Category Archive: Blah Blah Blah…

Jul
02

Thin Quik

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People have been asking a lot lately about Thin Quik diet pills.   I’m loathe to advocate diet pills, but judging from reviews I’ve read and the list of ingredients, they may be effective on some level.   However, I’m not sure how it can be legal since, to my understanding, ephedra has been banned in the U.S.   The list of ingredients is pretty interesting!

With 30 mg of Ephedra extract and with  300 mg of caffeine, it’s bound to hype you up!   Thirty percent of it is Synephrine-which is used as a bronchial dilator and functions to increase the metabolic rate without affecting heart rate or blood pressure.  It causes a release of adrenaline and noradrenalin only in the beta-3 receptor sites (mostly adipose tissue and the liver).  It does not cross the blood-brain barrier.

Add to that mix, Phenylethylamine which is supposed to function as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and is supposed to affect your mood, appetite and overall sense of well-being. Phenylethylamine also is purported to have the ability to stimulate your thyroid gland and therefore increase your metabolism.   However, I read that it is not effective when taken orally.

Another ingredient is acacia rigidula which is a shrub that contains several different alkaloid groups that provide a source of norepinephrine. Phenylethylamine is the most powerful alkaloid found in the acacia rigidula plant.   In other words, it’s another form of the same stuff!

The next ingredient, Evodiamine, is a chemical which is extracted from the Evodia spp family of plants which has been shown to reduce fat uptake in mouse studies.

There are more ingredients, but I think we get the picture here.   It appears that just from the ephedra and caffeine, there would be increased energy and some level of hunger suppression.

However, there are also possible side-effects !
  • nausea
  • headache; dizziness
  • irritation of the stomach; diarrhea
  • anxiety; psychosis
  • kidney stones
  • tremors
  • dry mouth
  • irregular or rapid heart rhythms; heart damage
  • high blood pressure
  • restlessness; nervousness; sleeping problems
  • decreased appetite
  • flushing; sweating
  • increased urination
Seek out medical advice before introducing any supplement into your routine.
This is one of those diet products that I won’t be trying out myself!   Also, as I keep harping on, this may be a quick fix but it doesn’t change your habits and you’ll probably gain the weight back pretty quickly.

 

If you’re still determined to try it, you can click to buy ThinQuik here:

15% off Thinquik at Supplements To Go! Use thinquik15 at checkout.

 

Jun
22

Food Pantry Needs

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Johnna’s note:  A friend of ours who wishes to remain anonymous wrote the following post. I think he makes a lot of very valid points that we all should think about!   Please donate (if you have the means) to one of the listed pantries or to your local pantry.   When so many of us have so much, it’s just not right for anyone to go hungry!

When I was younger, I grew up as part of a poor family. There were seven of us– my mother, father, my two brothers, and my two sisters, and I knew what it was like to go without a meal. My father was a construction worker and my mother a stay at home mom. We lived in Western Massachusetts, where work was scarce for my father and often my father would get laid-off.

I feel this has been one of the main factors in my weight problems. I am a food hoarder. I eat because I am afraid I will not eat again for a long time. I eat bad food because it is comfort food. I have, in the past, eaten cheap food because I could not  afford to buy good healthy food. That is why I support Food Pantries whenever I can–whether with a donation of food, my time or money, and I suggest others do so as well.

Here is a list of food banks who always need assistance. Many times, people donate to these charities in the winter but do not realize that people go hungry in the summer as well. You can help  these charities at any time of the year and your help is needed and very much appreciated, especially in these trying times of financial uncertainty.

http://www.gbfb.org/

http://www.mybrotherstable.org

http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/cgi-bin/id/foodbank.cgi?foodbank=49

http://www.foodpantries.org/st/massachusetts

http://dracutfoodpantry.com/

Jun
20

Th-121 A Big Loser and Not in A Good Way!

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As so often happens, I heard a radio ad with one of my favorite announcers telling me he’d lost 18 pounds without even trying by using this fantastic product Th-121.  Woo hoo!   If Jim Braude says so, it must be good, right?   Wrong!  I believe Jim must have sold his soul to the devil.

