Monday, August 22, 2011

Something's Gotta Give

I'm on a diet.

I'm bad at it.

This really sucks.

I'm trying to lose about fifteen pounds--enough to have a little more wiggle room in my skinny jeans, and a little less wiggle under my chin. As of this writing, I've been working on it for about a month, and have made zero progress. Just so you can understand how frustrating this is, here's a list of the life changes I've made in a month:

*I no longer drink soft drinks, save for the one I had at the movies when there was no alternative, and the diet coke I had with a salad. My only other option, at the time, was sweet tea. I went with the lesser of the two evils. Instead of soft drinks, I'm drinking bottles (plural) of water with calorie-free flavoring. I'm also downing a bottle of diet green tea per day.

*I've changed my snacking habits. I now eat two servings of fresh fruit as a mid-day snack. In the evenings, I either munch on popcorn (low-cal) or graham crackers with an itty-bitty bit of marshmallow fluff (low-cal. Empty calories, granted, but very few), or if desperate, one of those atrocious Fiber One brownies. I've cheated a grand total of three times in the past month, and never wildly.

*I've all but abandoned Starbucks. In the past month, I've been there twice. I now drink home-brewed coffee with Splenda and a little non-dairy creamer. One cup per day.

*Chicken fingers barely exist. I now get the no-finger salad when we go to the local heavenly chicken finger joint. If we have to go to the chain restaurant, Thomas and I split a meal, and I eat two fingers. I'm slowly curbing my addiction. I'm also cooking more at home, and watching serving sizes to keep everything around 400 calories.

*I have a smoothie place reward card, and there are even punches on it. It's attached to the heavenly chicken finger joint, so that's really saying something.

*There is no junk food in my house. The last of the ice cream went out yesterday. The worst thing in the pantry is a box of Little Debbie Apple Flips, and they're not that bad.

*I do sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and trampoline jogging at least twice a week--most of the time more, and walk two miles at least once, sometimes twice, per week. I'm beginning to stretch in the evenings while I'm watching TV.

*Out of desperation, I've even tried a fat burner and a very gentle two-week cleanse. There have been no side effects other than increased energy, so I'm keeping them up, but I can't swear they've done anything.

So, now I'm really making sure I don't cheat. 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet (love that name, by the way) suggests keeping a calendar, and using a sticker to mark off each day that you eat right, do all your exercising, and stick to your plan. At the end of a full month of stickers, you can treat yourself to a little happy, like a lipgloss, something cute to wear, new lingerie (oh, good Lord...that's more than a month!), or a massage. Another sweet visual reminder is this thermometer, that lets you tick off how much you've lost. My calendar is already on my fridge, so I may print this out and tack it up next to it for a little extra motivation.

Now, I know I'm not the only one out there in this situation. What are you guys doing to shed a few unwanted pounds? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

2 comments:

  1. For me I reduced the fruit in order to reduce the intake of fructose which is metabolized and turn into auger in your fat cells. Chicken strips are awesome! When not fried but seriously, who makes grilled strips? Other than that you are doing well. If the weight still fails to come off, you may want to have your thyroid checked just as a precaution. It's simple easy bloodwork.

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  2. i need some discipline. you'll be stunned to know that culinary responsibility is not highly prioritized at casa mags-the-new-yorker-and-the-man. but after FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS, we finally have a working oven. i may actually start cooking at home again. i haven't cooked a meal in two months. before that one, it had been six. hard to stay in fighting form when that happens...

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