Monday A.M. Weight-in AND a Dieter's Menu

So the news is good...I'm down 4 lbs to 168.  That said, I am somewhat suspicious of this number.  As I said in my initial post, my home scale is super old.  It has been moved, dropped, stored more times than I can count.  I decided to take a second naked (I mean every little bit counts!) weight just before jumping in the shower.  Without my PJs I weighed 166.  I am somewhat doubtful that my pajamas weigh 2 lbs.  As well, my daughter clocked in a few pounds heavier than I believer her to be.  Long story short, a new scale will be purchased today to cast aside any doubt for future weigh-ins.  I'll update that number upon it's entry into the house.  I toyed with the idea of buying a "Dr" scale, but those run upwards of $100.  And where would you put something like that?  Go figure that even the one at my gym is broken, not that I go there all that often.  Anyway, I just wanted to share the stats before launching into my topic of the day, various diet programs.

It seems that everyone is on one diet or another and everyone thinks their diet is the "right" diet.  There are so many out there it's hard to keep track.  Lets review a few of the more ridiculous ones to start:

1.  I think my personal favorite has to be the Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet (http://www.cookiediet.com/)  I've heard how awful those cardboard cookies are.  Good gimmick I suppose..eat cookies drop lbs!.  Really, these don't even look appetizing in the picture.  I hate to write this, but the brown ones almost look like flattened dog turds.

2.  Cabbage Soup Diet (http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com/).  This marvelous solution allows you to drink your way to thinner days.  I think the cons (quoted from the website) speak for validity of this diet "Some people find the soup bland. Some people have reported feeling light-headed, weak, and have suffered from decreased concentration (although some who have been affected in this way felt it was well worth it, since it was only for a week and they had lost considerable weight)."  Seriously, by the end of this process you and/or your spouse would probably prefer the extra fat on your body to the side effects the CSD is likely to produce.  I am imagining side splitting gas pains and a constant grandparent-like oder (when I think cabbage it just makes me think of old people) following your every move.  I also love how the picture of the soup is fuzzy and artsy verses a shot of what it really looks like.  

3.  The Master Cleanse Diet (http://themastercleanse.org/)  According to this diet "First, squeeze fresh lemon juice, then add rich maple syrup, and cayenne pepper into pure water.  Drink a minimum of six to twelve glasses throughout the day whenever one is hungary.  Take a laxative, morning and evening, or instead of the morning laxitive you can do the Salt Water Flush  Every day of The Master Cleanse that you overcome the psychological need ot eat, you feel a growing sense of control that motivates you to complete the process."  REALLY???  Psychological need to eat??  Granted we all eat too much but I'm pretty sure our bodies might need more than spicy liquid and a laxative during the course of a day and that has nothing to do with psychology.  Furthermore, how bloated you would feel with all that liquid sloshing around in your gut?  I have no doubt this works but I'm mildly concerned if people are out and about in the world like this.  I hope anyone on this diet refrains from operating heavy machinery or a motor vehicle in case faintness occurs!

There are tons more of these diets out there.  There is a good website that gives a snapshot of a bunch of diets out there with a sense of humor (if I had the time I'd go through them all with my own take, but I don't so I'll let you read hers instead): http://www.faddiet.com.  I'm sure if you follow some of the crazier ones you will in fact lose weight.  But I think the problem with instant weight loss programs is that they are not maintainable and inevitably you are going to put that weight back on your body.  Unless we're walking the runways of Paris normal people can't sustain a diet of gassy veggies, cardboard cookies, and laxatives.  Gross.

I think the key to long term weight loss success is finding a diet "lifestyle" that fits your needs.  I know some people really like South Beach (http://www.southbeachdiet.com).  This is a tri-phase plan based on eating the "right" carbs and fats.  The first phase is very strict and from what I hear yields good results.  The other phases set you up to make lifelong diet changes by breaking down foods into things you can and can't eat.  Another one that many people swear by is The Atkins Diet (http://www.atkins.com/Homepage.aspx).  Similar to South Beach, there are phases designed to have an initial strong weight loss kick off followed by steps to make long term lifestyle changes.  Atkins allows you to eat as many protein and fat calories as long as you cut out carbs.  I am not a scientist, but I still can't imagine if I ate nothing but steak and bacon morning, noon, and night how I would lose weight or have a beating heart left in my body!!  But at least these two diets have a plan and if that plan fits with your needs then it may lead to long term success.

