Food Porn...And One Thing Not to Do When You Are On a Diet

When I'm dieting, I find that I spend more time cutting out recipes and viewing what I call "Food Porn" - tv shows that focus on cooking techniques or that travel to different restaurants, and I also spend more time reading online reviews of services that offer to sell you different kinds of food.

One of my favorite food porn sites is MySubscriptionAddiction which reviews a multitude of "box of the month" clubs. You can sign up to get a box of different Japanese treats every month, or a weekly box of basic meal ingredients and the recipes to prepare them.  There are a few one-time offers, for example, Martha Stewart will send you all the ingredients and instructions to make a Thanksgiving meal for eight to ten people.  There aren't too many "diet" options, but I guess that Nutrisystem could be considered a food subscription box system for dieters.

I like Japanese things, so I had been looking at several Japanese-themed boxes, but I realized that getting a whole pound of goodies at one time would be hazardous, so yesterday (my diet day off) I stopped by Daiso and picked up a container of Meji Yan Yan as my "day off treat".

I don't think that having the treat itself was that big a mistake, but my decision not to eat anything else for the rest of the day was, because after several hours I got so hungry all my good intentions disappeared and I extended the list of "day-off treats".

So, now I know not to try that again. At least I didn't sign up for a "candy of the month" club.

Finally, another pound gone

Down to 199,  a four-pound loss in all. Sad I let my weight balloon past 200, but hopeful that I am slowly recovering lost ground. It is some small comfort that I have never experienced a fast or steady weight loss, even when I was much younger, on a near-starvation diet, coping with a full-time job, and single-parenting a very active youngster. My body, like my self, is stubborn. On the other hand, I seem to gain weight easily...perhaps I should coin a new adage "Too fast fat, too slow thin." instead of my traditional "Too soon old, too late smart."

I have to admit Nutrisystem provides an easy way to lose weight. I don't have to weigh and measure everything, and I don't have to count calories. I don't have to cook every day. I still haven't managed to overcome habitual habits - I still find myself in front of the refrigerator, or reaching towards the jar of mixed nuts we buy at Costco, but then I pull myself back. I still feel hunger, but I'm learning to live with it.

I can't stay on Nutrisystem forever, though...and I need to plan for days off and special events so that my slow loss isn't undone by a day(or more) of over-eating. Right now thing's are
pretty tranquil, except for the ghastly news, no one in my immediate family is ill or involved in any kind of drama; however, vacations and holidays loom and I need to make plans.

A note on water.  I think Nutrisystem recommends 64-oz of water a day. What I do is fill four 16-oz glass bottles every day and put them in the refrigerator, so that I always have a cool drink handy. I used to use plastic bottles but worried about the chemicals in the plastic. The bottles are recycled from juices and kombucha.

Addendum 10-16-16: Right after starting to write "thing's have been pretty tranquil" I fried my computer keyboard by spilling water on it and not immediately diconnecting it and turning it upside down on something absorbent while I waited for it to dry out. An expensive lesson. Yesterday, my "day off", I was able to buy a new keyboard and managed to eat relatively sensibly. Today I'm back on track.

Another Loss, Even After a Day Off

Current weight: 200
Pounds lost: 3

Yesterday was a "day off" because I was attending an open house "with breakfast" in the morning, and then went to an Octoberfest.  I had planned ahead to have only fruit at the open house, and to try to eat sensibly at the Octoberfest.  I was waylaid a bit by nuts and peanut M&M's put out on the picnic tables before the food was ready and I made the mistake of choosing a Bud Light rather than a smaller portion of 'real beer' but all in all I think it went well and I didn't binge when I got home.

I'm thinking that I have perhaps had too many occasions when I have thought "Well, I ruined today's diet so I might as well eat more today."

Also got in a long walk of perhaps a mile and a half.

13th Day

No changes. Today I chose my meals from the "28 days with weekends off" plan. I've decided to try to start with the items that I don't particularly like. For breakfast that would be the cereals and the oatmeals, for lunch it would be the items that you have to add water to, for dinner it would be the pizza, and for snacks it would be the "snack mix".

I think some of the worst items I remember from years past are gone, or perhaps I didn't see them when I unpacked. There was a "meat patty" that you had to soak in water to reconstitute, and there was "the world's smallest hot dog".