Th-121 has a lot of great ingredients that are good for you including acai, pomegranate, green tea, etc.   Those ingredients are supposed to be helpful in losing weight and maintaining a healthy loss but they aren’t enough to do everything that Chamonix company claims it will.   Supposedly, it curbs your appetite and burns fat without even having to do any exercise!  I can tell you that this is another of those
No more yoyo dietsexpensive products ($59.95 and don’t forget to also buy this, this and that additional supplement that will only cost you X amount of money….) that is NOT a miracle weight loss plan and will not do all it’s claimed.    Again, I was still hungry and I lost zero pounds and zero ounces.

I hate to keep harping on it, but the only way to lose weight effectively and safely is the old adage of calories in, calories out.   Eat moderately and exercise.  (Do what I say and not what I do!!)

Back to Th-121, this is another of those dreadful plans where they sign you up for automatic delivery.   Before you’ve even had your 30 days to evaluate, your second bottle is showing up!  What a hassle!

To add to the aggravation and waste of your time, Chamonix company will haunt you for the rest of your days!   I cannot tell you how many times I have asked them to remove me from their list! However, every month, I can count on receiving multiple calls from some perky girl  (a different one each time) saying “Hi, Johnna, this is so-and-so from Chamonix!”

Just shoot me!   Seriously, people, heed my advice and save yourself from wasting your money and from entering Telemarketing Hell!

Chamilia 160x600

 

Jun
13

“To the Girl Who Called Me a Fatass on the Bus” by DC Mazzie

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Johnna’s note: Body acceptance should be first and foremost for us. We need to learn how to accept and love ourselves and our lives. I would not have been able to say it as well as in the following post:

To the Girl Who Called Me a Fatass on the Bus
June 3, 2011 by dcmazzie  Reprinted with author’s permission

I know we haven’t known each other for very long – we were only on the bus for a handful of minutes – and I suppose it’s possible that my weight gain is sudden, but it’s not. I have been hauling this junk in my trunk for probably longer than you’ve been alive. And you’re not the first person (and likely not the last) to call me fat. So not only are you not as shocking as you probably hoped, you’re not terribly original, either.

Not only am I a fatass and a big fat fattie, I am well educated, I have a good job with reasonable hours that pays me well, and I am loved.
I go on vacations, I have fancy meals out with my friends, I have a nice apartment in a great building with wonderful neighbors, and a cute little dog who amuses the hell out of me. When I get sick, I can afford to see a doctor. My refrigerator and cabinets are always full. I have the tremendous privilege of free time to read, watch trashy tv, blog, navel gaze, meditate, and wonder about the meaning of life. I get manicures and pedicures whenever I want. I had a fantastic massage last week. I am surrounded by people who love me just as I am.

When I look in the mirror, at my face, I sometimes smile. I like who I am. I even like the curve of my hips and the swell of my breasts. I have managed to extract some self love from the battlefield that is my body. Like yours, my body has been under scrutiny and judgement for most of my life. We both face a constant barrage of images and expectations of what our bodies should be like. We will probably never be enough. Skinny enough, curvy enough, tall enough. We will never be just right. And if we are, or close to it, our reward all too often is harassment from strangers in the street, in the store, on the bus, where ever we have the nerve to be attractive to or noticed by someone in public. From early on, we are watching what we eat, binging and purging, counting calories, measuring inches, thinking about our “skinny jeans,” sold diets and fasts, and scrutinized for what we put in our mouths. And despite that, maybe because of that, your words did not shame me. That’s why I held your gaze for so long after you said it.

I’m not telling you this to one up you. I am telling you this because I wish the same for you. I hope that you grow up avoiding or shedding the judgement and shame that is foisted on your body and runs the risk of keeping you from living fully. I hope you find yourself in 25 years in comfort, with little struggle and lots of love. I am writing this to remind myself, too, that I am so much more than the words you slung.

I could have written the title of this post 25 years ago. The rest, I couldn’t have written until today.
http://dcmazzie.wordpress.com

 

Johnna’s note:  Mazzie has plenty to say about body image.   Here’s another of her very moving posts!

“No one ever asks women if we want to compete in this lifelong beauty contest. Being born female automatically makes us contestants.”

That quote is floating around the twitterverse this morning, without attribution.

