Well – one evening prior to leaving for our honeymoon, I watched an informercial on TV about the Nutrisystem Nourish plan and started thinking about it. I watched the whole thing from the testimonials given by the women (and men) who have used the program and listed to the description of the program, itself.

The concept, to me, seemed great – and appeared to be something that would fit my lifestyle perfectly – at least these days. One of my biggest hurdles in dieting and preparing my own meals is how to know that I’m getting what I need in terms of calories, protien, fiber, fats, sugars, etc – - and how do I know that I’m not exceeding those limits? What attracted me to the Nutrisystem program is that it’s all prepared for you – and it took the guessing out of the picture for me.

The published price for 1 month worth of food (that’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack/dessert) was a value, I think. At about $250/month – I no longer had to play the guessing game about what I was putting into my mouth. Of course, the next step would be for me to follow it, right? I mean, they lay it all out for you – - but then the responsibility became mine to follow through.. not that I’m eating their meals and then downing a whole box of vanilla wafers in between, hey?

As I mentioned in my last post – I’ve lost 12lbs in three weeks on the program so far. My goal is a 30lb loss – and on this program, I’m feeling real positive that I’m going to acheive (quite possibly even exceed) that goal. My experience with Nutrisystem Nourish has been a positive one so far – - I’m definitley not sorry I made the decision to give it a try!

Ok – so why doesn’t NutriSystem take the initiative and separate them out in to separate boxes FOR YOU? I mean, don’t they know we’re stressed ENOUGH just starting a new program?

Ah well.

One of my biggest obstacles with dieting, and this is going to sound odd, but it’s remembering to actually EAT. I’m a big one for skipping meals completely. This program has me eating 5 times a day – - so I opened my Outlook program.. opened the calendar and set alarms for myself “Eat Breakfast, Dufus!”… “Time for lunch, Dork!” – - that type of thing. Since I work from home and spend 80% of my time at my computer anyways, I figured having the pop up alarm/reminders set will help me out a great deal. I set alarms for water reminders, too – because I’ll forget my water intake completely if I’m not knocked over the head with it on a regular basis.

So, I’m organized. Then I weighed myself. Doesn’t it seem like it should make complete sense that just the simple task of ORGANIZING the diet plan should AT LEAST drop a few pounds, eh?

No such luck. But I started with their lunch and had the cream of broccoli soup, 1/2 c. nonfat cottage cheese and a lettuce, tomatoe and cucumber salad with NF ranch. I liked their soup, too! And I’m a picky eater, man!

I’m already on my 6th 8oz bottle of water today. I think day one is going pretty good

Ahh well – - here’s to a skinnier me!

My weight loss and dieting goals prior to the wedding really paid off and my pictures from the wedding are just wonderful. I’m SO glad I hit the dieting thing hard prior to the wedding – dropping those extra 25lbs really made a difference.

We honeymooned in Bonaire, South America and both of us went through the 4-day course to become certified as an open water scuba diver. That was so much fun and very exciting to go down 100 feet beneath the surface of the sea and see how the other half lives.

It’s great exercise, too! I lost a total of 11lbs on my honeymoon because we really spent about 75% of our time under the sea, scuba diving. And in the Caribbean, because of the heat – you drink just tons and tons of water – - I’m beginning to understand why Caribbean women look so good all the time!

It took awhile for my body to adjust to the extreme heat down there. My body reacts to heat extremes in a weird way – - it retains water.. LOTS of it. Within 5 hours of being there – my feet swelled up like little sausages, to the point where I could not even wear my shoes and had to invest in a lose fitting pair of flip flops until my feet went back to normal. It took about a day and a half until they returned to their normal size. I drank about a gallon of water to assure my body that I wasn’t going to deprive it of liquids – and tell it that it’s ok to let go of the water it’s retaining in my feet, because there is more coming!!

Strange that, eh?

Now that the honeymoon and celebrations are over – - I’m still on a quest to drop another 20-30lbs and will continue to write about that journey, those struggles and successes here.

Hmmph!

I resisted the urge, as difficult as it was. I made myself a bowl of hot oatmeal and sprinkled it with cinnamon and splenda, instead – to try and tone down my inflammed sweet tooth.

I’ve done well this week, with the eating. I’ve stayed on my plan and didn’t waiver. Every week that goes by where I can say that is something I consider a huge success on my part. I’m a cookie monster! I can sit and eat an entire bag of hershey’s kisses all by myself, in under 30 minutes flat without blinking an eye!

Body for LIFE does give you a free day in the plan – however, I don’t incorporate a free day at all., not in the diet/menu area at least. Why? Because I know me. If I know that today is my ‘free day’ – I lose it and go all out. Talk about lacking self-control!

Instead – I give myself a treat once a week, as long as I’ve stuck to my plan. That treat?

A triple-grande caramel machiatto from Starbucks. In all it’s 310 calorie goodness – I allow myself to have one, once a week.

Not bad since I used to drink 2-4 of those A DAY! No kidding! Before I leapt into full time self-employment and started home-officing completely, I worked for the last 15 years as a Registered Nurse in the area of Home Hospice care. I spent my days in my car, travelling from one patient’s house to another.. all day long, every day.

And do you know how many Starbuck’s with drive-thru’s I would pass on a daily basis? My territory spanned a 4-county area here in Wisconsin, and I’ll tell ya – that’s a LOT of Starbucks! I was drawn in. Sucked in. Starbucks really had a hold on me.

The lo-down on one triple grande caramel machiatto?

Calories:310
Fat Calories: 110
Total Fat: 12g
Carbs: 37g
Sugars: 34g

Image. 2-4 a day. That would be 10 – 20 in one work week. No WONDER I ballooned! Sheesh!

Now? The drink is the only indulgence I give myself in a week – but that’s only if I know I’ve been really good with my meal and exercise plan. I look forward to it – - and I’ll tell ya – - when I give myself that ONE treat a week? It is the BEST damned triple grande caramel machiatto I have EVER had in my LIFE!

There is probably something healthier that I could treat myself to. I mean, considering the nutritional info on one cup of that caramel goodness . . . I should probably look into it. But, I’m still losing pounds and inches on a healthy, steady roll, so I figure if I can congratulate myself with something I really love – and if that helps me stay focused all week long? Every little bit helps. I treat myself to it on Saturdays. I just make sure that on Sunday, I spend extra time on the treadmill and torture myself there, instead.

It is SO worth it.