I have chosen Weight Watchers (http://www.weightwatchers.com/) because it fits my overall approach to eating better than anything out there.  Let's face it, losing weight is not rocket science.  It's all about calories in and calories out.  In one way or another all these diets attempt to control that balance.  It just so happens for me that Weight Watchers is the best approach.  I love this ad (link below) because it really summaries how I feel each day I go into battle with food:

Let me set the record straight. I have never been to a Weight Watchers meeting.  I have never tracked my points at Weight Watchers Online.  I am not sure what this new Momentum Plan is all about.  Despite all this, I still say I am "doing" Weight Watchers because I have adopted their system of eating into my daily routine and track at home (on our white board - will have to snap a picture of that to show you all).  So I guess you could say I'm a rogue Weight Watcher - off the grid so to speak.  I like this diet because you DON'T have to give up anything.  A red flag for me is any diet that says you cannot eat a certain food.  Not only do I think it is too hard to do that long term, but it's like telling a 3 year old "Don't color on the wall."  No sooner have you turned your back, then there is a red stripe spanning the length of your living room wall.  

What I like about Weight Watchers is that you can eat anything within moderation.  Every food (OK, sometimes you have to be creative, estimate, or search around) has a point value.  You have a daily allotment of points per day (mine is 24) based on weight and activity level.  You also get a "bonus" pool for the week of 35.  Most people try to bank the 35 for weekend splurging.    I doubt this is much different than counting calories, but for me it just seems simpler.  The only pain in the ass thing about doing Weight Watchers is carrying around a sliding point calculator and getting used to measuring your portions.  However, I think this becomes easy relatively quickly because people tend to eat much of the same food week after week so you just remember how much your core foods are worth.  And after a while you are able to eyeball what 2 oz of avocado or 4 oz of chicken looks like.  It forces you to analyze the ingredients that go into a recipe and allows you to maybe alter something to make it more diet friendly.  It may make trying new recipes more time consuming at first but in the long run it helps you think about what you are really putting in your body.  In essence Weight Watchers teaches you portion control and how to make choices.  It allows you to fall off the wagon and adjust afterwards.

There are a few basic tools you will need to do Weight Watchers: The Point Calculator, a Weight Watchers get started book to find your point value and a list of hundreds of foods and their corresponding point value, and a food scale.  There are a ton of different ones out there and most are relatively inexpensive (here are some examples if you type in "food scale" at http://www.amazon.com/):
                    
$25.00 at amazon.com    $14.99 at amazon.com     $18.49 at amazon.com

As I said, I've never officially signed up for Weight Watchers but have been able to steal their tools from someone.  If you have an Apple iPhone, there is a point calculator application you can download call iWatchr or Pocket Pts (neither affiliated with Weight Watchers but seem to do the same thing to calculate points).  But chances are you probably know some whose tools you can borrow and copy to get started if you don't want to go the official route (and I am NOT knocking joining officially at all because I have heard that people do really well when they have the support of a group and the accountability of a weekly weigh in).  A last idea if you don't know anyone who has these tools is to go to a meeting once.  Often times they have promotional sign ups where you can go to a free meeting and they waive the initiation fee.  Basically you go and pay something like $10, go one time and get all the stuff you need to do this on your own.

Wow, this turned into quite the posting!!  Sorry this entry was a little dry but even I have to put my sense of humor aside for a bit now and again.  I'm sure it will return tomorrow!  I'd love to hear other people's perspectives or reasons for choosing one diet plan over another.  Feel free to drop a comment and let me know your thoughts!  Until tomorrow, happy eating!