I have come here to make peace with food. I have been on some sort of diet since I was 18 years old. Sometimes I've been successful (losing 55 pounds on my own in 1996, losing 25 pounds with a trainer in 1999, making Lifetime at WW in 2004). However, I've never found anything that sticks - because I usually lose the weight quickly and then gain a portion - if not all - back. I am tired of the yo-yoing and I know that any real sustainable change is only going to come by changing my habits and finding something I can live with - forever.
I should also mention that I am recovering "party girl". In my twenties I admit I did a lot of going out... which included a fair amount of drinking and smoking. I have cut down on both of these considerably... partly due to getting older, but also because I'm ready to be healthier. As with food, moderation is key. So I've started HabitCals for the "glass ceiling" and "smoking" as well. I've never been a heavy smoker - I even quit for about six months last year. But my goal right now is to get down to 1-2 (total, not packs) per week. Right now I'm at 2-3 per day. This will probably be easier than the 2 drink/day goal - I don't drink much during the week anymore, but when we go out with friends on the weekends I do occasionally have 3-4 drinks at once. I am going to try drinking water between the two, or switching to diet coke.
I have always been good with exercise. I actually like it. I am a runner (considering the last paragraph, I realize this is a bit of a paradox) and I weight train with a trainer two times per week. I know if I could get the extra weight off, I have a fabulous body hiding underneath
I am not planning to weigh myself too much in this process. I am a person that tends to get hung up on "the number" and I forget to focus on other successes (how I feel, how my clothes fit, etc). One of my biggest irks of most "diets" like WW - or even the BMI calculation - is that there's too much focus put on weight, and that it doesn't take into account factors like muscle mass. I do think it's important to be accountable though, which is why I plan to post here religiously. I haven't even weighed myself in a few weeks, and I'm purposely avoiding it because I know it will just depress me right now. But last I checked I was about 188 (I'm 5'8"). I've been as low as 130-135, but that's not my goal anymore. I just want to get to a weight I can live with where I'm happy and healthy.
Today is my first day on No S. In the past I usually would have waited until a Monday to start a new diet, and had one last hurrah over the weekend. But, this isn't a diet. It's a lifestyle change. So I figured why not start on a Friday? I don't want to wait any longer to start working on developing new habits. I know my first challenge will show up as soon as I get to work (Friday morning donuts). They will be there every Friday - so I need to start resisting them. Besides, I don't need a "last hurrah" - because nothing is really off limits here (and I LOVE that).
The main reasons I've fallen off the wagon in the past is because a) I felt deprived or left out of social situations b) I cut calories too much, which is always a recipe for disaster, c) I got hung up on weight and threw in the towel if I didn't lose anything for a few weeks (even though I was losing inches), d) it wasn't a lifestyle change - it was just a "task" I had to finish, and once I did, I could just go on with my life, e) as stated on the website, counting calories and writing down everything you eat is just tedious (and a control freak like me doesn't know what to do when I want something and don't know the nutritional info).
Anyway, that's enough rambling for today
Looking forward to sharing this journey with everyone. Besides the simplicity and sustainability of this program, the other thing I like is the evident level of support on these boards... which is something I haven't seen in the past (the WW boards were SO cliquey and outright mean sometimes!!) So that's yet another reason I really feel this is going to be what "sticks" for me.Lauren