So, being that it's the first of the year, lots and lots of us are on diets. Different diets.
I've done a handful of different diets in my lifetime.
From worst to first:
Weight Watchers Circa 1985 - I was a chubby kid - we've established this, yes? Well, sometime around 5th grade, I decided to slim down, and I went on Weight Watchers with my parents. This was in the era of "exchanges" - and it was hard, as a kid, to exist socially and be on Weight Watchers. I Recall Mom making me a "hot chocolate" one night with cocoa powder, Sweet n Low (this would have been before Equal was in major circulation) and milk. And it was gross. And I remember going to a youth group function with a friend at her church, and deciding that I could eat one small piece of pizza - and it was all my "extra" exchanges for the week. I don't think I stayed on it a month. I really don't think I lost weight. I hit a growth spurt and slimmed down the natural way!
Jenny Craig - Did it work? Kind of. I lost about 20 pounds on it, but much of that was out of my wallet. I did it when I was 17, and I was also taking some serious Dexetrim and had a metabolism like a gerbil. I was also a "massive" 140 pounds. I got down to 119 at the very lowest, and I was constantly starving. I finally gave up about three months in.
Dexetrim Only - Before my Junior Prom, I wanted to drop a few pounds to look better in my dress. I took pills and I guess it worked. At that time, breakfast was a Diet Dr. Pepper - Lunch was a salad from the school cafeteria that had some very "cleansing" properties. I managed to squeeze into my (size 4) dress and looked good doing it.
Low Fat - Remember when they said you could eat carbs all day, so long as you laid off the fat? That was awesome. I did that before my Senior year of college and dropped some weight, but then if I ate something with any fat in it, I got sick as a dog. So, that lasted a few months. Then I found cereal, and met the wrong guy, and doubled down on him. Both were mistakes.
Weight Watchers Circa 2012(?) - This was one of my longer attempts at Weight Watchers - I slimmed down considerably and had fun doing it. Great people, I liked my leader, the program was pretty easy. I quit right after Dad died because we got a new leader, and she wasn't right for me.
Weight Watchers Circa 2001 - This was the best attempt of WW. I did it for years, and the first two were the most beneficial. I lost about 50 pounds, all told. And then I gained it back. Good food, great leader, made some friends here. This was a healthy, positive experience.
South Beach Lite - This was in conjunction with the 2001 WW run - I was eating with my parents who were South Beaching it, and their food was delicious. I still use some of the recipes from that era.
DASH - Dietary Approach to Stopping Hypertension - I started with this a few years back after reading that US News and World Report named it the most successful diet. And I have to say, it's good. Basically, it's a lot of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, some beans/nuts/seeds, and light on processed foods, sugars, junk. It's effective as hell. And easy to follow.
Contrave and Calorie Counting - Better living through chemicals. Contrave is a drug that decreases appetite and dulls the pleasure receptors in your brain, in re: food. That, and 1600 calories a day, and I was melting away to nothing. Now, 1600 calories is not a lot of food. I learned that the hard way. I also learned how to eat tons of vegetables and fiberous grains. Then I also learned that constipation is a common side effect of the drug. Once I reconciled that, I was killing it.
So this year, I'm taking my two best diets - DASH and Drugs+ 1600 calories a day, and I am working it.
I'm attempting to detox off sugar, which, for day one, has been pretty good. Give it two weeks and I'll be completely indifferent to it. Or at least, I can pretend it pretty well.
So of course, not everyone is on the same diet as me, and I feel like anyone who is on something like Atkins, or Whole 30, or Clean Eating, or Raw Food, or Keto or Paleo is making a huge mistake. Which isn't really true. Each of the different methods I have used worked for me *at the time*, and I used that method until it was no longer workable. And that's what everyone has to do. But I have to tell you - the DASH approach means I get to eat tons of good things I like, and keeps me away from bad things I like. And that is worth something, I think.
Tonight is the big College Football Championships - The University of Georgia Bulldogs will take on the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, and my hope is that Georgia wins. I'm making chili and it will be the bomb.
That's it from here, really. Hope you keep doing what you love, loving what you do.
ae
I've done a handful of different diets in my lifetime.
