Alas, my 3-month experience on the Best Life Diet is “publicly” coming to a close….thank you to everyone who has come on this journey with me and shared your experiences, thoughts and well wishes. The journey continues for me–more privately now–and I know you will all continue to be with me in spirit…and I with you. At final count I have lost 15 pounds and I feel fantastic. I’m halfway to my goal and it really feels like the time has flown. I hope that the enthusiasm I have now will continue when I am in maintenance mode….in a small way I almost fear reaching my goal and then not having a weight loss goal…only a maintenance goal…will I still be as inspired? I hope so because I certainly plan to get there. 

I was wondering for days what I should write about when I get to my final post. I thought I would provide a retrospective on some of my epiphanies, and let all of you know the biggest “a-ha” moments I have had during this 3 month adventure:

1) Eating healthily and nutritiously is not hard. It just takes some thought but requires no more physical exertion than eating poorly. The healthy stuff is just as convenient…it just needs a discovery process…yours.

2) The Best Life Diet hunger scale is probably the most critical component of all. It forces you to listen to your body. When we were introduced to the hunger scale I didn’t buy into it right away–it seemed a bit “psychologically fluffy” to me. I mean…I’m a career dieter…how come I have never heard of this? Well, it’s not fluff, it’s fact. I now really know when to stop eating…when I should stop eating…and what a good satiety level is. This is true biology at work and people used signals like these to manage their eating long before processed food was invented. Rampant obesity was not prevalent 100 years ago.

3) Cooking for yourself will accelerate the program tremendously. I have been cooking 50% more since starting the Best Life Diet, using recipes from the book as well as others I’ve found on healthy websites, books, etc. Not only am I in control of  my calories (vs. takeout where you never know)…but my palate is opening up…I’m learning to actually like more foods than previously. My family is astounded now when I get second helpings of salad…I never used to eat it. I feel not only in control but quite the inventive family chef…it’s fun and everyone is supportive because the food tastes great!

4) Working out — strength training PLUS cardio — actually helps you more psychologically than physically. Yes, it accelerates weight loss but high levels of activity is nature’s anti-depressant. The endorphins and mental enthusiasm I feel after working out do more for me on this program than the actual physical actions. Most people hate working out…after 3 weeks with a good trainer or solid program, I challenge anyone to say they still hate it. It just feels good.

5) Don’t talk about it too much. People who are not “on the train” can subconsciously try to sabotage your efforts. The more committed you are, the less it matters who knows the details. Just do it. Those who are truly supportive will carve a way into doing this with you, or in parallel. Those who aren’t won’t be tempted to derail you.

I have had a wonderful time and look forward to all of you reaching your goals as well. Take care and may the best woman/man LOSE!!! 

Well, I ran an 8K Sunday–the Shamrock Shuffle, the largest 8K in the country. 8K is just about 5 miles. I signed up for it during the second month of the Best Life Diet…when I was just starting to feel progress and great about myself. Now, I have not run five miles straight in about 8 years so I was really not sure if I could even finish…I was pretty sure I’d have to walk some of it.

Well…ha ha ha. I ran the entire thing and it was manageable! I am sore but that is to be expected. I can’t believe I ran the whole thing, but it did help having the 30,000 other runners bonding with you, running side by side and the crowd of onlookers cheering you on. That is very inspiring.

When the race was over all of the runners ran to get their free beer. I have not had any alcohol while on the Best Life Diet and I was waiting for the race before I had a drink…I think I’ll wait a bit longer. I don’t want it right now…after that run I just really wanted to keep feeling healthy. I just got a cup of coffee, spent some time with a friend who ran with me, and then went home.

There is nothing like crossing the finish line after doing something you didn’t think you could do. I can’t wait until my next race…I think this is something I’ll continue for a long time, and I would never have been able to accomplish this if I had not had 3 months of the Best Life Diet under my belt!

Ok, so today was not a day that I think I was really on a weight loss path. I probably had 2000 calories, which, for someone wanting to maintain on the Best Life Diet would not be off the charts. But it was about 500 more than my normal amount.

I knew it while I was doing it. My sister made this amazing pasta dish and I just had to have a large portion…I wasn’t paying attention to my hunger scale. The food just tasted great and that is why I wanted to keep eating it. I managed to stop after a decent bowl full (more than enough).

So I probably didn’t gain any weight but I’ve put off losing another pound a little longer. The key here is to not beat myself up, and to understand that I will have these times where I will just splurge a teeny bit. Spare the big drama and not have a roller coaster effect happen. Mentally I’m prepared to handle the aftermath. So physically I should be ok.

We’ll see! I have an 8K run next week so maybe a few extra carbs were not too bad!

Remember the scene in “When Harry Met Sally” when Sally ordered at a restaurant and had so many lengthy particulars with the server about her dish and how it would be prepared (dressing on the side, etc.)…that it was considered one of the landmark funny scenes of the movie? That scene really scarred me from being picky at a restaurant or asking too many questions…not wanting to seem like that kind of girl.

Well you know what? It’s my right to have things prepared as I like (within reason). And if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

So now I’ve started being a bit bolder–not a jerk, just careful. When I order Thai food I make sure to ask that no oil is used (tastes about the same really!). When I order pasta, I ask if the noodles are basted in olive oil before they are covered in sauce…if the answer is yes, I ask them to not baste them in the oil. Dressings are always on the side. Sauteed dishes don’t need all that butter so you ask for less. You know…no one really cares.