I guess I never felt “in” the “contest.” When I was 13 and contemplating getting the haircut that was all the rage, I remember saying to my mom, worriedly, “There’s nothing more annoying than a fat chick with a bob.”

In junior high, I was calling myself a fat chick.

I am sure my mom’s response was some sort of horror, but what I wish she said was, “Fuck that. Fuck everyone and what they think. Be you. Be happy.” (Mom was quite delightfully conversant in vulgarities; I also remember around the same time stubbing my toe and mom standing near me saying, “Say FUCK! It will fee so much better!”) She said as much to me in many other ways since, as we both grew. But when I was 13, my parents sat me down and told me what a miserable life I would have being overweight. The message I got was as long as I was fat, no one would love me.

That summer, I did a terrible thing: I told my friend – the one who wanted to help me lose weight – I had stomach cancer. That way, I’d be forced to lose weight. Well, I didn’t. Word got around. And I went into high school as the girl who lied about having cancer.

Later, in my sophomore year of college, I was walking to a bar between two friends of mine. We could hear guys behind us talking about us, about our appearance, and one guy said to the other, “Forget the girl in the middle.” “Yeah, forget the one in the middle,” his friend affirmed. If I ever thought until that point I was “in” the “contest,” I certainly didn’t after. In fact, “forget the one in the middle” became an anthem for me. I craved being invisible.

It’s only in the last few years, as age creeps up on me and giveashits genuinely ebb, that I can do something completely radical: begin to accept myself as I am. Begin.

That doesn’t mean I don’t still internalize all the messages I am bombarded with or that I can go so far as to say I love my body. (Are any of us allowed to say that?) But at least now, as I craft my life going forward, I can carve the way to that place because I am finally, finally on my side.

Jun
02

Sensa aka “The Sprinkle Diet”

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The weight loss supplement known as Sensa or “the sprinkle diet” is fairly popular because of its claims to be easy to use–just sprinkle it on your food instead of taking pills.   You have a shaker for salty food and a shaker for sweet.  According to Sensa’s website, once you sprinkle the product on the food, you begin to eat. Sensa sends a signal to your brain that you’re full and you will not eat too much. Some experts recommend 7 shakes per meal, but dosing varies based on desired results and tastes. Sensa’s website is very informative and helps you learn all about the product and how it works, including information on testing that has been done on men and women to prove the effectiveness of the product. According to their site, people generally were observed to have lost an average of 30.5 pounds within just 6 months of using this product. I, however, lost 0 pounds and 0 ounces. It had absolutely no effect on me.

For me, it did not trigger the sensation of being full, just slightly altered the flavor of my food.   One of my objections about this type of diet plan is the “automatic renewal.”   Rather than ordering when you need it, you’re put on an automatic monthly plan.   The shakers will keep coming till you call them and go through the inevitable sales pitches to get you to try to keep it.   Then there’s the hassle of returning the product.  It’s been my experience that the time consumed and the cost of returning the product isn’t worth going to the effort of taking them up on the guarantees.   My guess is that this type of plan counts on people like me.  To be fair, Sensa does have a 60 day guarantee.   I’m very sure that they would honor it.

There are a lot of questions and controversies surrounding the effectiveness of this product.  Another drawback is that this plan does not teach you how to alter your lifestyle and habits.   You learn nothing from it.   My opinion is that this is just another plan that we all truly wish would be our easy solution–but just another plan that isn’t.


Free Day Coupon

May
22

Binge Eating Disorder

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Everyone overeats from time to time.    We may enjoy a dinner out with a bit too much relish or take extra helpings of our favorite foods.   Holiday parties and meals always make it easy to overeat.   However, binge eating is a compulsive disorder that is considerably more common than anorexia or bulimia and affects as many men as it does women.

Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder characterized by periods of extreme over-eating, but not followed by purging behaviors as in most cases of bulimia. Binge eating can occur alone, or in conjunction with a lesion of the hypothalamus gland, Prader-Willi disorder, or other conditions.   The binge eater feels out of control and powerless to stop their compulsive overeating.  Typically, the symptoms of binge eating disorder begin in late adolescence or early adulthood.  Many times the behavior starts after a major diet.

