Saturday, April 2, 2011

On a new path

Well it is time to turn that path. Another depressingly high cholesterol reading from the doctor and it was time to make a change.

I looked at a bunch of different options in regards to what to do. I talked and read and checked through websites. I ended up deciding that I needed to just do it. I didn't think I could trust myself enough to do it completely on my own, but I couldn't afford something entirely drastic like doing nutri-system or something where all the food is provided. As much as that was what I probably should have done.

Though some blog adventures, I found a place called Lose It! which allows you to enter what your weight is, share your goal weight and then it tells you how many calories to eat a day based on what you want to lose a week. It makes everything very visual. And for someone who learns better and sees things better visually, it was a good choice for me.

I decided that along with that, I would replace two meals a day with a high protein, low carb bar or shake (Atkins Advantage is best in case you are wondering). Mostly I wanted more protein than carbs in the items I used as replacements - hard to find though! I then had to combine that with staying under my calorie mark for the day. I'm not worrying about exercise as much at this time, because I want to just committ completely to the diet change, regardless of wanting other things.

First week went well. I even made bread from the bread machine - though it is more fat and fiber than carbs because of a low sugar and flour content. I even had some dessert (mini chocolate chips or greek yogurt and blackberries) and some M&Ms during the week which means I didn;'t feel deprived. It was a good solution for me.

And the end result this week? 6 pounds gone. Probably a lot of water weight, but I was just glad that the scale went down. As long as it continually goes down, I will stay on this path. My goal? A total of 55 pounds. Which means only 49 to go!

The end reward? A trip to sunny Barcelona Spain over break.

Cross your fingers and cheer me on!