So take control of situations that you think may be out of control. ”Oh, I’m eating out so my diet is ruined” no longer flies. You can eat healthily or reasonably all the time…you just need to ask. 

So today some girls in the office came up to me with a furtive, gleeful suggestion–how about we do a “Shamrock Shake” run? OK, so it was at the point in the afternoon where my mental energy was starting to wane, so I thought they were saying they wanted to run the Shamrock Shuffle with me — this is the name of a race that I’m running in Chicago with Cecilia and Anna (my Yoplait buds) in 2 weeks. Then they looked at me funny, and said “NO, we want to go grab some of those yummy green mint milkshakes…you want one?”

So that is what they were saying, but what I was hearing was “do you want to have one of those forbidden goodies that you have managed to restrain yourself from ingesting for the past 10 years…and better yet, do you want one hand-delivered to you at your all-time sugar-low of the day?”

I’m fairly new to my job well so I of course did not want to disappoint my new friends by saying “no, I’m on a diet” or “no, I can’t eat those”….because a) I thought it might make them think I was judging them; and 2) I had never tasted one and I was feeling curious and in control…I bet I could have just a teeny bit.

So I was in and $2.50 later I got the smallest-size shake delivered to me (the smallest you can get is about 16 oz…criminal!). And guess what? I had 3 slurps and it was so yummy. And then, I gave it to someone else. That’s all I needed and wanted. I participated, had a fun splurge with low investment, ingested maybe 50 calories and there was no drama.

If I can continue like this I think I’ll be able to handle any real-world unplanned bad-food situation. It’s about control – my control…nothing else.

In my 9th week of the Best Life Diet, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that being realistic is critical to achieving any long-term success in weight loss. Though it seems against our nature as dieters (optimism is a huge driver to begin a weight loss program)…it is the key to longevity in any program.

I am happy that I’ve lost 10 pounds but honestly, I thought (at the beginning of the program) I would have lost more by now and would have about 15 pounds off by the end the 2nd month. Even though Bob Greene and all the experts say to expect about a pound loss per week for the beginning stages, I thought those rules really didn’t apply to MY body and I would show everyone how I did better than the average. Well…I actually did about average. No big deal. But why is there a teeny shred of disappointment in me right now? Because I set my targets too high…and was not as mentally and emotionally realistic as I needed to be.

So if there is one piece of advice I’d give after experiencing 2 months of the Best Life Diet, and drawing upon my life-long career of dieting, it would be that as soon as you are honest with yourself and what is really attainable and sustainable, you will stay in the vicious diet spiral.

I’m looking forward to more weight loss…but I will take what I can get when it happens!  

Losing 10 pounds is great. Truly, I’m very happy. As I’m embarking on the second half of Phase II…I’ve really managed controlling my eating (check); raised my activity level appropriately (check); cut out the 6 additional elements since Phase I (check)…so now I’m pretty much….well, coasting. There won’t be anything truly “new” for me for awhile…just staying the course and methodically losing more weight. 

I have about 20 more pounds I want to lose — I feel like I’m in mile 10 of a marathon…I made it a great distance but I still have far to go. And in marathons…a lot of fans are at the start and toward the end of the marathon trail cheering you on and rallying you home…the middle portion of the path typically has a lighter crowd (I’ve never run a marathon, mind you, but this is what my marathoner friends have confirmed)…so I feel like I’m in that middle part where I need to find more resolve to keep myself “high” on my successes. Not to keep myself actually DOING the program, but to continue with the mental excitement that I’ve had for the past two months. Losing that, I fear, will make me weaker.

I am going to have to call on my sisters in the program…the five wonderful women who are doing this with me to keep me going. We’ve had our ups and downs and if anyone can give me a good whipping into mental shape it is them. Also, you all out there who are doing this too–how are you staying on your high? Please let me know your secrets. In the meantime, I’ll keep plugging away and trying to revive that adrenaline that has kept me going so well so far!

I’ve lost about 10 pounds and I’m very excited. Some of my old clothes are starting to fit again–yay. I’m familiar with this feeling, fortunately and unfortunately, as I have been gaining and losing the same 30 pounds my whole life. But something is definitely different this time. This time, my body shape is transforming–it’s different. My hips are getting narrower and my legs more muscular….I don’t feel flabby still–I actually feel fit. My body is stronger and I’m firmer–even though I still have about 20 pounds to lose. There is no mystery here…it’s the exercise that is doing it!

I have had a pear shaped body my whole life with a strong emphasis on the lower pear. With the increased exercise in tandem with the diet, I’m starting to become more proportional. Yes, I’m losing it in the same areas first as before (my waist, bust)…but my hips are not necessarily going to be the last ones to the party this time…I’m seeing results earlier and my clothes are fitting in a better way. I’m one of those girls who has always had to buy pants 2 sizes too big in the waist to account for the disproportionate area in the hips (sisters unite on this one…I know there are a ton of us out there who do this)…but I *think* and *hope* that maybe I will be changing this scenario going forward with my new body…maybe I’ll only have to go up one size. I can’t change my bone structure, but I can help mitigate disproportion by building muscle. We’re not talking body building here…please! But by building muscle in my legs, they will get smaller–burning the fat away and looking like they should look, vs. how they have looked.