Binge eaters use food to cope with stress.  They may be comforted for a short period of time but then they feel guilt, disgust and
depression.  They worry about what eating this way will do to their bodies and beat themselves up for their inability to control their eating.   Binge eating often leads to weight gain which makes the person feel worse about themselves.   The worse they feel, the more they will turn to food for comfort and then the cycle renews itself.    People with binge eating disorder are ashamed of their eating habits so many times they will hide their symptoms and eat in secret.   Many binge eaters are overweight or obese, while some are still normal weight.  I mentioned in my HCG follow-up article that I’d been on a binge.   While I have not been diagnosed (yet), the signs and symptoms of my eating tend to trend in the direction of binge eating.   I intend to seek professional assistance for this problem.

Signs and Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder

  • Compulsively eating when you aren’t hungry.
  • Inability to stop eating or to control what you are eating.

  • Eating until you feel sick
  • Eating to escape from stress or worries
  • Being embarrassed by how much you are eating
  • Desperation to control your eating
  • Eating normally around others but overeating when you are alone
  • Never feeling like any food satisfies you no matter how much you eat

Ways to Overcome Binge Eating

  • Get support.   See a professional or try a self help plan such as Dr Christopher Fairburn’s book, “Overcoming Binge Eating.”
  • Try to manage stress through techniques such as meditation, exercise, breathing exercises or doing something nice for yourself like stopping to read a book or take a hot bath.
  • Learn the difference between when you are physically hungry or if the hunger is an emotional symptom.
  • Get enough sleep.
  • Eat three meals a day plus healthy snacks.
  • Focus on eating in moderation rather than trying to diet.
  • Keep a food diary.  This is an excellent Online Food Diary
  • Exercise
  • Fight boredom

May
14

HCG Follow-up

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I’m on the HCG Diet again.   This diet has some really positive aspects.   It also has some very negative aspects!

Let me go back a bit.   I stopped the HCG diet a few weeks ago.   The main reason I stopped before hitting my weight loss goal is that I couldn’t take it anymore!   It’s very restrictive and the food gets boring pretty quickly.   After a while, all you can think about is a carrot.   Seriously, I’m not kidding…you’ll get excited over a carrot!   Carrots are not allowed on the HCG Diet.

That being said, it’s pretty much worth it as you go along to watch the scale go down so quickly!
Your HCG is the original provider of the HCG diet

THAT being said, if you don’t follow the instructions for the maintenance plan, the weight will also come back on quickly!   I think you may have gleaned from some of my previous posts that I have a tendency not to read the instructions or to outright ignore them to do my own thing.    I put 8 pounds back on in about 6 weeks time.

And…THAT being said…I’ve lost 6 of those pounds in three days of the HCG diet!  The loss will slow down now to 1/2 to 1 pound a day
rather than two, but I fully expect to be back to the weight where I stopped the diet within two more days.  THIS time, I’m only doing the short phase of 15 days rather than 23.   Also this time, I’m going to do the maintenance plan correctly.    Last time, I decided to try out a couple of other diets instead of doing the maintenance plan.   There are two reasons the weight came back.   The first:  Although I was on another diet, it added carbs right back into the mix and once your metabolism gets used to a lack of carbs, you have to add them back very slowly!

The second reason is that I got tired of dieting and pulled a binge.   Yep, I admit it.   I’m a binge eater.   I won’t be hungry at all but somehow can’t quite stop myself.   I’d gone so long without fun foods that I started eating NOTHING else and a LOT!   Binge eating is one of several eating disorders that we’ll be addressing in a later blog.   We’ll also be featuring an article by a noted psychologist who specializes in eating disorders.

So, I’ve turned back to my old friend, HCG.  I’m very happy that I can quickly recover from a set-back like this and this time I won’t be reporting any setbacks.   I really will follow the directions this time!

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May
02

It’s like the Holy Grail! We found a really great protein bar!

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I’ve never been a big fan of protein bars, protein drinks, etc.   They are usually packed with sugar (worse!  High Fructose Corn Syrup!) which completely defeats the purpose!  Many times, they also have that medicinal aftertaste that one comes to expect from protein products. 
Try Quest Protein Bars!Most protein bars do not have much, if anything in the way of fiber and sometimes they are made with some pretty questionable types of proteins like hydrolized gelatin and a lot of fillers.

