Nutrisystem Update Week 12: Welcoming 2013 and Putting the Holidays Behind Us! #NSNation

January 5, 2013
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weighing in after the holidays

Happy New Year everyone! Hard to believe we are already 5 days into 2013! It’s always a bit of a let-down as the holiday season comes to a close, and things start to get back to normal. Before Daisy’s papa and I start putting away all the Christmas decorations and cleaning up around here, I just wanted to bring you a very quick  Nutrisystem update on how we did this week.

In addition to New Year’s Eve and a day watching Bowl Games on New Year’s Day, we also celebrated the hubby’s birthday this week…so it was a FUN but challenging week! I got a little carried away with the bubbly and we both overdid it with splurging on Chinese food and a few other favorites. Although we managed to hold it together pretty well, I’ll admit that I’m relieved to be putting the holidays behind us so we can really get back to the business of eating healthy, getting fit and losing weight!

This week was the first time that I’ve actually gained weight, putting on 0.6 lbs while Woof Woof Papa managed to lose 0.6 lbs! If you’ve been keeping up with our updates, you already know that he gained 4.1 over Christmas and I barely lost any that week (-0.2) so it’s good to get focused and back on track quickly after a couple weeks of no-progress. As I mentioned last week, I think it’s super helpful that we already have our plan in place and know that it works, and our New Year’s resolution is simply to “Stick to the plan!”

So far, I’ve lost 20.4 and the hubby has lost 36.8. We’re still feeling pretty good about that, even though we still have a ways to go to meet our goal weights. Here’s the breakdown in case you missed any weeks:
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EatSmart Precision Elite Kitchen Scale: Precise Food Measurement + Portion Control

December 30, 2012
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EatSmart kitchen scale

Starting the New Year with a weight loss resolution? Learning about how much to eat can be as important as learning what types of foods to eat, but can be one of the more challenge parts of dieting since it’s just human nature to underestimate (or ignore) how much we’re consuming.

The hubby and I are are starting the New Year with a super helpful tool to aid us on our weight loss journey: the EatSmart Precision Elite Digital Kitchen Scale. While we’re on Nutrisystem, we’re using it to measure our grocery add-ins of Power Fuels, Smart Carbs and Extras and will rely on it even more when we transition from the portion-controlled Nutrisystem meals and start cooking on our own again!

I’d never used a kitchen scale before but we’re already finding it really helpful in getting through the holiday eating season without doing too much damage. I mean do YOU actually know how much 2 oz of Fruitcake is? We didn’t either but the hubby and I received some from fruitcake my mom made from my Nana’s special recipe, and we definitely wanted some but didn’t want to stray too far off track from the diet. I Googled to see how many calories were in Fruitcake and came up with about 200 calories for 2 oz. I checked my meal planner and decided to have a slice instead of a Nutrisystem Dessert that day. The EatSmart Kitchen Scale helped me to make an informed choice about what to eat without feeling deprived OR going overboard.

measuring fruitcake

I was pretty close with my guess when I cut a slice, which is another thing I’m loving about the scale. It helps to train you to visualize proper portions. That’s helpful at restaurants, parties or any food situations away from home! We’re still in training though and relying heavily on the scale to stay on track.

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Nutrisystem Update Week 11: Wishing Everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year! #NSNation

December 29, 2012
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New Year's diet resolution

In a couple of days, it will be January. A time for new beginnings…a time to make the changes we’ve all been meaning to make or wishing would happen. The hubby and I have an advantage this year – we got a great head start on changing our eating habits and weight since we joined Nutrisystem in October.

Lots of people asked us WHAT we were thinking beginning a weight loss program at the start of what I like to call “the holiday eating season” which runs from Halloween through New Year’s Day. Looking back, I’m so glad we did! Like most people, I usually kick off the New Year with the same old resolution to “lose weight” without a really good plan of how I’m going to do it. Within a few weeks, I’ve usually broken my resolution and gone back to my old ways. Sound familiar?

This year I already have a plan, and it’s working! When I ring in 2013, I’ll be reflecting on my weight loss accomplishments so far, and looking forward to keep the momentum going! So MY resolution for 2013 is simple: Stick To The Plan. I’ll also make some new resolutions for myself for the coming year: Workout More and Be More Organized are the two main ones that come to mind. Sound familiar, too???

I’ll admit that I don’t yet have a plan for those resolutions, so let me know if you’ve found one that works!

Our New Year’s Wish for you? A Happy and Healthy New Year!