Oh, how I wish I had incorporated this amount of exercise in my life much much earlier on…maybe I would not have had to lose this weight…or at least so much of it. I can’t shout to the hills loud enough how exercise has propelled the Best Life Diet into action–you cannot have one without the other and see results. Even in Phase III which focuses on maintenance…the activity doesn’t go away.

One thing Bob Greene told me last week was to not start any exercise that I wasn’t prepared to continue for the rest of my life…so truly, find what works for you and don’t be scared off if you are not physically agile. It doesn’t have to be an hour–20 hard minutes of any activity (stairs, treadmill, jumprope) is a great way to begin.

So I weighed myself this weekend and the tally is up to 9 pounds that I’ve lost on the Best Life Diet. Wanting to lose 30 to 35 pounds, it is nice to know that I’m close to 30% to my goal…after less than 2 months. Not bad!

You know, we all think weight loss is so hard. Have you every looked at what a pound of fat looks like? At my last job, there was a weight loss program’s storefront business near my office, and they had this big blob of yellow mass that actually looked like a brain on a scale in the window. The scale read 1 pound. I remember thinking how large that mass looked, and more importantly, how 30 extra of those one-pound-brain-lookalikes currently reside in my body and how gross that made me feel (great marketing tactic!). HOWEVER…it was a huge mass. And I have literally been losing one of those a week on average since I started the Best Life Diet. The body can actually lose a lot of mass very quickly…the word “one pound” almost minimizes this impact…and I don’t think the human body really gets the credit it deserves sometimes!

I encourage you to do an online image search to see what a pound of fat looks like–somewhere I’m sure someone has recorded this digitally. And as you go through the Best Life Diet or your other weight loss program, you should really be in awe about how a body responds to you. If you give it what it needs, it will do what you want it to do.

I’m rejoicing in the 9 pounds the Best Life Diet took from me and look forward to the next 25. Stay with me!

I had a minor setback last Wednesday–I pulled a muscle during a workout. There is an official name for the muscle that I pulled but I can’t remember it…I’ll make it easy and just say it is in the groin area…and the discomfort is not very fun. It’s the first time I have had an injury related to exercise.

What’s kind of ridiculous is that my first thought as the injury was actually happening and I felt the first pains shooting down my leg was not about anything to do with my health…it was an immediate recognition and disappointment that I would no doubt have a hiatus for lower body activity…my guess is a week. I can still work out my upper body and plan to do so, but I am now in fear of not burning as many calories or keeping my metabolism as high due to this injury. I have to be bullet-proof on the eating…no room for error!

It would be so easy to get depressed and resort to an old habit of zero activity while I heal…but I will definitely be staying on the Phase II plan and working out what body parts I can work out–even if only my pinkie were able to exercise. I have to treat this as if it were a mere annoyance, and not let it get me down. Our (women’s) mental states regarding exercise are so fragile…it takes only a pin prick to pop the enthusiasm surrounding exercise…to get someone to change their mind or not leave the house. Why is that the case? I have to mentally muster up so much strength to get myself to move, and s___ happens and I’m sabotaged. But that is life. Get over it, right?

I and some of the girls have already signed up for an 8K run near the end of the first 3 months of the program (in late March) as a celebration of our new fitness levels…so I’ve got to make sure I heal correctly. The trainer I’m working with is fantastic and his quick handling of my injury with ice and stretching has mitigated some severe pain today…I am actually functioning pretty well.

This week I will be all about the upper-body workouts, and hopefully I’ll be back on the treadmill by this coming Wednesday. If not, I’ll survive….think about people who have real physical disabilities who manage to keep themselves in shape. I’m no one to even complain. Chin up and bring on the bicep curls!

I’m having trouble eating enough. Funny as that sounds, I am not hitting my 1550 calorie mark (the “weight loss mode” allowance) every day. I know that I “can” eat the calories and “should” eat the calories, but there is something in my subconscious that feels seductively good if I stay one or two hundred under my daily allowance…in hopes to lose weight more quickly. Why am I like that? Am I alone in this sick pleasure? Well…it’s backfiring and I’m going to get back to eating more (but staying at the right amount). What is happening is that I’m running out of steam or starving before a meal (even though I would have a snack a couple hours prior). AND, on the days of my workouts I’m having a hard time keeping up with some of the other girls. This is all my fault so I’ve got to change course.

Janis Jibrin, our fabulous nutritionist and co-author of The Best Life Diet, brought this to my attention when she analyzed my food intake last week. When you see the data on paper and realize you are literally not fueling yourself properly (leading to binges almost always)…it makes you think! I would never drive across the country without filling up my gas tank first…so what is my deal? Why do I not treat my body with the same respect as my SUV?

So today, I had an afternoon workout and made sure I ate a very healthy and hearty lunch. Through some funny miscommunication at the gym, I accidentally worked out HARD for 90 minutes instead of 60 and I made it through just fine. Amazing what you can do when you have proper fuel.

So don’t do what I did…yeah, maybe I won’t lose that extra .25 of a pound per week but I also won’t make bigger mistake later. Doing this right is what is important and I have to remember that cheating (either in underrage or overrage of calories) will surely get you somewhere down the line.  