Twelfth Day - Finally a Whole Pound Gone

This morning the scale showed I was "down" to 202 lbs. That means I've lost a whole pound. I guess I need to be more patient (and exercise more).

I was on the last day of the two 5-day boxes of Nutrisystem I had bought at Walmart, and planning what I would do until the Nutrisystem I ordered from QVC arrived, when my husband told me that a delivery man was coming up the driveway with "two big boxes".

(Several days ago I found out that QVC had shipped two* (rather than one) of the Nutrisystem packages and it was too late to cancel so I had decided to just let things be.)

Now I've got enough product to last me quite a while:

Two 7-day "Fast5" packages.  This is what I "should have" started with, so I guess I'm doing things backwards.  The "Fast5" program recommends that each day you have a Nutrisystem breakfast, lunch, and dinner, an "energizing" shake, a "crush-craving" shake, and four servings of vegetables. The difference between a Fast5 day and a regular day is that there are no SmartCarbs or Powerfuels, just four servings of the recommended non-starchy vegetables. There also aren't any Nutrisystem snacks. I've decided not to try to do the whole "Fast5" thing at once but to use it as an alternate - perhaps after one of my "days off".

The rest of each package has food for five "weekends off" weeks, with the regular breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and the recommendation that each day you add two "Smartcarbs" and two "Powerfuels" plus four non-starchy vegetables.  This is basically the same daily pattern as the Walmart packages, except that the Walmart package came with a grocery shopping list and more specific recommendations for what Powerfuels and Smartcarbs to use each day. While the QVC package includes a thicker instruction booklet than the Walmart packages did, I am still going to have to go to the Nutrisystem website to get more detailed information about SmartCarb and Powerfuel substitutions. I should add that the Meal Planner that came with the QVC shipment only has a one-sheet guide to the "Fast5" and the Meal Planner for the rest of the package only has room to write down 28 days-worth of meals. Since the QVC package actually has enough product for 35 days (with weekends off) I'm wondering why they put the package together that way.

My rough calculation is that with the QVC package it works out to about $9.37 per day for the days when you are not on your own, and that is not counting any additions (Powerfuels, SmartCarbs, or non-starchy vegetables) you decide to add. This is pretty close to the $9.86 per day currently offered through Nutrisystem, but I believe you have to sign up for auto-shipping if you want that price through Nutrisystem. I also note that the QVC tag that came with each order says it will only deduct about $11 from your refund if you return it; while the Nutrisystem website says it would deduct over $19 for a similar package if you returned it for a refund.

Double order 6-week Nutrisystem from QVC

I separated the Nutrisystem into eight boxes: four for the Fast5, and four for the double six-week program. It was hard work and my back hurts now. Stored it in the bedroom, and now there is hardly room to walk around the bed. Somewhat reassuring to know that I won't starve to death for a while, but also a bit frightening to think about how long it is going to take to get rid of everything. 

*Regarding the double order. When I had started the original order the computer 'hung' half-way through, so I had to log out and start again. When the final page listed "2" I thought I had changed it to "1" but apparently I was wrong. No one's fault but my own. My Mom once said that she thought she had been "scared by a machine" before I was born, so that is perhaps why I have such bad luck doing certain things online.

Tenth Day - Still no Major Progress

Yesterday (Saturday) my husband and I took my Mom to the Zoo for a day trip. She uses a walker, but we pushed her around in a transport chair we bought for excursions where she might have to do more walking than usual.

The Zoo was really crowded - I had forgotten that October was "Children are Free" month, but it was still delightful to walk around and enjoy the Zoo. We took the Monkey Trail to Albert's restaurant, and then walked the Hippo Trail, ending up at the Children's Zoo. I think my Mom had a good time, and I estimate I walked about 9800 steps, based on my husband's pedometer reading.  Fortunately my Mom weighs less than 100 lbs.

This was a planned "day off the diet" and I tried to eat sensibly, but I'm still stuck at my last weight.  I'm not giving up, though. Today I joined Moose & Doc's "Waiting for the Moose" on Facebook.
The original Talking Moose was related to Clippy - back in the dark ages. I liked Talking Moose more than Clippy, and I'm looking forward to his next incarnation.