Why I Want To Diet
By Ms. A
Hi! A bit about me... I'm in my mid thirties, currently overweight but not obese. I'm looking to diet for two reasons: to avoid becoming obese and to get healthier. I sit at a computer all day and don't get a lot of exercise. I smoked for about 14 years and finally gave it up a couple of years ago. Since then I've gradually gained weight without doing anything differently, putting on about 30 lbs. I don't eat many sweets or drink sugary drinks and was thinking that was enough to keep from gaining weight.
I do have being on the taller side going for me. Adding 30 lbs onto a 5 foot tall girl would have been a lot more obvious. Still, I'm not really happy with my body at the moment. I would sport the muffin top if I wore tighter pants now. I find myself wearing baggy, non-form fitting clothes to hide the extra weight and will only swim in the dark. In addition to bulging a bit more all over, I have grown noticeable patches of cellulite on my legs and belly.
I've noticed the extra weight seems to sap my energy. I drink a lot of caffeine to try to keep my energy level up and have a super weight gaining move I call "carbing up for success", which is basically pounding carbohydrate rich foods to amp myself up.
I can feel myself carrying the extra weight. My feet start to hurt when I stand on hard floors and have sustained some mystery injuries that I have no clue what the cause was, like spraining my foot randomly while walking normally. All of this culminates in feeling like a wimpy old lady and it's gotten pretty tiresome.
I'm not stupid. Some of the things I do, I know are dumb. Carbing up, for example, is spiking my blood sugar. That behavior and being overweight, with diabetes in my family puts me at greater risk. Drinking lots of diet soda isn't good for you either. There are concerns about the artificial sweeteners as well as the caffeine and loss of bone density. Since I'm so sedentary, I'm a prime candidate for bone density loss. Boo. So much of my "lifestyle" if you call it that, is a series of unhealthy shortcuts that keep me going on a daily basis but have some really bad long-term potential.
Diet Challenges
There are some things I perceive will make it more difficult for me to diet successfully.
- I don't eat meat or drink milk.
- I'm stubborn and don't change habits easily.
- I don't like to cook or spend any time preparing food.
- I refuse to absorb what I call "food guilt" where you obsess over your calorie count.
- I lose willpower to diet if my blood sugar gets low, which happens often.
- I love carbohydrate rich foods like chips, pasta and breads.
- I like to drink wine and mixed drinks.
- I'm super out-of-shape and get injured very easily.
- I don't like going to the gym.
- Many of my friends are in a similar boat.
Diet Selection
I know I can diet and lose weight. I have done it before with a low carb diet. I'm sure it would work the same way with a meal replacement program. The issue for me with repeating a quick-results diet like that:
- I'll probably be miserable and grouchy throughout the diet
- I'll just gain the weight back after the diet because I can't live in low-carb world.
- It's not going to help any of my long term health habits
So any diet I choose should be one that focuses on actually learning better patterns and integrating them with daily life. I need to get in better shape and learn how to maintain a healthy weight. I need some assistance with strategies and motivation to get that done.
I've found that the Jenny Craig system is most aligned with what I need. That philosophy of helping you learn healthy living habits is something I could really use. I have a friend who went through the program and did very well with it, so I'm ready to give it a try. My goal is to get back to being about 125 and toned. I want to get rid of the cellulite if I can and get better blood circulation.
I'm going to document my experiences with Jenny Craig in the coming weeks so you can follow along and see how it works for me. Wish me luck!
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