I’m probably dating myself with the Righteous Brothers reference but who can forget Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in that smokin’ scene…

In my life there have been as many shades of “full” as there are shades of “white” at the paint store (those into home repair know EXACTLY what I mean). The main contenders: 1) the “gross-full”, where you seriously can’t put one more morsel in your mouth without expelling the entire meal (”better get a bucket”); 2) the “pretty darn full” where you groan aand physically push yourself away from the table to emphasize to others around you what is going on inside you; and 3) the most-often-seen ”regular full” where you have that thick heavy feeling in your stomach and your inner voice is saying to you “hey pig, you did it again”. I have fine-tuned my “full” scale over the years so I know exactly how much guilt to pile on myself after any meal.

Now, thanks to the Best Life Diet, I get to say goodbye to you, my “full-o-meter”. In Phase II, I am fine-tuning not my full scale, but my “hunger” scale. What a novel idea…to eat when you are hungry. By cutting out six key ingredients (see Cecilia’s awesome post on what they are and how she has done it)…without all that sugar and white flour and soda, my “innerds” (a.k.a. insulin levels) are becoming normalized and I’m actually starting to feel hunger….and eating when I’m hungry. Cool, but it gets harder. Now the tricky part–I need to eat when I am hungry (but not too hungry) and stop at a level that is neither hunger nor fullness. Um, ok…HARD! 

The Best Life Diet has a hunger scale from 1 to 10 (1 being most hungry, 10 being most full) and our goal in Phase II is to try to eat when our hunger is at a level 2 or 3, and stop at a 5 (for dieting) or 6 (for maintenance). This will definitely take weeks for me to figure out how different I feel from a level 5 to 6…but can we also ponder how hard it will be to stop eating when you have only moved 3 notches on the hunger scale? Yeah. Tell me about it.

So this is my quest for this month. Tonight I had some wheat ravioli with arrabiata sauce (careful on the sauces–make sure you are around 70 cals for a serving) and shredded chicken and a little wheat baguette (about 140 cals on the bread–pretty much the carb limit). It was about 550 calories but I was above a 5 when I was done…so it was hard for me to know that I could have all those calories and do fine in the diet, but not eat all of them because I actually approached the satiety required before I finished. So it will be a constant trial and potential error–tonight it was a close call. I won’t go to bed beating myself up about a calorie overrage because it wasn’t–more so that I knew I didn’t have to finish my calories but I did. If it isn’t one thing, it’s the other.

I’ll keep plugging away–this is a critical skill to master in order to stay fit after I lose the weight, so I’m really going to work hard at it. I will not be perfect for a long time, but that is ok. This is a journey!

This weekend we were fortunate to have a grocery shopping extravaganza with Janis Jibrin, co-author of The Best Life Diet and our celebrity nutritionist. Janis took all six of us to grocery stores–both “normal” and “high end”– to demonstrate how you can make good choices in nutrition no matter where you shop. It was an amazing way to spend the day and I left thinking–why doesn’t EVERYONE have access to this information in this manner? To have a one-on-one (well, one-on-six) session with an expert was so practical, allowed for real questions and was as informative and inspiring as you could get. And don’t think it was “health nut” speak…for instance, she told us which ice cream sandwiches she liked better than others and how to sneak in a veggie serving by having a veggie burger instead of a vegetable for those of us who are not as veggie friendly (read: me) …we’re talking real solutions, real food for real people.

So I left with the epiphany that I would always have a nutritionist as a part of my life…when this program is over, that will not be the last time I interact with a nutritionist. It’s hard to imagine when I’ll need more counseling–whether in a maintenance check-up or a new challenge, but for instance, when my children hit puberty and their bodies change, I will definitely have the family meet with a nutritionist to help them understand how important nutrition (and maybe specific nutrients at that time) is at this stage of their life…especially when they may not like to listen to mom and dad around that time. Hearing it from an expert could help the entire family. When I go through menopause, that will be another time I would definitely engage with a nutritionist, as well as my doctors…there will be many times where I think it may be critical in my life to ensure nutrition is re-addressed.

Can I also share my (newfound) rage that healthplans should account for nutritionist consultations to stem off the amazing dollars spent on caring for health issues related to obesity? Seriously…this is preventative care! I could go on for days about this –why not treat the problem vs. the symptoms? If I knew that, through my healthplan (or even Employee Assistance Program) that I could get one or two nutritionist counseling sessions per year–I would absolutely do it…and who knows, maybe my health would have been better earlier on. This has GOT to be a priority with the obesity rate at 30% in this country…including an outrageous childhood obesity rate. Educate the parents on how to feed their families well and prevent countless maladies in the future.

OK..I’m off the soapbox. It’s amazing what a little education can do to you. The GREAT thing about Janis is that her words of wisdom are indeed accessible to the masses through the Best Life Diet book. The Bob Greene/Janis Jabrin combination is amazing…we are all seeing the results with more than 30 collective pounds lost in one month! I can’t say enough good things about Janis and Bob–only that you certainly would not regret learning from them.

Nutrition is underrated and understated–believe me when I say it is now the front page headline in my household! Thank you Janis!

