Jenny Craig

Jenny Craig here I come!  Last Saturday I stopped by the new Jenny Craig office near the house and signed up for the Rewards program.  After a week of listening to the ads on G105 and considering joining, I signed up after showing houses to a client.  My biggest concern was cost but given the amount of money spent on eating out throughout the course of a month, there should be some actual savings.  

The best thing about Jenny Craig is the ability to either choose a structured and pre-planned menu or choose your own foods.  In addition, with the Rewards program comes one-year consultations with a specialist, all program materials, and increasing discounts leading up to 30% after the 20th visit on Jenny Craig food.  Given my prior experience with Weight Watchers, the Bartels program, and several other diets throughout the years, I've learned that when it comes to food and changing my eating habits, structure is key!  

I really like that with the menu comes a short list (on the back) of the grocery items needed for purchase to supplement the menu.  The main menu items, of course, are purchased at Jenny Craig at the end of the consultation.  However, the vegetables, fruits, and dairy items still have to be purchased at the grocery store.  Jenny food costs range, but are supposed to average $125 per week not including the grocery items. Costco is a great place for purchasing the grocery items so after signing up on Saturday, I made a trip to Costco to try and save money.  When I signed up, they "planned" on my starting on Sunday, but I wasn't ready and decided Monday would be my start day.  

My first few days on the program included many challenges.  The first challenge being Wednesday.  Wednesday was Drake's last football game and the final day of the season for football.  A big day for celebration and the opening week for Char-Grill in Durham.  I had kind of promised the kids that we would go to Char-Grill opening week and thought this would be a good day to make use of the visit.  Unfortunately, I indulged.  How could I not.  It is my absolutely favorite hamburger joint in the world and they were opening less than two miles from my house!  Rather than having the half pound burger I had the double burger and of course had the fries and soda.  It might sound horrible, but it was half the amount of calories for the burger and I didn't have any refills on the soda.  It could have been worse.  

Thursday went well and the week was looking up.  Each morning I started the habit of starting some coffee and packing my cooler with my food through the afternoon snack.  Something about having choices, and healthy ones at that, made me feel better.  Rather than feeling limited, being able to see a cooler full of food that I could choose from made it easier.  Of course it takes time and forethought.  This bit me in the butt on Friday!  

Halloween is loads of fun in our house and filled with all kinds of yummy treats.  Typically, I like to do a "festive spread" that includes some healthy choices for the kids to eat before they go trick-or-treating.  Having their bellies full hopefully makes the amount of candy they eat smaller throughout the evening.  Friday morning I got a late start.  Knowing that Colten had a Halloween parade at school made it important to get him to school on time when perhaps I would have taken the time to fill my cooler and get him to school later.  This meant heading out for my day without anything to eat.  I thought I would drop him off, return home, and get my food ready.  Of course this isn't the way things happened.

After dropping Colten off at school, I headed to the grocery store, then headed to Target, then headed to Chick-fil-A.  Yep, Chick-fil-A. Number one value sized with sweet tea with lemon has always been my friend and comfort food.  By the time I left Target (having had not breakfast), I felt lightheaded and a headache beginning and knew that my body needed FOOD!  After eating it my stomach felt full, but the rest of me didn't feel any better.  Sadly, things didn't change throughout the day and neither did my eating habits.  I picked up Colten, headed home, and prepared the goodie bags for Sidney's class.  After returning home with Sidney, we started making and decorating cupcakes, cutting fruit, cooking hamburgers, and setting out all the remaining snacks and decorations for the evening. In the end, I had a cupcake and two hamburgers without a morsel of Jenny food.  While how this would impact my visit to J.C. in the morning was in the back of my mind, it didn't change my actions.  Honestly, I vaguely considered not keeping my appointment.  What got me out of bed in the morning was my investment and desire to lose the weight.

Sidney's best friend's mother, Jill, owns a fun kids salon named Peek-A-Doo and planned a fundraiser for a teacher at Club Boulevard who had a fire in her classroom.  In an effort to support her initiative, I scheduled a haircut for Sidney at 9:00, just minutes prior to my Jeny Craig appointment.  While I really wanted to skip the J.C. appointment, I returned just 7 days after signing up and 5 days on the program.  I'm proud of myself for not bailing, but not thrilled with the results.  I have to keep telling myself I was really OP (on program) for 4 days and need to focus on making the change and staying OP for a full week.  

My goal for this week is to stay on the program until my next visit (Monday, November 10th at 10:00) and walk the loop (one mile) at least six times (three days two times).  This will be no easy feat but I really want to do it!  

  

First Weigh-in

Today was my first weigh in after a week on the program. The weekend was difficult. Thursday night I ordered pizza for the kids and before I knew it I had inhaled two slices without even thinking. When it dawned on me, I figured that there were two choices. The first being continue to eat everything in sight since it was a screw up and the day was lost and the second was the realization that it was temporary and to get back OP (on program). In the past the first choice was more common. However, committing to this program and doing everything possible to achieve my goal this time, I chose the second option. In an odd way I feel more mature for making the choice and have been able to create some distance between eating and decisions.

Saturday and Sunday went perfectly. Drinking (way too much) adquate water has been a conscious effort with the recommended amount of 128 ounces minimum. Filling the cooler with bottled water and other drinks the night before helps. I try to keep the cooler filled in the car so the temptation is not there and to avoid spending lots of money buying drinks while out working.

