Sunday, July 19, 2009

Weight loss: The Moebius Frontier

I haven't been keeping my blog up as well as intended, so it'll take several posts to catch up. Today we'll be discussing weight loss. At length. Bear with me.

I have lost and kept off 11 lbs - I've gone down a whole size in shirt and pants. I reached the 10 lb mark about 6 weeks ago, and was so proud of myself I decided to find a new restaurant. And another. And another. This is what happens to kill diets, folks - straying from the path. You can have the best foods, exercise, and system in the world, but if you don't stick to it, you'll rebound. Here's the kicker, though - in past attempts, I had regained the weight within weeks, but my strategy of maintenance seems to be paying off: When I know I am about to give into a craving, have 3-4 oz of chocolate Nutrimeal. This lessens the impact of the ingested carbs by lowering the average glycemic index of what I'm eating. So if I have a cup of coffee with 4 tsp of sugar, in theory the fiber+protein in the Nutrimeal (Glycemic index of 23) will lessen that through averages. That seems to be the case, because I've eaten out (the same half portions as before) and not gained a pound.

I've tried to seek out low fat, low carb (not Atkins low, but low glycemic) options wherever possible. Sushi is great but with all the rice (GI 60-80) I make sure to eat the full soup and salad (GI <>

What hasn't worked for me in the past?
Slim Fast - I chugged those and then had donuts; they had zero impact on my hunger and cravings, and the texture seemed oily and artificial. I'd have trouble finishing one because of the taste. Nutrimeal reminds me of Ovaltine.
Starvation - most days I ended up sick, with low energy, cranky and low quality of life. Then I'd binge and store all those calories for my next starvation cycle - not part of the plan. 4 out of 5 coworkers agree: I'm much better to work with, if I have calories to burn and a full stomach.

So for now, I'm going to reapply the discipline and lose another 9 lbs, to make it 20. I'll stock up on chocolate Nutrimeal, which at $2 per meal ought to save me a bit over going out for lunch. Think about it- McDonald's has well over 1000 calories in a breakfast, costs $6 or so, compared to $2 and 300 calories? For someone like me who doesn't cook breakfast or make a balanced lunch (it's hard to do in 5 minutes), USANA's Nutrimeal is a lifesaver. Literally - more on that in the next post.

Now for my shameless plug: If you'd like more information on USANA's products, visit my website at http://supergeek.usana.com. Feel free to contact me through the contact page there or anywhere else my contact information shows up.