How great was Anna’s post “What’s in My shopping Cart?”….talk about making it tangible for all of us! How many times have you gone to the grocery store, dilly-dallied in the aisles to jog your memory if you needed this or that…only to get in the checkout lane (that usually takes twice as long as the shopping itself–don’t get me started)…and you look at the conveyor belt full of food and think…geez, how come I don’t buy anything “real”? What’s wrong with me? Processed this, packaged that, imitation whatever….where is the artist formerly known as food?

So Anna, thank you. Thank you for telling us what to buy. And what did I do today? I bought…I went to my local supermarket, which is not so super by the way, and spent some quality time reading labels, lingering in produce and meat aisles, whizzing quickly by the salty snack row (though I do love me a baked chip)…and was extremely proud of the $116 worth of “real” food for the week that I bought.

What prompted this Thursday afternoon adventure? My husband was craving pizza for dinner (yikes, help) so after a 5 minute sweat and panic,  I thought I’d get in front of this ambush…deal with it, and control it. Why don’t I make the pizza, I thought.,,and I can have less fattening stuff on my section and be able to manage my calorie intake. OK…well, a 3 year old could have thought of that but of course it was an epiphany for me. SO…off I go. I bought a whole wheat thin crust (pre-made that you top yourself - 150 cals per serving…which was 1/5 of the pie) and made a turkey pepperoni pizza, light on the mozz. Doctored up with spices and it was pretty darn delicious and I stayed within about 500 cals on dinner–and got to enjoy pizza with my guy. He really liked it (I added low fat sausage on his portion) and he started to ask questions on how I made it, blah blah. Victory is mine.

So I highly recommend this as a substitute for intense calorie-laden take-out…I bought some extra crusts to have on hand for an emergency…seriously, this is the category I’ve assigned them. One other thing that I discovered as a result of a similar panic is the amazing ease of a pre-made rotisserie chicken you buy at the store. It’s already cooked and usually under $10, and you can repurpose that chicken in a million ways. Take the skin off and it’s pretty darn healthy. We’ve made chicken tacos (corn tortillas); chicken chili, chicken panini, etc. It’s so great to have it already cooked–saves about 1.5 hours end to end for the meal.

I’ll share other tidbits as I discover them. Thanks again Anna…after reading your post I realized there are a lot of little details we can all share that are extremely actionable–immediately. I encourage everyone reading to share yours as well–the more we do the better off we will all be!

I have mastered Phase One of the Best Life Diet….I’m hydrated, working out, increasing my fiber, reducing my calories and lo and behold, lost 6 pounds in the first month and feel like a rock star. Six seems to be the magic number of pounds lost among most of us girls for the first month, and by golly, I’ll take that six and raise you 8 for Phase Two. Seriously..that is my goal.

Phase Two is here and though I’m not scared, I’ve develped a routine in Phase One that I’m almost afraid to change. I figured out what works well for me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during Phase One. I am a bit hard-headed and can eat the same thing every day for years and never think twice. HOWEVER, now I’m going to be integrating my family into the meal cycle and giving up some of my core favorites as part of Phase 2 (soda for one, even though it is diet soda)…that means I’ll have to change things up a bit. In addition, my husband has a different palate than me, and variety for him is key…it will take some rigging to figure out what works for both of us. Though I do think my fitness regime is rubbing off on him…he used our treadmill this weekend for the first time in 2 years and even though he was in his pajamas and slippers, I’m not complaining! From an acorn grows a mighty oak…

So my goal for this next month is to add variety to my diet–change it up. Realistically, if I can set a goal to cook at least 3 times a week…we are good for leftovers a couple of days and we always order out one day a week (usually Thai and it is pretty easy to do Thai healthily–steamed chicken and brown rice is my usual or Tom Yum soup is also brothy, spicy and good)…I’ll feel like I’m succeeding. There are some awesome recipes I’m going to try in the Best Life Diet book as well as other low-fat recipe sites…you’d be amazed what is out there. For me this will be a huge feat–a year ago the most cooking I did was pushing the “start” button on the microwave.

Good luck this week everyone. For Phase Two we can weigh every week so Fridays are my days to weigh..hopefully I’ll average 2 pounds a week for this month. But I won’t crawl into a hole if I don’t…just staying on the losing path is good enough.

I’m so excited–we all get to weigh ourselves on Friday after not having been able to do so for the whole first phase of the Best Life Diet…4 weeks. It’s been a great four weeks…I feel better physically, emotionally and I do think I look smaller…I am dying to know how much I’ve lost (hoping I’ve lost!).  

It’s funny, prior to starting the Best Life Diet, I thought the hardest thing about Phase One would be giving up alcohol. I’m a wine lover and, as an example of my enthusiasm for this libation, I easily went through 50 bottles on my 8-week maternity leave….a bottle a day practically (my husband helped…but still). That’s love….or just wrong. But surprisingly, I don’t miss it that much. It’s like when I was pregnant and couldn’t have it, it just didn’t really matter….I feel the same way now. I feel like I really own my body, and therefore, I am going to be very picky about what is allowed to enter it.

One bummer is that I still am wearing the larger sizes in my wardrobe…this will be a slow process–it’s only been a month and that is not long at all–but I’ll do this as long as it takes. One day I’ll get up and those middle sizes are going to fit…then the small ones.