Monday and Tuesday felt like I finally settled into things and the trick of making a drink the night before and putting in the fridge and then settling down with a late night cup of coffee is working well. My scary time of the day is late night when the kids have gone to bed and I'm in front of the TV vegging or working. It's way too easy to keep going back into the kitchen and getting food but has been ingrained in my body and mind. Using this late night time to do have coffee, do laundry, make a baggie of the following day's allotment of supplements, fill the cooler, and mix the first shake for the next day has really helped. Putting something into my mouth that is enjoyable (coffee with 2tbsp of cream and 5 splendas) is comforting and doesn't make me want to eat.

This morning was my first weigh in and I am happy with 9.6 pounds being lost for week one. They were very blaise about it but my guess is that they do this day and day out so it's common and not a big deal. When Dr. Bartels came in to review my test results he wrote a prescription for the poison ivy on my face, neck, and hands saying that he wanted to avoid my taking of steroids. Apparently they increase your appetite and make you take on water. I did not intend to ask him for a prescription or medical advice about it so it felt a little weird knowing their policies regarding treatment of non-related "ailments". My test results reveals a slightly high glucose and cholesterol. He expects them to lower as I loose weight.

We leave for Mexico next Friday so I am a little concerned about what I will do but Dr. Bartels said we would come up with a plan at next week's visit. For now, I am merely trying to take things one day at a time although the other day I could not help but calculate if I stay on the program for 16 weeks then I will achieve my goal prior to the cruise. That is something to get excited about!

First Few Days

The first few days on the weight control system prescribed by Dr. George Bartels has been difficult to say the least. Given that my days seemed to revolve around food, whether it was where my next meal was going to be or shopping for food, day one went well. I was able to stick to the program and did not stray in the least. Of course, I think I was in denial and trying a little bit of self-sabotaging by not setting the alarm for a 7 am physical appointment in Cary and leaving the paperwork on my office desk. However, upon arriving a few minutes late, parking on the wrong side of the building, and quickly re-completing the required paperwork, it became quickly evident that committing to the program was going to happen and it needed to happen quick. Once I sat down in the waiting room and took a deep breath, it kind of settled over me and I resolved myself to a new beginning. While waiting I looked out and saw my sister-in-law (Michelle) pull into the parking lot. Seeing her was comforting and helped me realize that I would not be alone in this new challenge.

The challenge does not just include limiting my intake to the prescribed 5 daily shakes, multivitamin, 128 ounces of water, and weekly vitamin B12 shots. The biggest challenge is trying not to look at and think about all the restaurants that seemed to be calling my name. I physically had to turn away from the fast food restaurants and talk myself down from the smells that never smelled so tantalizing. Shopping at Costco for my new "menu" of bottled water, Crystal Light, fruit h20, and yummy gum was extremely difficult. The crab dip samples, the fresh bread and pies being baked, and all the other sample stands that I mindlessly took samples from in the past forced me to focus on my purpose and not on the food. Quite difficult!! Of course cooking my favorite meal of BBQ chicken, corn, rice, and rolls didn't help either. Somehow I made it through the day. While at Costco I purchased a cooler and filled it with appropriate drinks and ice with the intention of keeping it full and in the car everyday. It should be much easier to get in my liquids if I don't have to stop and buy something and it's readily available.

In the evening of day one I drove Sidney over to her Girl Scout meeting and had planned to get some coffee as a treat. Unfortunately, Michelle needed me to run an errand for candles so I didn't get my treat. On the drive home we stopped at Smithfields and picked up some crushed ice. Thinking this would help me chew on something, I felt like it could be a good think. Earlier in the day a fun recipe came to mind - crushed ice with lemonade, orange, or blackberry Crystal Light sprinkled on top. Sort of a modified slushy that I could chew and suck on. When we got home I made my new specialty up and wow - it was yummy!!

Day two was another story. I lost track of the number of shakes I drank and without thinking inhaled two slices of pepperoni pizza. I tried to focus on it being one day and not the end all. Within two hours my hands were feeling puffy from all the salt in the pizza. In trying to be more organized and avoid the lost count again, I took time at the end of the night to put four shakes in a plastic bag and made up the first strawberry shake for the morning.

Day three has gone very well. Using the shakes from my pre-counted bag was very helpful. I also entered reminders in my Treo helping me to remember to drink my shakes every 3 hours and take my vitamin and medicine. It's too easy to let too much time pass and suddenly be starving, be grumpy, and have a headache. Today was Grant's fifth grade graduation. Without thinking, Sidney and I made a beeline for the cake. With the plate of chocolate cake in hand and a fruit punch in the other it strook me that I couldn't have anything in the room. I passed it to Flint and started talking to the teachers. Grant was ready to go so within minutes so it was easy to leave. He was ready to go to his friend's house so we stopped at Char-Grill on the way. We also talked about my new diet and how it would affect eating out for everyone. It's important to me that he not change his eating habits to make things easier for me, but it is nice that he understands how important to me this is. My prediction is that Grant will be very supportive. This evening I again caught up on my shakes (two at one time), had the crushed ice treat, and relaxed with a hot cup of coffee with my allowed 2 TBSP of cream. I also started my period today - lovely! How nice that it coincides with implementing a major life change. Ah, tomorrow is a new day.