In light of that, it goes without saying that I was pleasantly surprised by the Quest Bar .   When comparing the ingredient list, I saw that the proteins were natural, the bars included chicory root fiber, and natural ingredients like almonds and sea salt.  All the carbs are simple carbs to keep the glycemic level low.  They’re sweetened with Lo Han Guo, (a Chinese herb similar to Stevia) and Sucralose so there’s no sugar or sugar alcohols.

The taste is surprisingly good too!   They’re a little chewy, as we know protein bars have a tendency to be, but the flavor is considerably better than most!   I liked the Peanut Butter Supreme best, but the Vanilla Almond Crunch is pretty good too!

The downside is that there’s quite a bit of fat in the Quest Bar, but it’s natural fat from nuts so it’s good fat rather than bad fat.

If you’re on a low-carb diet, I’d give the Quest Bar two thumbs up!

Each Quest Bar has 230 calories, 20 g of protein, 15 g of dietary fiber (60% of daily recommendation), no soy, no gelatin and no trans fats.   The protein is 100% whey and milk isolates.

I highly recommend heating a Quest Bar in the microwave which makes it like cookie dough.  Eating protein has never been so enjoyable!!  They suggested the microwave in the flier that came with the bars I ordered.  I was skeptical but now that I tried it, I’m hooked!

I think we’ve made history here.   This is the first two-thumbs-up that I’ve given in the blog so far!

Try Quest Protein Bar, today!


BodyMedia is here to help you lose weight!

 

Apr
30

Oh Crap! Adventures with Alli (and flatulence)

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Another of my epic dieting failures was trying to take Alli, non-prescription Orlistat.   I had been complaining to my doctor about my inability to lose weight and she suggested trying Alli.   Oh yeah, a pill to solve all my issues….that sounded pretty good!
Body Gospel - Have faith in your weight loss

Alli, or Orlistat, is a capsule that is taken three times a day with each meal that includes fat.   It is to be used in conjunction with a low fat diet.    Alli is in a group of medications called “lipase inhibitors.”    It works by preventing the body from absorbing some of the fat that is eaten.   The fat is then removed from the body when one goes to the toilet….thus I say…oh crap!
Get Ripped in 90 Days

When you take Alli, you need to avoid any foods that have more than 30% fat.   You should carefully read any food labels.   Now, I have to admit that when I took it, I did not really understand how to read food labels (see our post “Understanding and Reading Food Labels”)   It’s fairly easy but you need to know that there should not be more than 3 g of fat per 100 calories.   In my infinite lack of wisdom, I was unaware of this tidbit of information.   If you eat anything that goes remotely over that, you’ll feel the side effects of Alli.

Of course, Alli’s packaging lists the side effects, but I did not really pay attention.   Let me just warn you…pay attention!!

Amongst others, here is a list of common side effects.   If you’re like me, you would much rather be fat!

  • oily spotting on underwear or on clothing
  • gas with oily spotting
  • urgent need to have a bowel movement
  • loose stools
  • oily or fatty stools
  • increased number of bowel movements
  • difficulty controlling bowel movements
  • pain or discomfort in the rectum (bottom)
  • stomach pain
  • irregular menstrual periods
  • headache
  • anxiety

The flatulence I experienced was beyond description!   Imagine, if you will….I’m making a sales call, explaining my company’s fees, terms and just ready to close the deal when  RIIIPPPPPPPP! As if the sound itself wasn’t enough, the aroma was lovely too.   The worst part of it was, well, um…read up and note the difficulty of control.   I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d had a disaster or not!   Luckily, it hadn’t happened, but it very well could have.  I’ve since heard stories from other people who were not as fortunate.

Okay, I quit!   I’m a quitter!   I’m also easily embarrassed!   I may never live it down with this customer who is, quite luckily, a pretty cool person and didn’t hold it against me.   I’ll only have to hear the stories of my moment of flatulence for years to come….

 

Apr
17

The Diet from Hell

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The first time in my life that I ever had to diet, I was 28 years old.   I’d always been a thin person but woke up one day to realize that I had gotten fat!   I had been in a miserable marriage and the truth of the matter was that the only thing I was living for was my next meal.   All of a sudden, I realized that it was time to make some changes….so I lost the weight, lost the husband, and moved to Boston!

