As you may have noticed, I write a lot of these blogs later in the evening... I am finding them to be a very good way to put my day in perspective and ensure I am in line with my goals for that day. Ideally, I start every day with a good intention... I plan to work out, eat well and, one of my resolutions for this year, to be nice to everyone I meet. Also, I am trying to pay it forward as much as possible... I want karma in my corner this year as I have a lot I want to complete. This blog allows me to review my day and decide whether or not I would consider it a success or not. Today was one... I did Fit Camp that is an amazing HIIT (Tabata) work out (will elaborate more on that later)... I had a healthy breakfast, salad for lunch and, since I had a meeting after work and then went straight to Fit Camp, I grabbed a quick bite from Subway on the way home. I snacked on fresh fruits and veggies and got in all my recommended water. Last but not least, I kept a smile on my face and was nice to everyone I came across so, yes, today was a success for me.
Speaking of eating well, one thing I mentioned before that I promised would be the topic of my blog is Weight Watchers. I have been a WW member since April of 2011 and I am a huge fan. I know there are many schools of thought out there for what the best diet regime is, but the truth is, the best diet is the one you can commit to, that fits into your life and that allows you to either lose weight or keep you at a steady weight and well nurished. My issue has always been portion control. I ate too much each time I ate and, because of that, my stomach was stretched and often I felt hungry far sooner than I actually needed to eat. I gained a significant amount of weight and, just as it didn't go on overnight, I know I won't lose it over night.
When I was in university, I did a total No Carb diet and I lost a lot of weight very quickly. It included getting up early, making protein's only for breakfast, preparing salads for lunch, mixing the two for dinner and always craving sugar to the point I had a headache. As I had a pretty easy class schedule, I often worked out twice a day. I had no fruits, no breads, no rice, no potatos, no carbs whatsoever. Although I lost the weight quickly, I always felt hungry. Eventually, my body became accustom to this and it became easier.... Until I graduated at joined the real world. I had less money, less time and less options... Or so it seemed at a very overwhelming time in my life. So that diet quickly failed.
Not only did I go off this diet, I rapidly, almost as fast as I took it off, gained it all back. I attempted to do this diet again in November of 2010, but it just didn't work for me anymore as I knew it wasn't the correct way to go about eating. When I finally made the step to join Weight Watchers, I had gained all but 3 lbs back of the 55lbs I had lost, I posted this as my new starting weight and I committed myself to Weight Watchers. My Meeting Leader was great, she was spirited, she had great ideas and, most importantly, she had been there and done that! Weight Watchers gives you a Daily Points target that will allow you to remain nurished, have enough calories to work effectively and also lose weight. When I started, I had 46 daily points, which is a lot of points it seems now, but when I got into it, I realized just how much I was over-eating. So I began tracking, measuring and weighing my food. Portion sizes were very important and, as OCD as I am, I tracked every little thing that I even thought about eating. Weight Watchers also allows you to "cheat"... so to speak. Each week, you are given 49 Allowance Points in case you have a big event, or a bad day, or fall off the band wagon... It allows you to live your normal life and diet in a way that fits your lifestyle until it becomes your new lifestyle. Another fun thing about Weight Watchers, and I know I mentioned this when referring to activity in my last blog post, is that you can earn yourself Activity Points by working out. You can earn as many as you'd like and they are interchangable with food... However, to ensure you aren't rewarding your hard work by gorging yourself... You can only use up to 6 activity points per day. What works for me is not using any of the 49 "extra" Allowance Points and only using earned Activity Points as I tend to use a few extra each day and this way, it stops me from cheating.
Finally, Weight Watchers keeps you accountable. You MUST go and get weighed in at least once per week or it will cost you to re-register and you can attend the meetings with people who are going through the same battle as you are and share tips and ideas and successes. With the right leader, I now have a young man who has been through the program and he has a great sense of humour and a fabulous attitude, it really increases your chances of success. Personally, Weight Watchers is the diet that works for me. If you can eat correctly, carefully and cleanly, it can assist you in achieving your goals. And, yes, our body requires certain things to remain healthy and we should ensure we get those things every day... even the smallest change to begin after years of overeating and incorrectly eating can cause you to see positive changes in your body. For me, first of all, a lot of my stomach issues went away and I felt like I had more energy when I cut out a lot of the crap food I had been eating for so long. I recommend this program to anyone interested in trying. It is worth the money as it helps you a lot more with gaining accountability and control. You don't always pay, either, when you reach your goal weight and sustain it for a certain period of time, you become a Life Time member and don't ever have to pay again as long as you stay within your goal range. If you attend the one in Barrie, let them know I sent you so I can get a referral key chain! :-)
Dieting is totally in your hands... Whether you choice Atkins, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weight Watchers, Herbal Magic, etc... they will all work as long as you stay committed... However, to change your LIFE, you have to find a diet that works for you and makes sense to you. Spending $500 a month on pills or injections may be sustainable at the beginning, but highly unreasonable later... So find one that works for you and collaborate it into your fitness regime and commit! Don't expect to lose weight overnight because you didn't put it all on over night! Lose it slowly, allow your skin to shrink back as you work out and stay positive. Dieting will help you and it will work for you, as long as you make it part of your life, not your entire life! I have lost 40 lbs and can rhyme off the points in most food items now without even looking... I have formed habits that I now don't even think about... Weight Watchers is a way of life for me and I continue to love it!
To sign off today, here is a laugh from Jenna Marbles about How Diets Work and I'm sure anyone who has battled dieting will crack a smile, I always do!
Night all! :-)
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