Terrific Tuesday

Tuesday's Goals

Exercise: Cardio

Calories: 1800

Tuesday's Accomplishments

Exercise: Cardio

Calories: 1800

Tuesday was a successful day on the program. For my workout, I did WHFN's Fast Cheetah. I rebounded through some parts of it simply because I find rebounding more fun than some forms of floor aerobics.

For breakfast I had only a large cup of hot chocolate (200). I wanted to conserve calories since we were having a pizza party at lunch today and I really wanted to have 2 slices (because we always order from the most awesome pizza place)! So for lunch, I had 2 slices of pizza and some Coke (1000). For dinner, all I wanted was my favorite ice cream so that's what I had - Turkey Hill Chocolaty Moose Tracks with whipped cream - a nice large bowl! (600).

I got another compliment on Tuesday. I was in the copy room at work and a coworker came up to me and told me I looked really great and asked what I have been doing to lose so much weight. At first, I told her "counting calories and exercising a lot" which usually is enough for most people to hear (because when they hear exercise they scratch the idea right off their list), but she wanted to know more. As I told her more, she wanted to know every detail...exactly what I am doing. She was so inspired and excited about the program and thought it sounded very reasonable and easy to follow. She told me she's tried every diet under the sun and always falls off the wagon because she gets tired of the restrictions they require and giving up certain foods. I was telling her how this program is easier to stick with because:

1. You can eat whatever foods you want as long as you stay within your daily calories. You don't have to give up any foods (like most diets require). I still eat (as you know) ice cream, pizza, cookies, etc. It's not a health food diet.

2. You can't "screw up" - you can always switch calorie levels for a day if you go overboard one day and overeat (of course, you can't do this frequently as there are only so many high calorie days to be had, but the option is there for rare, desperate occasions).

3. You get to have a full splurge day every week where you eat as much as you want. You can easily plan dinners out using the splurge day so you don't have to worry about counting calories at a restaurant.

4. You get to have 1 -2 higher calorie days in each week where you eat a very satisfying amount of food.

The only challenges in this program are (in my opinion):

1. You really have to exercise regularly to encourge good results and body toning (although the weight loss can be attributed 85% to the diet). This isn't really a challenge for me because I love to exercise, but many people do not.

2. Weighing, measuring and counting calories is a pain. It's not hard to do, but it can be tedious and somewhat time consuming, and when you're really hungry it seems even more tedious.

3. The lower calorie days can be challenging.

4. Busy social weeks (when more than one dinner or party is planned) can be a challenge because once you've used the splurge day, you have to count calories for the other days. It's hard to count calories when you eat outside your home.

Taking everything into account and compared to other programs I have tried, this one is the easiest to follow, at least for me. It doesn't feel like torture. It doesn't feel like I am giving up that much. I don't feel deprived. I am seeing good results. Who can complain?