Jenny Craig and I

(My favourite meal so far)

 
     I have started with Jenny Craig and its been 1 week and 1 day. At my first weigh in I had lost 5lbs, not bad. I was surprised by two things. The cost, which is quite a lot and the quality and yummyness of the food which is great. It costs a lot to sign up initially and then the food is averaging at $180.00/wk without extra groceries such as salad and fruit etc. The 5lb drop has been very motivating and I went to the gymn twice already since thursday for over an hour each session. I have a great trainer I go to twice a week called Will he is a blast. He is such an alpha male but very sweet. On thursday he had me running round trees outside the gymn and I felt like a kid again until we got to lunges and then I felt like I was 80.

    Jenny give you a little menu planner that has pictures of all the foods available I use mine to mark what I liked and didn't like with just a tick for ok and a smily or sad face for good and not good. So far my favourites have been the cinammon french toast, turkey burger, turkey with gravy, bruschetta veggie chips and triple chocolate cheescake. I disliked the cheddar cheese omlette (like cheese whizz), rotini with meatballs (very out of a can tasting), beef chilli with beans (more of a soup than chilli) and the chocolate chip cookie of all things.

   I especially like that the consultants and literature given to you try to point out some of the mental reasons for being overweight. I often put a lot ahead of myself and get over tired or stressed and then eat or have a glass of wine or two to cope. This is not healthy for me physically or mentally and I am trying to break the cycle. I am lucky that one of my stressors left my workplace and I am feeling stronger and healthier since November when I joined the gymn. Will told me thursday that he was very happy that I am having 1200 calories/day and that losing weight is 70% diet 30% exercise. I then thought to myself what am I paying you for? The truth is though having an appointment to meet Will makes sure I go to the gymn and I work harder with him than I have ever worked out in my life.

    Week two will hopefully be as successful I definitely feel my jeans getting looser but with 80lbs to go I am very far from my goal weight yet. 

The road less travelled

So I was off for a week from work and decided to be Vegan. A little extreme perhaps? I have had a little push from Alicia Silverstone's new book "The Kind Diet" I watched "Food Inc" and I lasted as a vegan before, for about a year and a half. I have had a love hate relationship with dairy my whole life ( I like it, it does not reciprocate the feeling).

I have had a lot of ideas lately about my place in the world, my contribution to the planet etc. Just what will my legacy be. I think of myself as pretty level headed so for most people I have mentioned my decision to they are visibly shocked. Since when is a diet decision seen as extreme? I have seen it as a little self denial and sacrifice to help the entire world in a very little way, but something I can help with immediately.

I am not the kind of person who pushes my ideas or beliefs on others but i do think that everyone could help the world a little by not eating meat or dairy for one day a week. It really isn't that hard. I am not sure in what way my blog will take shape. I hope to share my love of food and fun with everyone, as well as my love for handmade items.

The first few days were tough. I felt nauseous but I realized at the beginning I was not getting enough protein for someone who had dairy or meat at pretty much every meal before. I added a little soy milk and a couple of soy products to my diet and I have been fine since. 

Supermarkets are a whole new experience for me. I have found that my choices are limited to about 10% of what is sold and that even alphaghetti contains cheese. If anything I am left questioning why cheese etc is needed in many products and I think I am understanding why it is so hard to lose weight on  a North American diet.