I look forward to my weigh in tomorrow but even more toward starting Phase Two and kicking this diet up a notch! I hope you all are excited too! The fun is just beginning.

In our society we are motivated by dramatics…reality shows are huge because they feature extreme circumstances where humans must overcome enormous obstacles. This is great theater (which is why these shows get great ratings) and we have become conditioned to be inspired by these over-the-top wins or losses.

So what is so “dramatic” about my dream to lose 30 pounds? Welll…not much. 30 pounds isn’t something you’d write to a newspaper about or be fodder for a talk show. If (when) I succeed…I’ll have some new clothes and my friends and family will remark about my improved look, and I’ll feel great and be healthier. Good news, but ”great theater”? Hmmmm. And what’s even more boring…it isn’t one challenging task that will get me there. It’s a million little choices along the way that add up to getting me there. Epic adventure with no violence…won’t sell a ticket.

So how do we become inspired to keep up the fight when we won’t make headlines or the majority of what we are doing isn’t even newsworthy? (Like, when someone won’t even notice if I’ve lost 5 pounds and they were the hardest 5 pounds to lose in my life?)

Because it’s the little things that count, I try to take a more focused, granular approach. To me, every day is my own labyrinth…choices that I must skillfully make, obstacles that I must overcome, to make it to my next phase (the next day). Some days I need to get past ”potato chip pit,” or cross “fiber field” to make it to ”hydration station”…etc. As in a video game, occasionally I’ll make a mistake, use up one of my lives, and have to start anew in that same day. But…my points don’t go away and I’m still in the game…maybe I could even be the top scorer.

I am trying to treat my mini-miracles (such as my resisting home made brownies this weekend) as top stories…and I occasionally jot them down in a notebook to remind myself that I’ve had some remarkable victories…even if I’m the only one that thinks so or I’m too embarrassed to tell anyone else.

I’d love to know how everyone out there stays motivated if no one is really watching or you have a goal that you either don’t share with others or won’t be necessarily noticed. It can be difficult without the drama. I would love your advice.

We all know that the REAL “reward” for following a healthier lifestyle is your healthier body, feeling better, looking fitter, among countless other benefits.  I, however, do admit to having a shallow side, and can also be swayed by more girlie, tangible rewards–such as a manicure after a good 3 and 1/3 weeks of eating. Am I obvious in the fact that I’m trying to justify the manicure I’m about to get later this afternoon? Of course. Does it really matter? No.

You all have been watching our posts on our challenges, dreams, goals, successes, etc. following the Best Life Diet. I am empowering all of us to ALSO show ourselves a little love…in a non-food way. Almost a full month of eating well (or eating pretty well) is reason to celebrate…and setting small rewards in advance can be motivating. For instance, I have decided that for every pound I lose following the Best Life Diet, I’m setting aside $20 per pound toward a new wardrobe. We get to weigh ourselves in another week and I’ll venture a guess that I’ve lost about 7 pounds so far….$140 goes to the kitty!

In addition, every month that I consistently lose more pounds I plan to treat myself to a manicure. It just feels good and a $15 manicure can do amazing things for your psyche…you look and feel great. $15 is one lunch out of the office…spend it on something with a longer shelf life (though a manicure is typically not much longer!).

Some people may want to reward themselves in other ways (one hour alone reading a book at a coffee shop is high on the list for me)…so think about it. Write it down. Then set it as a goal. You deserve it. So many times in life we use food as a reward…this is a chance to end that cycle and have a good time doing it. Remember…you are achieving these results…you are only reaping what you sow.

Peace, happiness, and rewards to you! Have a great weekend.

I’ve had a life-long love affair with structure. When there are rules, guidelines, plans, parameters, goals, etc…I respond instantly, positively and with gusto. It feels rewarding to know I’ve stayed within a boundary or obeyed a rule…that makes me happy. My left brain and I are BFF.

So…freestyling is a challenge. What I mean by freestyling in this context is–I’m out all day without access to to my regular “approved” meals or snacks…how do I (can I?) make good judgement calls regarding food on a day where I happen to eat out all 3 meals and had not scoped options in advance? Is it even possible without going on a wild goose chase or making my family think I have OCD about food? My overall goal through this program is to have a more healthy lifestyle–and be normal at the same time.   

This weekend my husband and I took our 3 year old ice skating for the first time. We wanted to arrive as early as possible to avoid the downtown crowds and risk our little darling being run over on the ice. My 6-month old came along as well–full family outing. Our day did NOT go as planned due to various meltdowns, wet socks, spit ups and stroller failure. We were downtown almost the entire day and one of the additional stresses I had on my mind as I cradled my screaming child was “where am I going to feed may family and not blow it myself?” I dared not mention this in front of my husband due to the seemingly inconsequentialness of that paranoia…but it was real to me.

Well, I ended up doing just fine…tomato soup and a simple half turkey sandwich isn’t going to kill anyone and I was surprisingly able to resist the tempting ice creams or yummy hot chocolates that everyone else deserved after such a trying day. (Cappucino did the job fine, thanks). And the fact that I didn’t WANT to pig out led to me making decent choices…I knew I didn’t want to hate myself afterward and I actually remembered that BEFORE I ordered my food. So I did ok…and I’m happy because that is how I want it to be from now on. We will rarely ever eat out 3 meals in one day again, but it’s nice to know I can survive it once in a while. Well…survive the food…we are still getting over the ice skating!

