It's that time of year again. Time to dust off the treadmill and lose some weight! I put on considerably less weight with Sarah's pregnancy than I did with Emily's. That's the good news. The bad news, I've had about ten extra pounds that I've been carrying around for like three years that will take A LOT of discipline on my part to work off. As it stands right now I have 4 more pounds to lose to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I've got about 15 more to go total. Not an unrealistic goal but it's going to take focus, determination, and consistency. This is not the first time I've dieted. This will be my third time on the Curves diet and I would HIGHLY recommend this diet to anyone else looking for something new. Having said that, I'm not really a huge fan of dieting. I think that one should maintain a lifestyle of healthy eating and exercising and just reduce calories/increase work outs in order to lose weight. My goal is to make this round of dieting my last. The problem I faced a few years back was that I didn't know how to eat right. I would cut back calories but make horrific meal choices. Too much bread, little protein, 100 calorie packs, too much fat, etc. That's the one flaw I find in Weight Watchers. You are allotted a certain number of points based on your weight, food is assigned a point value, and you just can't exceed your points for the day. Problem with that is you can chose to eat junk all day long, as long as you don't go over that number. Now, I know plenty of people who have lost weight on this program, so I'm not knocking it all together. My point is just that you need to know how to make the right food choices for a diet like that to work for you. That's where I find the Curves diet works best. They created a plan that balances carbs, fats, and carbohydrates while cutting back on calorie intake. You're still allowed carbs and fats, just in small doses or in combination with protein. Eating protein with carbohydrates slows the sugar to fat reaction in your body. Also, eating protein is essential for building muscle which helps you burn more calories. A higher protein with some carbs on the side also keeps your energy levels high. I found on other diets that one of the reasons I quit so quickly was that I lost energy due to not eating the right foods or cutting out a food group all together. Also, the Curves diet has a maintenance plan for when you end the 6 weeks (or more) of dieting. It helps you maintain your weight loss so that you don't put all the weight you just worked so hard to lose back on the minute you start eating 2000 calories again.
So all that said, the Curves diet does have some down sides. It's high protein and I gotta tell you, eating tuna every day for a snack, or just bland pork and brown rice for dinner gets pretty old fast. Some of the menus they have for you are downright awful. BUT, this being my third time on it I have found ways around that. I went through the book and picked 9 menus that were the most appealing to me and I rotate them through the week. I also, before I started the diet, looked up some substitutions for my least favorite snacks. It takes a bit of shopping around and reading the labels, but it's worth it to have when you just can't choke down turkey slices for the 5th day in a row.
I've found that as a result of me dieting, my family is benefiting as well. I have less snack food in the house, we've been eating lots of fruits and veggies, I've been cooking every night which saves money, I feel more energetic, and I feel better about myself and my health which leads to less "dreary" days. I'm excited about this round of dieting. As I said earlier, my goal is to have this round be my last. Even if I do pack on a few pounds over the years, it's my hope that I will not have to use a diet again to lose the weight. I've learned some valuable lessons from the diet books and I'm excited to apply them to our lives.
Currently I am eating 1600 calories a day, working out 6 days a week. Three of them I run a mile on the treadmill (it takes me 18 minutes right now) and the others I do Winsor Pilates (again, I would highly recommend these tapes!). I take a multivitamin, and drink 8 glasses of water a day. My goal for the end of next week is to be able to run a mile and a half. My ultimate goal is to be 136 pounds by the end of the six weeks so that I can fit into a nice dress for my cousin's wedding.
SO, are any of you women out there dieting? What's your method of losing weight? Feel free to leave a comment or a link to your blog. I'll be posting every Sunday on my journey to healthy living. I also have a weight ticker at the bottom of my blog.
Starting weight: 143.4 pounds
Today's weight in: 141.0 pounds
2 comments:
I too am on the diet bandwagon. Well, like you said, I hate to use the word diet but I am currently trying to lost weight. It's funny how year after year it adds on, just a little bit at a time until suddenly I'm not fitting in most of my clothes, and I'm heavier than I've ever been (aside from pregnancy). In fact, I weigh more now than I did shortly after my 2nd was born.
I am trying the Eat Clean way of eating - sticking to mostly foods that God made, very little processed foods. Eating 6 small meals a day with protein and carbs at each meal. If you want an easy protein source try buying soy protein powder and mixing it in a smoothie with fresh fruit - I was actually going to post about that on my blog.
I will be honest with you ... I weigh 156 right now. Way higher than I'd like to be! And I've been stuck in size 12 for a while now. I have a closet full of smaller clothes that I would really love to get back in to.
I would love to have an accountability partner ... would you be interested?
email me if you are - fourkerwins@sbcglobal.net
Wishing you lots of success!! =)
Kathy
You know I'm in with you! Except I have no specific diet or plan. Hmm, maybe that's why I'm not losing any weight! Just trying to eat fewer snacks and exercise more! It'll be good to have a weekly check-in! Hope it's a good diet week for you!
Post a Comment