I don’t recommend the diet plan that I used, but it worked.  It was one of those fad diet things that circulate around.   For six weeks, I spent four days of those weeks eating a lot of grapefruit and boiled eggs.   On the days off, I snarfed whatever I wanted.   It was around this time of year because as I recall, I would buy a box of Girl Scout cookies and leave them on the counter with a note that said “Midnight Thursday.”   I’d diet like crazy Monday through Thursday and those cookies were my reward to myself.   I joined a gym and worked out like mad!   In six weeks, I’d lost 30 pounds and was back to my normal size 3.    The weight stayed off for about 10 years but that was mostly because I stayed active.   Once I went back to my couch potato ways, the weight started creeping back.

This diet does not teach you anything about nutrition, healthy eating or lifestyle.   It’s a quick fix.  It worked for me once but I’ve never been able to face it again!   Now that I’m turning 49, I think it’s time to get a little more serious!

Diet from Hell

Breakfast daily:  1/2 grapefruit, unsweetened coffee or tea

Lunches:  Day 1: 2 boiled eggs, green beans, grapefruit,   Day 2: 2 boiled eggs, green beans, spinach, cauliflower, apple, Day 3: lettuce, tuna canned in water, tomato, Day 4: 2 boiled eggs, green beans

Dinners:  Day 1: steak, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, apple    Day 2: hamburger patty, lettuce, tomato juice, 1/4 cup natural applesauce  Day 3: (the day from Hell for me!) baked boneless, skinless chicken breast, stewed tomatoes, 6 oz prune juice,  Day 4:  steak, lettuce, fresh pineapple

Salt and pepper are the only spices allowed.  No substitutions to the diet.   No diet soda, artificial sweeteners, no gum, no alcohol.  120x240_start_button_weilNothing that is not specified on the diet is allowed.

4 days on three days off.

Please talk to your doctor before trying this or any other diet to address any health concerns!

Good luck! I guarantee that it won’t take long till you can’t face a boiled egg again!


Adrianne Curry Uses The Flex Belt

Apr
15

The first of my many failures…Weight Watchers

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I know! I know! Weight Watchers has helped a lot of people lose weight. For many people, it is a great tool. There are easy ways to measure the amount you’re eating, ready-made foods in your grocer’s freezer, and meetings for support.

Meetings? Are you kidding me? I HATE meetings! I will do almost anything to avoid a meeting. I refuse, now in my adult life to belong to any club or organization because I do not want to go to any meeting that doesn’t make me money! Back in my college sorority, I annoyed everyone by sitting in our Monday night meetings rolling my eyes, checking my watch and sighing loudly. Am I a person who is going to any meeting I don’t have to go to? NO! And, more importantly, will this heavy-sighing, eye-rolling rebel (25 years older) actually weigh in….in front of people? I think not! Seriously, no way!

So, I tried the online version. My take on it was that at least I could avoid the meetings. But, what I found about the program itself was this: I’d rather count fat, calories, carbs and nutrients than those stupid points! And, well, lemme tell you…those points do not take long to use! I thought I was going to starve to death!

That was before fruit was “free.” I thought that might make a difference for me. I love fruit! Sadly, what I soon realized is that while fruit is now free, they also raised the point value for everything else! So you don’t get much food otherwise. Hated it!!

While sitting at a bar in NY yesterday, I was talking to my friend, Linda, who had also recently tried WW and had the same experience with it (although she wasn’t quite as anti-meeting as me). But she felt like she was starving while on WW. As we were talking, a man at the bar chimed in. (It always amazes me how people listen in.) It turns out that he was a pharmacist who had also had weight issues. His take on the plan was that if you bought the frozen meals, you were eating too much sodium. I looked at a WW meal and found that it had a whopping 610 g of sodium!! 601 grams of sodium in a tiny little portion!! Yikes! If you had high blood pressure, that would be really bad! Daily sodium intake is supposed to be less than 2400 grams per day. My understanding is that this is just about a teaspoon. I suppose if you were only eating those tiny WW packaged meals three times a day, you would still be under the daily sodium. But you’d still be starving! (Or at least I would.)