Did anyone else have a good freestyling success? Share it because we all want to know!

OK..being on the Best Life Diet for two weeks, it was highly recommended at the beginning of the plan for my activity level to increase while following the plan. Hmmm…how many more things in life need to point to me needing to exercise? Staggering obesity rates in the U.S.? Staggering early-onset diabetes rates? The increase of stress-induced illnesses in our society? There is not one non-healthy benefit to exercise and it helps to prevent a multitude of ailments, relieve stress, increase libido, etc. So why is it SO HARD to be motivated to do it?

My theory…I truly believe that “working out” as an activity has originated from of history of being considered “vanity”…in the old days it was just body builders…hard core and considered vain by many. Now that stigma still is in the air. You know what I’m talking about–the looks you get at the office if you leave on time to go work out, or have a little later of a lunch to get your workout in, if you schedule a meeting around your workout, etc….people are naturally inclined to have a specific judgement about that…and more often a negative one if they are not on the exercise bandwagon. Even at home with all the chaos…workouts are consistently not prioritized over children, caring for family, etc.

Here is a way to shake that up: If you had a disability or injury and had to undergo physical therapy to make yourself healthier, would anyone question it? NO. Would taking care of yourself in effect help everyone in your family and contribute to your job positively (you living longer, being more fit, less stressed, etc.?) YES. You need to see exercise as important as this.

How do you do it? Ask. I had a talk with my husband and colleagues that I was trying to be healthier and that I really needed their support. You know what? It totally worked…and even better…I’m more motivated because I don’t want my husband or co-workers to see me eating poorly or slacking on exercise…I’ve asked for their support so I can’t let them down either.

When you finally get on the bandwagon you realize the only one truly keeping exercise from happening is you. Take an hour for yourself this week and focus on making yourself better physically–whether it is working out or walking with your dog…YOU are a top priority. I’m so glad that the Best Life Diet promotes this as well and I’m even more inclined to stay focused.

Have a great weekend everyone!

So it’s been just over a week on the Best Life Diet and I really do feel great. I’m not every really hungry (love the snacks on the diet–especially the chocolate/strawberry smoothie)…and if I am not hallucinating, I do think I’m getting smaller. It’s a bit frightening doing this plan and changing my life “on stage”–in front of millions of internet users. I had better do well, right? No messing up! I feel a bit like the weight of the world is on my shoulders…or my thighs…or better yet, coming off my thighs! I hope you will all hang in there and be patient if I stumble…Rome wasn’t built in a day. Please let me know if you also have a bad moment–no judging, no questions–just “I’ve been there” and let’s make it better.

No hiccups this week but that in itself is a danger zone. I’m the type that when I blow it a teeny bit, then I bring out the huge cheesecake and devour the whole thing because, well….the day was ruined anyway, right? So I’m holding tight so far but at any moment it can all go out of control. I’ll be writing to you all if I get in that situation so you can save me from myself.

As I’ve said before, I perform better in front of an audience but there is nothing like being on a great team and I don’t want to let anyone else down. And as we change our lives forever on this plan, we’ll leave with a “patchwork quilt” of experiences, friends, anecdotes and collective support to get us through any roadblocks in the future. I hope all women out there know that all six of us here are here to support you too–that is why we are here!

Have a great eating week everyone….Mary Ellen

One of my big challenges in the fitness arena has been with my hatred of most vegetables. Perhaps it was they way things were prepared when I was growing up or my “texture issues” with certain foods (does anyone have that too?)…but in my life, most bitter green vegetables cannot make it past my lips without severe consequences. SO…I was a bit nervous meeting our nutritionist this past weekend. Janis developed the meal plans and recipes in collaboration with Bob Greene for the Best Life Diet –so she is about as expert as you can get and I was prepared for a demoralizing lecture on how I’m a bad, bad eater.

Not so! Janis was so wonderful and did not treat me like a freak when I told her I had issues with vegetables. She asked me which ones I liked–and I was surprised to figure out that, when I sat down to think about it, there were actually many vegetables I did like and three of them were green (green beans, peas and mixed greens). She quickly wrote some recipes for me on the spot on how to incorporate all of those vegetables into my diet in a subtle way…working them in slowly. I also was thrilled to find out that pureed soups can count as a vegetable serving–DONE! No texture issues in soup…and there are so many great organic soups out there that pack a punch of nutrients.

I and the rest of the girls are so fortunate to learn from a professional, expert nutritionist with a wonderful food-side manner! Go Janis!

Our first workout as a group was both exciting (love the girls) and challenging (how many lunges are actually possible in one hour?). This was Sunday and now on Tuesday morning I’m just starting to get the feeling back in my thighs. The workout was robust in that we challenged all the areas of our body in a “circuit training” fashion…however, the little things like making sure you ate before the workout or had enough water during the hour are the ones that will get you in the end. Though the exercises looked easy when our fabulous trainer did them (what, only a 5 lb weight? No problem!)…the repetition was killer. I laughed at the beginning when our trainer said “when you leave here don’t forget to hold onto the handrail down the stairs.” I was not laughing at the end when I had to use two hands on that rail.