Not that I’m an expert, but based on what I’ve learned so far, here are a few words of advice to help get you started if you’re planning a weight loss resolution for 2013:

  • Find a plan you like that’s easy to follow: We’ve all started crazy or extreme diets that are either overly complicated or too strict to follow for more than a few days or weeks. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Do what looks and sounds realistic for your schedule, family situation and lifestyle.
  • Don’t expect it to happen overnight: Healthy weight loss takes time. Don’t give up because you aren’t seeing immediate results. Some weeks we lose close to nothing or even gain a little. If you stick with it, it WILL add up. You can see our year-end update below for proof!
  • Don’t go it alone: It will be so much easier to stick to a plan or program if you have a partner or get your family involved. If that’s not possible, look for online support or find a virtual weight-loss partner. Programs like Nutrisystem offer forums, discussion boards, blogs and other means of networking, advice and support.
  • Commit to staying accountable: Whether you blog, keep a journal, report in weekly to a real-life or virtual weight loss buddy, or use an online tracking app, DO keep to a schedule of recording your progress. It will help you to stay motivated to see how far you’ve come when you look back on it, and it will help keep you make better choices since you know you are going to have to record or report what you ate (and how much you did or didn’t work out).

And speaking of staying accountable, here’s our weekly weight loss update! I’ve also included a year-end breakdown so you can see how we did each week:

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Nutrisystem Week 9 Update: Celebrating NSVs (Non-Scale Victories) #NSNation

December 15, 2012
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daisy tape measure

Woof Woof Papa and I just finished up week #9 on the Nutrisystem program and are back with an update for you! Weighing in this morning, I realized I’m becoming a bit too fixated on what the scale says. Yes, I lost weight this week (skip to the end to see how much) and should feel great about it, but instead of being thrilled that I’ve lost 19.8 pounds so far, I found myself feeling disappointed that I was .2 pounds short of 20! Silly, right?

Instead of beating myself up about it, I headed to the Nutrisystem Program Member’s Page to look for some inspiration  Each week, the folks from Nutrisystem post online advice and support designed to help members at each stage of their weight loss journey. This week’s advice was about ‘seeing past the scale’ and celebrating the NSVs (non-scale victories), so I decided to take stock of my NSVs. Some Non-Scale Victories I’m celebrating this week:

  • Inches Lost: I’ve been logging my measurements for 9 weeks now, but never really took notice of how the progress was adding up. I’ve lost 3 inches from my hips so far, and another 3″ from my waist!
  • Clothes: Since I work from home and spend a lot of time at the dog park, I tend to wear the same old dumpy stuff which makes it hard to tell that I’m getting smaller. I dug to the back of the closet and pulled out some jeans I love that hadn’t fit in a LONG time. Guess what? They fit great! (still several sizes to go to reach my goal but super exciting anyway)
  • Health: This one is harder to see and measure but probably the most important. I’m taking time to remind myself that I’m getting heart-healthy and reducing other health risks by losing weight and increasing my physical activity!

Woof Woof Papa celebrated his own NSV this week, too.  They had a huge holiday party at his work – a football tailgating themed party complete with ribs, wings, chili, ice cream and all kinds of other yummy but fattening foods. His strategy was to take just a tiny bit of each item on his plate. It must have worked because his coworkers noticed and about half were impressed, while the others expressed concern and asked if he was feeling OK. Too funny, but he was pretty proud of himself and told me all about it when he got home from work.

After all this talk about Non-Scale Victories I do need to update you on how much we lost this week. It’s still an important measure of our progress…I’m just going to work on remembering that it’s not the only measure of success. So, how did we do this week? I’ll tell ya!

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Nutrisystem Week 8 Update: 2 Months and Still Going Strong! #NSNation

December 8, 2012
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Nutrisystem food

It’s hard to believe that we’re finishing up our second month on Nutrisystem already. The time has really flown by! When we first started, one of my biggest worries was that we’d get bored or tired of it or wouldn’t be able to stick with the program. It’s actually turning out to be just the opposite! The longer we go, the easier I’m finding it to be.

Just going on auto-pilot and eating the right portions of the right types of foods without having to think about it all the time…that is super easy once you get going and I am loving it!

The weight loss is slow and steady, which takes lots of patience but is the way it’s supposed to be if done in a healthy way. And at this busy time of year with so much to do, it’s really been helpful having everything packaged and ready to go so no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I don’t find myself stuck wondering what I should be eating. We’ve all been there…at the food court or drive thru knowing we shouldn’t be doing it, but hungry, tired and in a hurry.


So our cupboards and freezer are all stocked up, and we’re ready for Month 3! How have we done so far? Here’s the scoop…

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