Feelin' Good

I know I do a lot of comparing between weight watchers and 21-day fix. I don't mean to bash WW - hell, I've been on and off of their program for YEARS and YEARS. Even in a time of my life, looking back, when I really honestly didn't need it but was rather "convinced" I needed it by family. Another long story for another time.

And, I think I keep going back to WW because of my frustration level and resulting worry nowadays that *nothing* will work for me and my chubbiness (obese for those medical records, thanks!) and my underproducing thyroid. I mean, WW worked at times but was a VERY, VERY SLOW go. I would lose a pound, then gain a pound. Lose two pounds, gain pound. Lose half pound, gain 1/4 pound. And on and on it went for about 2 years. The most I lost, as I mentioned previously, was about 32 pounds and was feeling GREAT! I had put on a pair of pants I had not been able to wear in almost two decades. Why I still had these pants, please, don't get me started. However, this was also a time when I was working out regularly (but not 7 days. More like at least 4, most often 5 and sometimes 6) and after a long summer of intense swimming workout about 7 days a week! It was great. Then, the program changed, my husband (was ready to lose another temporary gig he had gotten after being laid off for the first half of the year) got a job across the country, my oldest said he was moving to Oregon, we put our house on the market, and I had returned to school full time for a second bachelor's degree. Maybe these excuses shouldn't matter but shit, they did.

My world changed and my focus on WW went quickly into the toilet. I tried to keep up with at least working out so that kept a lot of the weight off-ish but slowly, as predictable, it crept back on to now here we are.

So, WW has this sour taste in my mouth. As I mentioned in previous posts, I would work my ass off and not lose a bloody pound. Or, would take half a year for a measly 7 pounds.

Was I really working the plan the best way ever?

Most likely not.

And that brings me (the long way around, sorry) to today's post.

I have thought a lot about food intact, decisions on foods, and portions since starting the 21-day Fix. And, I can't help but (happily now) wonder if THAT all combined was not causing me problems on WW. Maybe it's just me or my body or my thyroid malfunction or whatever but here goes.

On WW, for example, you can eat all the fruits and veggies you can stuff in your mouth in a day. Nothing is off limits. Oh, sure, they don't consider peas, corns, or potatoes in that list but everything is free! EVERYTHING. Think about that. Well, I began to think about it when I heard on the 21day Fix program that everything has calories. I mean, don't get me wrong, I KNEW that but let's just say on WW I ignored and put that silly little thought out of my sweet little head.

Ditto for fruits. Even the high caloric ones. So, while I struggled to lose I was likely just STILL overeating calories. You know, that old tried and true (don't care how many times society has tried to shift the facts around, the old tried and true comes back again and again as the TRUTH) saying about calories in and burning the calories through exercise. Well, I would venture to guess that when it came to fruits and veggies I was eating way too many calories. I would also venture to guess that between the two I was eating way more fruits than veggies. You do the math. And that is only ONE aspect of a daily food intake.

Here, my choices all are whole food. Could I have eaten whole in the WW program? Sure. Did I? No. Why? Because I didn't have to. You count your points, whatever it may be. Boxed/frozen food items? No problem! Just count the points! A preservative-heavy granola bar? A preservative-heavy pretzel/cracker/goldfish? Sure! A 18 point piece of cheesecake? Okie-dokie.

And there inlays the problem, in my opinion.

I was simply STILL eating too many damn calories, despite the whole point thing and staying within your daily points and using those "extra" weekly given points plus any work out points you earned. I mean, I get it, there are doctors and scientists there at WW who are figuring all this shit out, I'm sure. But, for ME, this program did not withstand the long haul.

Will 21-day? I hope so.

I love how I feel. I love how I can tell the changes are happening (they are small still) after ONLY ONE WEEK. I am eating A LOT OF FOOD and yet it is all whole, lean, and my sugar intake has dropped significantly! Will I have "cheat" moments? Of course. This is life, after all and I'm not going to forgo a little dollop of butter on my mashed sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner nor will I turn a blind eye to a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream thankyouverymuch. But, will I eyeball that whipped sweet potato so it fits into a yellow container-ish portion? Yep. Will I overeat the cheese appetizer and have one too many glasses of wine? Most likely. Will I die because of it? No. I will get up the next day, eat a dinner of lean fish, most likely, and work out maybe an extra day or two. Maybe give the program's 3-day cleanse a try where you eat basically lean protein and veggies for three days. In other words, I am not going to completely abandon all good food at special times but I will continue to be mindful always.

What I have noticed is that my "cravings" are minimal. I find that refreshingly and happily strange. I admit I am looking forward to adding some light popcorn into my occasional dessert repertoire once this first 21-day round is over but I'm not feeling overly depressed not having it either. That is success. Almost like I am feeding my body what it SHOULD be eating to operate better and I am beginning to feel that shift. Believe me, I'm far from svelte but I am really feeling great eating healthier. And, if I want to avoid lifetime medication, becoming diabetic, or having heart problems that run in my family, I need to make these changes if I want to stick around for a lot longer. Period.