The endorphins kicked in as I got in the car and I felt amazing the rest of the day. I have to try to remember how great I feel after I work out…why can’t I remember this when I really need to inspire myself to get into my workout clothes? Does anybody out there have any good advice on how to propel yourself into working out when you don’t feel like it?

I believe there is strength in numbers, and I’ve always performed better when someone was watching. I’m thrilled that there are so many diverse women in our group with similarities and differences in our approach to weight management—we have a common thread but at the same time we can all learn from each other. Women are the best—we can talk about our struggles for hours with each other and be sympathetic and inspire confidence in each other…and not get tired doing it. My husband (love the guy) can only take about 10 seconds of discussing weight struggles. I’m so glad I will have this support system of women that knows how hard this can be and shares my goals on this journey. I know there are many women out there who may share in my struggle—and if we can do this together, all the better! I want to hear from you! I know that if you have about 30 to 35 pounds to lose, like me, people like us aren’t making headlines and there are not any role models out there—it isn’t exactly fodder for a reality program. And for someone like me, who carries weight well (people don’t notice if I fluctuate within 10 pounds…I hide it well)…this has been a private struggle for so long. Let’s shed some light here! Let’s exult in a 1.7 pound loss as progress! It’s all good and it is all good for us. I think and hope the Web site audience and I will be as close with me as I am to my group. Plus—the wonderful thing about the Web site community is the degree of anonymity—you can talk about things that you may not share with your loved ones—your anxieties, your failures, your secret hopes, your little wins that may not seem noteworthy to those in your life. That is what is so wonderful about our online community—let’s get real and at the same time, get down to business. Let’s do this thing for once and for all and make some real connections along the way. I’m looking forward to sharing my feelings with five other women, because these feelings define me. I have been in this struggle my whole life…it has made me who I am. I have a lot of wonderful, supportive people in my life, and the people I know personally represent only a tiny percentage of the wonderful people in the world who share my struggle. My five colleagues in this program are already like sisters and I know we will be seeing each other at our best and worst, and exhibiting the raw emotion that drives us to be successful in the program. I will be sharing those moments with everyone in the community and I hope that more people can connect with us and each other through our experiences. Our life is going to be an open book…I hope everyone will be inspired reading it!

I need to be healthier but also to set an example for my husband and kids….it’s not about me anymore. With 2 small children who will be developing and learning their eating habits from the home (from a career dieter, no less), and in an environment rampant with a culture that fosters childhood obesity…I have to take control of my family’s nutrition now instead of sleepwalking through this critical crossroad in my children’s lives. I know that there will be many ways I as a parent will dramatically influence my children—getting the food relationship right (for all of us) will be one of the best gifts I can give and set the stage for them to grow into healthy adults.

Have you ever had a hobby that you’ve done for a good part of your life? Are you an avid reader? A swimmer? Have a love for football? I can honestly say that managing my weight has been my second job for the past 30 years…longer than anything else I’ve ever done. I have always had a love/hate relationship with my body, and have been dieting since childhood. (My expertise is in deprivation techniques.) However—what I WANT…and is completely in my power to have through the Best Life Diet, is a new way of eating that is inclusive and normalizes food…where food is celebrated and creative…it is just chosen more carefully. This is the only way to sustain a lifestyle of healthy eating—making it normal.

Just two months ago I was in the process of taking out an extra life insurance policy since our family has grown. Since I am 38 years old, the requirements included a medical questionnaire and exam, blood test, the works. I’d always just had insurance through my jobs so this was a bit new to me. As I was going through the questionnaire with the agent on the phone and we got to the “weight” question, after I had given my weight the agent got quiet. He told me in a very unsympathetic and monotone voice (anyone overweight has high emotion when discussing their weight—so I was already getting worked up) that in the eyes of the insurance company, I was considered a significant “health risk”…therefore my premiums were going to be very high. I tried to explain that I had just had a baby and yes, I wasn’t back at my normal weight yet, but I would lose it soon, etc….it didn’t matter. What’s more is that even after I lost my baby weight, the insurance company would still consider me 12 pounds overweight. My “good” weight really wasn’t a “good weight”!  This was my wakeup call. A company that leverages people’s health risks for a living called ME a significant risk…at 38. And to add insult to injury, I have to pay more to be unhealthy! Though my husband and I have talked in general terms about being “healthier” for our kids—we hadn’t yet made changes that would make an impact. It all begins now—before it’s too late. 

I am not very happy with my body (surprise surprise)…my body is not very familiar to me right now—it’s fleshy, untoned and like a lump of clay. As any mother knows, the post-partum proportion your body takes after birth could make you cry every day if you let it (but you don’t because you let the raging hormones make you cry instead.). I remember having a meltdown recently in a store dressing room as the sales associate brought me every pair of pants they carried in the largest size they had…and kept asking me through the door “How’s it going? You doing ok?” and in my depressed, choked up delirium since nothing fit, I was only hearing “Everything ok, you BIG FRIGGIN COW?” Making this change will make me so much more confident as a mother and wife…I will feel that I’m in control of my health and that will benefit both me and my children. I will look better and feel beautiful. Oh yeah, and I’ll also get my life insurance policy fee adjusted too!