From worst to first:
Weight Watchers Circa 1985 - I was a chubby kid - we've established this, yes? Well, sometime around 5th grade, I decided to slim down, and I went on Weight Watchers with my parents. This was in the era of "exchanges" - and it was hard, as a kid, to exist socially and be on Weight Watchers. I Recall Mom making me a "hot chocolate" one night with cocoa powder, Sweet n Low (this would have been before Equal was in major circulation) and milk. And it was gross. And I remember going to a youth group function with a friend at her church, and deciding that I could eat one small piece of pizza - and it was all my "extra" exchanges for the week. I don't think I stayed on it a month. I really don't think I lost weight. I hit a growth spurt and slimmed down the natural way!
Jenny Craig - Did it work? Kind of. I lost about 20 pounds on it, but much of that was out of my wallet. I did it when I was 17, and I was also taking some serious Dexetrim and had a metabolism like a gerbil. I was also a "massive" 140 pounds. I got down to 119 at the very lowest, and I was constantly starving. I finally gave up about three months in.
 |
| Like this, but wearing a dress and with a heavy-ass backpack full of books. |
Dexetrim Only - Before my Junior Prom, I wanted to drop a few pounds to look better in my dress. I took pills and I guess it worked. At that time, breakfast was a Diet Dr. Pepper - Lunch was a salad from the school cafeteria that had some very "cleansing" properties. I managed to squeeze into my (size 4) dress and looked good doing it.
 |
| I cropped out my date...Look at that long slender neck! |
Low Fat - Remember when they said you could eat carbs all day, so long as you laid off the fat? That was awesome. I did that before my Senior year of college and dropped some weight, but then if I ate something with any fat in it, I got sick as a dog. So, that lasted a few months. Then I found cereal, and met the wrong guy, and doubled down on him. Both were mistakes.
Weight Watchers Circa 2012(?) - This was one of my longer attempts at Weight Watchers - I slimmed down considerably and had fun doing it. Great people, I liked my leader, the program was pretty easy. I quit right after Dad died because we got a new leader, and she wasn't right for me.
Weight Watchers Circa 2001 - This was the best attempt of WW. I did it for years, and the first two were the most beneficial. I lost about 50 pounds, all told. And then I gained it back. Good food, great leader, made some friends here. This was a healthy, positive experience.
South Beach Lite - This was in conjunction with the 2001 WW run - I was eating with my parents who were South Beaching it, and their food was delicious. I still use some of the recipes from that era.
DASH - Dietary Approach to Stopping Hypertension - I started with this a few years back after reading that US News and World Report named it the most successful diet. And I have to say, it's good. Basically, it's a lot of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, some beans/nuts/seeds, and light on processed foods, sugars, junk. It's effective as hell. And easy to follow.
Contrave and Calorie Counting - Better living through chemicals. Contrave is a drug that decreases appetite and dulls the pleasure receptors in your brain, in re: food. That, and 1600 calories a day, and I was melting away to nothing. Now, 1600 calories is not a lot of food. I learned that the hard way. I also learned how to eat tons of vegetables and fiberous grains. Then I also learned that constipation is a common side effect of the drug. Once I reconciled that, I was killing it.
So this year, I'm taking my two best diets - DASH and Drugs
I'm attempting to detox off sugar, which, for day one, has been pretty good. Give it two weeks and I'll be completely indifferent to it. Or at least, I can pretend it pretty well.
So of course, not everyone is on the same diet as me, and I feel like anyone who is on something like Atkins, or Whole 30, or Clean Eating, or Raw Food, or Keto or Paleo is making a huge mistake. Which isn't really true. Each of the different methods I have used worked for me *at the time*, and I used that method until it was no longer workable. And that's what everyone has to do. But I have to tell you - the DASH approach means I get to eat tons of good things I like, and keeps me away from bad things I like. And that is worth something, I think.
Tonight is the big College Football Championships - The University of Georgia Bulldogs will take on the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, and my hope is that Georgia wins. I'm making chili and it will be the bomb.
That's it from here, really. Hope you keep doing what you love, loving what you do.
ae
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