat a dinner for lunch, a lunch for dinner and vary up my daily menu. I tend to happily eat the same thing every day. I'm the farthest thing from a foodie there is. But day after day, the same foods started to have an effect on my weight loss and I needed to switch it up.
So for me, that meant conquering that Beenie Man song in Dance Central, a Kinect game for the Xbox I adore, eating real salads again instead of drinking a lot of (reduced sodium) V-8 and varying up my meal plans. The result?
I'm down 10.8 pounds as of this week! Woo Hoo! That was technically as of last Sunday.
Sunday also happened to be the day I left for the lovely city of Charleston, South Carolina to visit family for Passover. If you aren't familiar with Passover, think of it as a long meal, with lots of Hebrew and storytelling and no bread. Families gather from all over the country and tell the story of Passover. Little kids recite the Four Questions and we sing songs about buying a goat that causes nothing but trouble for the cost of two zuzim (which, I imagine, are like pennies). So it's kind of an eating holiday, like Thanksgiving, but with a lot of rituals.
My Charleston strategy was this. No sweet tea (as a southern-born girl, I do declare I am against my own strategy already). Follow the same eating plan as Nutrisystem, but make healthy choices along the way. For me, that means eating five small meals and a little dessert each day.
Here is how it went.
Day One: I had my regular breakfast at home before we left. For me, this means a Cinnamon Bun from Nutrisystem, a hard boiled egg and a kiwi. Lunch was a salad at the airport. I had a yogurt for a snack and a deck-of-cards-size piece of salmon for dinner with a nice salad. I was proud.
And then I had Ben and Jerry's Cluster Fluff ice cream. The name should have been a warning. Since it's been almost two months of not eating those kinds of foods, my stomach no longer accepts full fat ice cream, even in the smallest size. Maybe I'm a little lactose-intolerant or maybe there was too much fat. Either way, I spent the night catching up on Law and Order re-runs instead of sleeping. Hopefully, I'll remember that the next time I want to eat something called Cluster Fluff.
Day Two: I still wasn't hungry for breakfast, as the ice cream was a frozen brick in my stomach. Still, I had a Nutrisystem Low Fat (and totally awesome) Granola cereal with some yogurt and a banana. Then, like many family trips, we did a little shopping and then we had lunch.
We had lunch at what must be the Willy Wonka equivalent of a southern restaurant, The Hominy Grill.
The Hominy Grill is almost magical. The list of "vegetables" available as sides includes the following options:
Macaroni and Cheese, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Cheese Grits, Tomato Pudding and Cornbread. All of which, minus the mac and cheese, do have vegetable bits in them, I suppose. But I don't think Patrick or Meredith at Nutrisystem would agree that they count as the type of vegetable they are looking for. Everything I tasted was better than the next. I've never actually licked my fingers and at that lunch, I became a finger-licker.
This is one of the places being a vegetarian saved me. I would have gone for the legendary fried chicken, but since I don't fancy that or the fried catfish, I opted for a side of Mac and Cheese, a side of Tomato Pudding (it has cornbread in it!) and a large side salad. And the Toasted Pecan Caramel Cake, of which I mainly ate the icing. Lucky for me, the portions were all on the smaller side (about half of the size of a softball, give or take) and after the meal, I didn't feel over stuffed (or even stuffed at all). I'll take not having that bloated and gorged feeling as my victory in this part of the story, thank you very much.
Then only three and a half hours later it was time for the Passover seder, or holiday meal. But, since there was no bread and I am a vegetarian that doesn't like chocolate-covered matzah, no damage was done. A delicious salad made of homegrown veggies, charoset (a nut and wine mixture that is part of the seder) and watermelon made up my meal.
So how did I fare the day back from my trip? I was certainly nervous to get on the scale. I didn't think I had done poorly, but you never can tell.
Well, I am up.
But I'm only up 0.4 pounds, as of this morning. Considering in the past, that would have been several pounds, I'm glad I did so well. I also took my measurements again and I a down a total of 9.6 inches!
I spend a lot of time wondering how manageable a program like Nutrisystem can be in real world scenarios, once my weight loss goals are met. And based on my trip to Charleston, I'd think it's totally manageable. Nutrisystem is about eating balanced, healthy meals and cutting out the garbage. Creating habits like eating small meals five times during the day teaches you how to eat differently. In the past, I craved a snack after lunch, after dinner and while watching TV at night. Now it seems normal for me to only enjoy one snack. I am not even missing the other snacks, for the most part. My habits are obviously changing and I am starting to get more confident in my abilities to continue to stay on the program and see success. And while it's only ten pounds, I think you are starting to see a difference.
(Me on Wednesday of this week. I'm trying on new extensions. Nutrisystem did not make my hair grow 18 inches in 7 weeks. Sure it's with different hair and without glasses, but you get the idea. I tend to lose weight in my face first, btw.)
Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting here.
I am part of the Nutrisystem Blogger Nation and Nutrisystem is providing their plan and food in exchange for my reviews. As always, opinions are my own. Photos by me.
Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement.
