Weight Loss Plans Reviewed!

Today I thought I'd share you with you some of the weight loss plans that I have tried in the past and what I've liked and disliked about each.

The South Beach Diet: I found this book on my mother's shelf when I was about 18. This was one of the first plans I had ever tried. I was particularly excited about this plan because it promised an 8-13 lb weight loss within the first 2 weeks! Sounded pretty good to me! The first two weeks consisted of cutting out carbs and sugar, even fruit. I had never done this before and wasn't exactly prepared for the side effects to come. The first day was not so bad. I was motivated to lose all those pounds! Not being able to have cookies was alright. Day two was a little more of a struggle. I realized I was going to be eating a LOT of salads with grilled chicken. I don't eat other meat or pork, so my meals consisted of eggs, chicken, veggies and nuts. This can get old, REAL fast. Day three, I was definitely moody. It was my grandmother's birthday and my family was going out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Let me tell you, I had never been so angry at a bread basket in my life. I believe I sounded like a demon when I slowly said "Get.. the bread.. off.. the table.." while gritting my teeth. Little fun fact about me: I LOVE pasta. So going to an Italian restaurant and not being able to order it, didn't help my already testy mood. I ended up ordering a Ceasar salad with no cheese, no croutons and fat free dressing on the side. Wanna know how this diet ended? On the way home from the restaurant, I stopped at a 7-11 and bought a Snickers bar. I finished it before I made it back to my car.

Jenny Craig: I decided to try Jenny Craig while working at a country club restaurant. I was basically eating anything I wanted all day and before I knew it, I couldn't button my khaki shorts over my muffin top. There was a location near my house so I decided to stop in. I was almost a little embarrassed because I only really wanted to lose about 10 pounds, and most of the people in there needed to lose a lot more than that. I tried to ignore the looks I was getting while they took my 'before' picture. I was then assigned to a 'counselor' who went over with me what I would be ordering to take home, how much weight I would lose per week, and anything else about the plan I didn't know. They definitely had a lot of food options. Some of the food was shelf stable, and some belonged in the freezer. You were responsible for adding salads, fruits, and cooked vegetables to each meal. I would have breakfast, a JC snack bar, lunch, another JC snack bar, dinner and dessert. Having dessert to look forward to at the end of the day definitely helped. Once a week, I had an appointment to go back to the center to get weighed, discuss any trouble I'd had, and pick out my meals for the next week. A weeks worth of meals was around $200. And that doesn't include buying fruits and veggies at the supermarket. EXPENNNSSIVVE!! The food was alright. I definitely preferred certain meals over others. I followed this plan for 3 weeks. I lost 2 lbs the first week, then 1 lb.. and the last visit to the center, I gained. No joke, my 'counselor' said this to me: "Ok Michelle, so do you want to discuss with me why you think you gained .8 pounds this week?" I thought she was kidding. She wasn't. I didn't go back after that.

Lose It! app: I LOVE this app. I downloaded it (for free) on my iPad after a friend told me about it. You enter some general information about yourself: Current weight, how much you want to lose, by when, etc. It then gives you a calorie amount per day to follow in order to reach your goal by the date you recorded. Not only can you search by food to log your meals, you can also search by brand name, restaurant, OR if you are eating something that came from a package with a barcode, you can scan it and all the information will be automatically entered! You can also track your food on a regular computer at their website: www.loseit.com

Nutrisystem: This was very similar to Jenny Craig, except there was no reporting to a center or counselor to get weighed and discuss anything. Plus this plan was way cheaper and the food was delivered straight to your door. Nutrisystem was about $250 for the MONTH, not including fresh fruit, veggies and some dairy products from the supermarket. The meal plan was similar to JC as well: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert. Most of the food was shelf stable, (just add water - how delicious!) and some took over my freezer. I liked this plan because included as dessert options were ice cream sundaes and cookies! I did NOT like this plan because well, I guess you get what you pay for. A lot of the food was really nasty. I quickly learned what I liked and what I didn't. You keep track of your meals through their website and you also had the opportunity to join discussion forums and meet fellow dieters. I am proud to say that through this program I made a dear friend who may be states away, but has given me so much support through everything! (Hi Sylvie! :P) Anyway, if I ate everything that I was supposed to, and spaced it out evenly I did not get hungry and lost about 2 pounds per week without working out. But it was a lot of planning! After 3 months, I was hospitalized for an awful intestinal matter (which I will spare you the details of) and chalked it up to the NS food and all its preservatives. 

And last but not least….. 

Weight Watchers: Out of all the programs, I definitely think that WW is my favorite. Mostly because there are no rules to what you can and cannot eat, as long as you track every bite! Every food has a point value that is calculated based on fat grams, carbs, protein and fiber. You will also find that some restaurants even have WW friendly menus, with the points of the food items listed right on the menu! I have also found long time WW members have made their own point value menus for popular restaurants. My favorite site is Dotti's Weight Loss Zone! She lists sooo many restaurants. You can either join this plan online, or in a center like Jenny. If you choose the online option, which I've always done, there are many ways to still get support from the website and meet fellow dieters in your age range or area. With my birthday coming up and a plan to get my body to look like I'm actually still in my twenties, I had a pick a plan to follow. Well, WW is the winner! If Jessica Simpson can do it, so can I! I sit at a computer all day.. there is no reason for me not to be able to track. 

So 3 days left! Thank goodness my celebratory delicious birthday dinner is BEFORE the big day so I can splurge! (PS, this is SO the wrong attitude to have before a diet. Don't follow my lead here please!)