New Year's Resolution...Five Weeks Early

Every year we make New Year's Resolutions and often break them before the month, week or day are out.

My personal favorite resolution is losing weight. I have been trying to lose weight for 15 years. Actually I have been trying to lose weight since I was 6 years old which was 34 years ago. But there were brief periods when my weight was acceptable in those 34 years. I need to lose about 96 pounds to be where I want to and should be. At age 39 1/2 that is no easy task, especially now that a bum knee is making it hard to exercise.

However, I am committed that this time I will see this through. This will be my 40th birthday present to myself. And I decided while I was at it, instead of feasting my way through December on all the Christmas goodies, I would start my New Year's Resolution early. So I began the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In the last two weeks I have lost 10 pounds. This is a very good start and I am pleased. I have decided to bring you all on my journey with me. (Aren't you lucky?)

Seriously though, I have tried all kinds of diets...slim fast, protein power, Susan Powter, low fat diets, Weight Watchers, low calories. And I am trying to use what I have learned on all of these attempts to help me be successful this time. I also think as part of this in the months ahead, I will share what I know about different diets. But here is what I have found works for me.

Accountability...and now not only am I accountable to Melissa, my counsellor at NeWeigh, I am accountable to you, the people who are kind enough to read my words. So that is taken care of.

Journal...I have found that one thing that has been consistenly helpful to me is writing down what I eat. That way there is no 'hiding' or 'forgetting' the bite of this or that. NeWeigh gives me a weekly journal to fill out the protein supplements I consume, the water I consume, etc. Easy and extra accountability. They check it each week (homework!).

Food plan...I want it simple and strict. Weight Watchers is a great plan for life long living. The problem I always have with it is it makes me think about food. All day long...I am thinking about how many points I have consumed and how many more I can consume. For a food addict such as myself, I need something that does the thinking for me so that food becomes more of the necessity than a smorgasboard for me. Since I can't afford a personal chef, NeWeigh fills this role for me. There are 6 phases (which you can do in six weeks or stretch out longer). I am personally choosing to do each phase for four weeks. It tells me exactly what I can have and how much of it. No guess work. I like that and it helps me to not have to be thinking about food.

Hunger...I don't want to be hungry. The NeWeigh system encourages three meals, two protein bars, and three protein supplements a day. And let me tell you, I have tried a lot of protein supplements out there and these are yummy. Today, I have had strawberry kiwi fruit drink, vanilla cappucino, amaretto hot chocolate, a cinnamon raisin bar and a caramel crunch bar. Along with an egg, a slice of toast, an orange and two large salad. one with fish and one with cottage cheese. I am eating all the time! I am definitely not hungry! I can also have all the sugar free jello I want and I am drinking tons of water. They recommend 64 oz water a day, plus an extra 8 oz for each 25 pounds overweight and even more if you are exercising. I am drinking a gallon of water a day, not counting the protein supplements.

NeWeigh (434-237-2111) is a plan suited to my needs. The reason there are so many different diets out there is that they all work for some people, but no one diet seems to work for everyone. NeWeigh is located on Timberlake Road. The owner is Bill, my consellor is Melissa. They also have exercise equipment there that you can sign up to use. You may want to check this group out. They are currently offering a great deal...sign up fee is based on how much you want to lose (so if you want to lose 10 pounds, you pay 10.00 plus the money for supplements and bars). This is a great deal compared to the normal 300.00 charge for signing up for a year. They keep track of your weight, blood pressure and measurements and they are there to give helpful hints and advice whenever you need it.

So I will end this for now by saying that I now that I have given you the basics of what I am doing, I will follow up with stories of my triumphs, temptations, and tricks that may help someone reading this. I would love hearing comments and your stories. Thanks for helping me to be accountable.