My other criticism is that I found the online food diary rather difficult to navigate.   There are much better food diaries out there that are easier to use and have better databases.  MyFoodDiary.com is one of those. (And not to do too much gratuitous self-promotion, but The Weight Loss Network Food Journal is the best!) Both cost $9.95 per month. They have easy ways to create your own recipes, add favorite foods and their search works very well.

Again, though, this is just me. I know a lot of people who have been helped enormously by Weight Watchers. That’s why I created this site. I wanted everyone to be able to find the plan that will work for them!


Apr
13

Ack! That tastes like yak!

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I thought I would try out the Protica Protein drink called Profect. It’s a terrific concept…25 grams of protein, no sugar, no fat and only 100 calories. It comes in a nifty plastic test tube which makes it kind of fun to drink out of. However, it has the most incredibly medicinal, proteiny flavor that it is not exactly enjoyable to drink. It’s more like a hold-your-nose and choke it down! Blecchhh! If you don’t mind cough syrup, you might like it. Who’s to say?

Apr
10

HCG and Me

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I am on the HCG diet. NOT the doctor-supervised, shot-getting, FDA-approved version. I am on the homeopathic version upon which the FDA looks askance.

In the realm of full-disclosure, I felt I should approach this topic right away. The FDA has issued negative statements about this diet plan. Their take is that anyone would lose weight on a 500 calorie diet and that the drops do not have enough HCG in them to create the loss that they claim.
Your HCG is the original provider of the HCG diet

I asked the lab that supplies my HCG about this and received the following response: “The reason behind this has to do with homeopathic theory. The way it works is by starting with a small amount of the actual hormone, and then diluting it several times following a certain homeopathic frequency (6x12x30x60x for example) until all that is left behind is the energy imprint of the substance. This is also known as the “energy signature,” and the process is very normal in the homeopathic industry. It allows consumers to benefit from the effects of HCG without the costly and painful injections, or any negative side effects. The results speak for themselves. Many of our customers who have switched from the injections have claimed that the homeopathic form of HCG has worked equally as effective if not even more than the injectable form.”

I am needle phobic so I’d never do the injections! But I can tell you that I am a girl with a big appetite. Nothing and I mean NOTHING has ever affected my appetite. I’ve tried all kinds of supplements, diet pills, etc and I still found myself to be hungry.

However, the homeopathic HCG drops have worked really well for me! I get a little hungry but not very much so! On any other diet I’ve starved so badly that I couldn’t stand it but staying on this diet has not been a problem for me. It’s restrictive, but I like that. I know what to do and I don’t break the rules so far that I’m not gaining any ground.

I’m also someone who likes to see results immediately. I’m not good at waiting for the results so seeing a pound a day has felt great! So far, I’ve lost 18 pounds. I intend to lose another 10. Stick around, I’ll keep you posted….

Apr
10

Fear and loathing in blogdom…

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My first post….
I’m loathe to try to blog. I’ve never considered myself to be much of a writer. However, for the past few years I’ve been quite the dieter! I’ve tried a lot of diet plans. Some worked for me and some did not. Everyone is different so I feel that it is important for me to share some honest views of the plans that I’m featuring on this site.

I’ve learned a lot about myself through dieting. The most distressing thing I’ve learned is that I require a rigid plan that does not allow me to improvise. I have very little ability when it comes to self restraint! If I am on a rigid plan, I can follow it to the letter but if I’m allowed the slightest bit of flexibility, it turns into a huge bungee jump! My bungee doesn’t spring me back, unfortunately. It keeps stretching till I fall splat on my face!

The other distressing thing I’ve learned is that I am a stress eater. I want to be a laid-back person. I really do! But, the sad truth is that I am pretty high-strung. I’m a sales rep and drive all the time. I hate driving! Driving in the Northeast requires a lot of defense and a lot of offense! The weather is also pretty unpredictable. I find that when I’m in a traffic jam or driving in treacherous weather, I start eating mindlessly. I’ll suddenly look down and realize that I just ate a huge bag of chips or m&m’s and didn’t even taste it!

I’ll be addressing these and other issues as I go along. I’d also love to hear others’ stories and suggestions. Stick around!

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