Since I started this blog, I've tried Weight Watchers, Low Carb, No Carb, Whole Foods, Clean Eating, The 17 Day Diet, The Belly Fat Cure (ok, I didn't do that one, but I thought about it), the French Women Don't Get Fat Diet (one of my favorites), The You On A Diet Diet, a Lemon Juice/Maple Syrup/Cayenne Pepper Cleanse, and probably numerous variations of all of the above.
I did lose a total of about 15 pounds, and I've managed to keep it off for the past year with a few small blips up and down.
I also learned a few things:
1) I get bored quickly. I'll try just about any diet, whether I need to or not, because it's sort of a hobby.
2) I love food. I don't love being obsessed with food.
3) My natural eating style is fairly healthy: lean proteins, whole grains, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, minimally processed foods, etc. with the occasional monthly nosh fest of anything cheesy/crunchy/salty/fatty.
4) The above statement is a total lie. If I were to tell you what my real "if no one was looking and calories worked in the reverse" eating style was, it would look more like: chips, crackers and cheese, heavy dips, bread, bacon, creamy soups, creamy anything, butter, chocolate, candy, candy, chips. But of course I don't feel well when I eat that way, and I feel like a million bucks when I eat the other way, so I have to be the food police for my own health, safety, and sanity.
5) I do better when I eat three "healthy squares" a day. Eating the 6 small meals a day that are supposed to rev up your metabolism doesn't work for me (I read recently that new research shows that that's a diet myth anyway). For me, eating 6 small meals a day makes me feel like I'm an indigenous tribes person living in the wild, barely sustaining my strength on small, scavenged meals of nuts, berries and the occasional roasted squirrel. I'm always hungry and always thinking about food. Since I don't like to be obsessed with food, I prefer to eat a solid meal and then think of other things for the next 4 or 5 hours.
6) The more I lament about the beef industry and about how much I love cows, the more I want to eat them.
7) There are days that I feel fit and fierce, and days that I feel fat and slovenly. That's the way it is and the way it will likely stay. I'm human, and I'm a woman. Don't let it upset you and don't argue with me that I'm not fat and/or I'm not thin. I won't believe you either way, I'm contrary that way. Unless you tell me I'm thin when I feel thin and fat when I feel fat. And since I'm not going to wear a tshirt, (maybe I should get "fat/thin day" t-shirts!!), you've only got a 50/50 chance of getting it right anyway.
8) Sure, I may always think I want to lose another 15 pounds. But apparently I don't want to badly enough to give up my dangerous lifestyle of the occasional snack shack nachos and heart-healthy amounts of red wine (I'm shrugging my shoulders here with bored indifference). Really. If I wanted it badly enough, it would have happened. I see where I could shave plenty of calories, and I make the conscious choice not to. I must secretly like myself the way I am (gasp).
9) I'm too lazy to run and I'm really not the "shredding" type. I don't like doing things I don't like. What I love is yoga and hiking. I do yoga and I hike. Sometimes I swim, ride a bike, dance, whatever I feel like. That will be the extent of my exercise regiment now.
I've taken what I have learned over the past 18 months, and I have designed the perfect plan. I'm calling it "The Perfect Plan" (of course you would have to make your own perfect plan, it's not a one size fits all thing).
As far as nutrition - Weight Watchers wins. Why? Because tracking what I eat is simply what I need to do to not be my natural glutinous self and to maintain my current figure. It keeps me in check and it's a whole lot easier (for me) to track a few points on line rather than add up hundreds of calories (thousands). The on line tools are awesome, you can eat anything within reason and in moderation, I like to cook, and Rob and I LOVE their recipes (I can visibly see his disappointment when I announce my next new eating plan, and his apparent joy when I mention Weight Watchers again). I can incorporate whole foods and cleaner eating. And come on, who wouldn't love "Hawaiian Curry Chicken with Pineapple Salsa topped with shredded toasted Coconut"?
But if this is going to be the lifestyle I choose to adopt long term, it has to be realistic. It has to be something I can stick with. I need to minimize the obsession and do away with the guilt, because frankly, I don't have room in my life for those things. SO, I've made a few concessions:
1) Anything I eat after 4 pm one or two days a week is not tracked. This allows me to eat dinner out, or attend a Sausage Fest (this Sunday) with no guilt. It's written into the rules. And there's a clause that says I can add a third day if I feel like it. Because I can apparently! I've been doing it and I haven't gained any weight, so....
2) Wine isn't tracked at all because, 1) I'm counting it as a supplement (Hellloooo? Resveratrol?), and 2) as Kristin put it today, it's already factored into my metabolism (or something like that. It made sense at the time). Basically, if I eat three healthy meals and stay within my points for food, I still lose .5 pound to a pound a week, whether I drink wine or not. But when I add the wine to my tracker and see my points go over my allotted number of points, I have so much guilt! Two glasses of wine equals 7 points! That's like a 4th meal! I feel like a total loser and it's a buzz kill. So I'm not doing it. Life is too short.
3) Of course, I can't be a hypocrite, so to off set the points that I don't track, I also don't track the points I earn for any work outs. That wouldn't be fair.
Other than that....I eat what I want, when I want, and it tends to be three meals a day - a protein shake for breakfast, or a big bacon and egg breakfast depending on what I feel like and how much time I have. Lunch is something like soup and salad, or soup and sandwich, or salad and sandwich, or whatever...lunch stuff (if I have Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai food, I choose a protein and vegetable dish and pass on the rice and noodles). Dinner is whatever I feel like cooking and/or Rob bbq's. That's it, easy peasy.
For exercise, I stick to what I enjoy: hike, yoga, etc.
Some friends and I were having a beer (that I didn't track) after our pedicure the other evening and someone suggested that we get together every Wednesday morning at 6:30 am, at alternating locations (our homes or a near by park), and we'll take turns leading a yoga "class". The first one was at my house and I led. It was lots of fun. What a great idea! It's such a wonderful way to start the day and we get to try different sequences (gets me out of my rut), have our tea or coffee and chit chat before the craziness of the day.
So, I guess that's it. I tried out "The Perfect Plan" this week and I lost a pound. How about that? And guess what? I'll probably gain it back next week. But that's ok.
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