eTools to the Rescue?

It's time for me to get serious about tracking. Before the debacle of the Detoxx Diet, I was doing OK without strict tracking. I detest tracking, courtesy of the calorie counting I've done in years past.

Then the Detoxx Diet put me in a holding pattern for two months. After I killed the Detoxx Diet, I went on a carbohydrate spree for a week, followed by a week's visit to my family. When I visit my family, I stay with my dad and we go out to breakfast every morning. We also go out to lunch and dinner a few times. And snack at home.

I weighed in the day after I arrived and had lost 0.8 pounds. Respectable, considering the carb-fest I'd had that week.

My trip to Michigan coincided with a snowstorm, which led to multiple canceled flights. It was nearly 3:00 a.m. when I got to Dad's house and nearly 4:00 a.m. when he and I had wound down enough to go to bed. The long day of travel set off four days of fatigue that made it hard for me to exercise good eating habits. I knew what I was doing but I decided not to beat myself up for it. And then I had more delays on my way home.

I was not surprised on Saturday when the scales showed an increase of 1.8 pounds.

So now I have to get serious about tracking because I know I'm not going to moderate what I eat otherwise. The Detoxx Diet debacle disrupted my progress so thoroughly that despite the fact that I've lost 17 pounds, I still feel like I'm starting from the beginning.

That's where eTools comes in. I've pledged (to myself) that I'll track my eating honestly for this week and see how I do at weigh-in on Saturday. Entering my weekday breakfasts and lunches was an eye-opening experience because it made me realize just how far over my daily points limit I've been going. I've modified the blue-cheese salad dressing I've been eating to cost me fewer points at lunch and I've cut back elsewhere -- I'm still going to go over my weekly limit but I need to see how hungry I am and whether I lose any weight.

I knew what I was doing when I signed up for a full year last October.

A Meeting Is a Meeting

Last Saturday I was visiting family in Michigan, so I didn't post. I did, however, attend a Weight Watchers' meeting. It was fascinating to attend a meeting in a different location. My local meeting is in a building built just for WW, with semi-private cubicles for weighing and a room with tiered seating and a large white board at the front for meetings. It's a lovely location.

The meeting I attended in Michigan was in a storefront on the town's main street. Weighing wasn't private but the staff was very discreet (as they are at my home location). The meeting room had folding chairs and a schoolroom or church-basement feel. There was instant coffee or hot chocolate for the honor-system donation of a quarter (with the Points noted for the hot chocolate). The turnout was good. I was surprised that the Monthly Pass payment option wasn't available.

The differences, though, were superficial. I found the same WW values in Michigan that I experience in Maine: welcoming, non-judgmental, friendly, supportive. I struck up a conversation with some of the women at the Michigan meeting as easily as I do in Maine. The sharing, applause, and discussion were interchangeable. The group leader was experienced and, although not as funny or motivational as my favorite leader, she was as good as other leaders in Maine.

It was a fascinating, interesting experience. I highly recommend it!

Huh?

I killed the Detoxx Diet on Monday and gained 1.6 pounds this week? Huh? My total loss is now at 18 pounds. The plateau continues.

My theory is that the abrupt change in my diet from Detoxx to Healthy is what caused my weight gain.

In other news, I've decided to pony up for Weight Watchers' eTools so I can get better at tracking. I signed up for a year in October and thought the $12.95 a month wasn't worth it. And in the beginning it wasn't because I lost weight slowly and steadily. Then the Detoxx Diet and PK Protocol came over the horizon and I concentrated fully on not gaining. Now that I'm back on WW Flex (it will always be Points to me) I need to get some religion about tracking.

Sure, I could track on paper, but I've been hearing terrific things about eTools at the meetings. The tipping point came today when a woman said eTools made it so easy for her to track, even at work. Eureka! I live at a computer all day, including lunch, so tracking for the day while I'm munching my lunch salad makes a lot of sense.

I'm starting to feel like a Weight Watchers' true believer. If it works, though, how can I complain? It's not like I'll start selling flowers in airports!

Death of the Detoxx Diet

The Detoxx Diet died today. No, wait, I killed it.

I see Dr. Sean tomorrow and we'll have to explore what else he has in his bag of tricks because I've had it with the Detoxx Diet.

Let me refresh your memory: no grains, lots and lots of fat and protein, no sugar, no peanuts or cashews, no canola oil, no hard or moldy cheeses, no mustard or ketchup or commercial mayonnaise, no fruit, no starchy veggies, no corn. I was also supposed to eat only organic foods, fresh herbs & spices, and "pure" water.

I managed to stay on the diet for two months. At the end of the first month I was so fatigued I couldn't work a full day in the office. After seeing Dr. Sean I agreed to try the diet for another month and add supplements & oils that are part of the PK Protocol.

My craving for grains never subsided. I haven't missed sugar, which was a good thing to learn. I was always hungry.

The fatigue has never really let up completely, but it returned with a vengeance last Friday. I was going to tough it out until tomorrow but a take-out lunch with co-workers finally made me give it up completely. I had a yummy roast beef & boursin cheese wrap with reduced-fat potato chips for lunch. Lo and behold, I actually managed to stay at the office all day. And I wasn't hungry afterwards. Placebo effect? Possibly. Do I care? No.

Another Name for This Is "Plateau"

Lost .8 pounds this week, for a total of -19.6. I've been flirting with -20 for weeks now but I'm not discouraged because a) I'm still fighting fatigue and b) I'm still on the Detoxx Diet.

And speaking of the Detoxx Diet, I see Dr. Sean on Tuesday. Before this week I thought I might be improving slightly, but with this latest bout of fatigue, which started yesterday, I'm seriously questioning whether this is going to help me. I've been on the diet for two months and I'm still hungry all the time, still crave grains and starchy veggies, and feel worse than when I started it.

The argument can be made that I have lots of detoxing to do, but it feels more like something is out of balance in my system.

Not as Bad as I Expected

My bathroom scales leaped up this week -- a lot. I expected to gain three to five pounds at my weigh-in this morning. You can imagine my relief when the increase was only 1.2 pounds (for a total 18.8 pound loss).

For two weeks I was so fatigued I couldn't work a full day in the office; I lost 2.4 pounds. Monday the fatigue let up and I worked a full work week in the office and even felt like I might be improving; I gained 1.2 pounds.

So goes the weight-loss game.

Oh, right. It's not a game. It's not a struggle.

So goes the weight-loss journey.