A Perfect Ten

It's been an uneventful past couple of weeks. I have been eating really poorly lately...I mean REALLY poorly. As an example, last Friday night I had Doritos and cookie dough for dinner. I have also been sampling adult beverages on more nights than I care to admit. Chalk it up to stress. Well, that...and the fact that it's 109 degrees outside and I just enjoy a cold beer on those types of days. I am still within 5 lbs. of my lowest (stomach flu induced) weight to date. I think I'm at 162 or so. Not bad, considering. Did I mention the Doritos? I seem to have a real problem with those these days. My husband keeps asking if I'm pregnant. I'm not.

I finally broke down and bought three new pairs of size 10 pants. Immediately my husband says, "I guess the diet's off". Well, not exactly, although it has been lately. I have recently had a few social occasions which called for the wearing of pants. Fitting, professional pants, that is. Besides...what if I decide not to lose any more weight for the next 3-6 months?? I'm just not in the mood to eat healthfully right now. I guess that really sums it up. Although I waxed on and on about this being a "lifestyle change", it still takes effort - major effort. The choices, although somewhat less difficult to make now, are not that easily made. It definitely doesn't come naturally. I still have to make a conscious effort to have salad for lunch rather than the burger I really want. Maybe I was kidding myself.

I don't plan on giving up. I'm just taking a break. I feel truly happy with my current weight. Yes, I still wish I had less cellulite, stretch marks, a flatter stomach...the list goes on. But all in all, I feel good in my skin and my clothes. There's something to be said for that.

I will continue the journey, just not as hardcore right now. I will eventually have to get back to writing down here everything I've eaten - that's the only thing that really seemed to make me feel accountable. I'm just not at that point right this minute but I'm perfectly okay with that.

Fad Diet Anyone?

Okay. I'm sure most of you have heard of the infamous HCG diet by now and probably even know someone who's tried it. Two of my friends recently tried it and they had awesome results...of course. She lost 14 lbs. in the first two weeks and her husband lost 18 lbs. I was over at their house for dinner and they fixed me a yummy salad (like that always do...they make the best salads ever...and I'm not even a salad person) complete with feta and pine nuts. Yum. They had plain leaf lettuce (you're not allowed any sort of dressing - just lemon juice), a chicken breast and four or five pieces of Melba toast. Yum again. They explain to me that they got their "supplies" online and you take a few drops in your morning water (you cannot eat for the first three hours every day), have a lunch that consists of exactly what I just described above and a dinner that consists of exactly what I described above....every day for 26 days. You're limited to around 500 calories a day. I immediately ask them if they think they'd probably lose a similar amount of weight just eating 500 calories a day and skipping the hormones. "Maybe. But the drops ensure you are burning fat and not muscle mass." Not quite sure why this is. My next comment..."Good luck keeping it off". We all know that's a whole different ball game. Don't get me wrong, I wish them success...I'm just skeptical. But that's my nature. Even so, I (of course) contemplate ordering the drops and when I look at one of the many websites devoted to this fad, it explains how your weight loss on this diet comes from fat stores and not muscle but in the end, I really didn't understand how or why. I'll admit it....I'm no expert on physiology.

I'll concede that I sometimes post certain statuses on FB just for a reaction. I want to know what people think of certain "hot" topics. I like to play devil's advocate. Like when I asked if people let their kids watch Spongebob. I don't really care...I just want to know who thinks what and why. I find it interesting. Anyway...moving on. So I post the following status -- "thinking about ordering HCG drops. Anyone tried this fad diet and if so, what kind of results did you have?" I got about six or seven responses and had several more people send me private messages saying (in a nutshell) "don't do it". I also got sent links to everyone from Dr. Oz to Richard Simmons giving me THEIR opinions (they're against. Go figure).

When you see people around you having such fantastic results with "fad" diets, it's difficult not to be tempted into doing them yourself. I'm 39-years-old and I know myself pretty well. I knew deep down I would never order them no matter how tempted I was. I'm just not built that way. Not that I've never tried fat diets...I just know through experience that even if they work, you can't keep the weight off. The only way to lose weight healthfully and to have much better odds at keeping it off is to eat better/less and exercise. Period. I know this...everyone knows this. And this knowledge is reinforced by the fact that I have managed to keep all the weight I've lost off just by making better choices every day.

I'm not lecturing people...if they have luck with a method and feel it's right for them, they should do it. I just know weight loss is a slow and steady thing. You need to stay the course. Besides, I can't imagine how crappy I'd feel eating 500 calories a day.