With loss comes learning...

Why is it that the minute you try to do something good, so many things go bad? I'll I've wanted to do lately is stick to the program and lose weight. I know that there will always be temptations out there and things getting in my way, but so far I haven't had much luck avoiding the situations. I do however, think I've done well overcoming my obstacles so far.

Something I forgot to mention on my weigh-in day post was that this past Sunday, on Mother's Day, my neighbor passed away after being in a large car accident. At first I didn't realize how much it might affect me, but especially after going to the funeral yesterday, I realized how sad I was that I would never be able to walk my dog with him and his two dogs every morning like we used to. Of course it's not like losing a family member, but it's sad nonetheless. This morning my dog even tried to pull me up to his house and started wimpering. Poor puppy. He misses his friend.

Avoiding temptations was difficult, especially with the family inviting neighbors over to share the food brought over by others as a thanks for all of the caring and support (I live in a very friendly community). I'm proud that I avoided the temptations and stuck to my Jenny Craig meals and left the food for the family and well, anyone else who wanted some. Score one point for me and my will power!

It's really tough to lose someone, be it a friend, or a family member. I was speaking with a friend of mine yesterday about my weight loss goals and she said something that really stuck with me. When we were talking about how I put weight on after my grandmother's passing because I didn't know how to deal with the loss, she said that was excusable; as long as I didn't let it happen again. The important thing is that now that I have experienced it and begun to overcome it, I can't go back. The next time I am faced with a loss like this, I now have some experience in dealing with it and can hopefully prevent it from having a negative effect on my life, like gaining weight. Definitely a good lesson to learn.

Back to work...

Well I survived my first weekend on the Jenny Craig program. It wasn't easy being both Mother's Day and my sister's birthday, but I found ways to make it work.

At my sister's birthday party I managed to get away with eating only one slice of veggie pizza and filled up the rest on the veggie tray (with fat free ranch dip of course!). Okay, I admit it, I had a small slice of birthday cake, but it was totally worth it! Birthday cake is definitely my weak spot. Always has been, always will be. All in all it wasn't such a bad "off-program" night. I'm proud of myself for not overindulging.

As for the Mother's Day/Birthday dinner at Timpano's Chophouse I don't think I did too bad either. I split both an appetizer of skillet roasted mussels with my dad (and skipped the butter sauce cause they totally didn't need it) and also shared a spinach salad. For the main course I shared a 12 oz filet with my sister and we were able to have the kitched make a side order of pasta with marinara sauce. Way better use of carbs than butter loaded mashed potatoes; especially at an italian restaurant! Instead of getting a large dessert my dad ordered the cheesecake lollipop tree which is super cute when they bring it to the table. Unfortunately these delectable treats make it easy to overindulge, which I did by eating 3 of them! Okay, not so good, but I swear I'll be better throughout the week! I had a moment of weakness! I guess to my advantage, they are tiny so hopefully they didn't do too much damage to all of my hard work.

This week I plan on researching some local gyms. Currently the gym I am a member of does not offer aerobic classes, which I really enjoy, and even though I can go to the Nova gym for free, they don't offer many classes in the evening. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated! Hopefully I can find a gym that offers kickboxing, spinning, and other kinds of aerobic classes. I think it will be worth the investment...as long as my foot heals ( I sprained my foot 2 weeks ago and it isn't quite healed yet).

I have to say I'm very happy that my finals are over and my stressful snack cravings will hopefully come to a hault. I'm proud that I didn't give in to too much temptation. I'm actually looking forward to my first official "weigh-in" on Tuesday morning. I'll be sure to update you all with the results! One thing that I have to say is that I haven't been as hungry as I thought I would on this program. I have a newfound love for fruit and want to try as many new ones as possible. Maybe I can find a farmer's market in the area....that would be cool!

It's still all or nothing....and hopefully less than 50 pounds to go!

~Anessa

Whoever thought starting a diet during midterm week was nuts....

Oh wait....that was me! Here I am thinking that I'm being so good and starting my diet at the beginning of the month and this is what I get for it...my first week ending in 2 tough midterms in managerial finance and strategic thinking. I'm working toward my MBA at Nova Southeastern University.

Enough about that boring stuff.... I've been on the Jenny Craig program since Wednesday and so far so good. Most of the meals are pretty tasty; especially the breakfasts! So far my favorites have been the cheese omelet and the french toast. I'm not typically a breakfast person, but maybe Jenny Craig can convert me! Dinners have been alright. I loved the cashew chicken but I got a bad piece of chicken in my fettucine alfredo...guess I won't be ordering that one again!

My toughest time on this diet has been between lunch and dinner. It's probably because I usually eat my lunch around 12:30pm and then don't eat dinner until around 7:30 and sometimes later. Eating dinner later has helped curb my evening snacking which is good, but it's leaving me a bit "snacky" around 4-5pm and a little Jenny Craig snack so far isn't really cutting it. It's like eating a 100 calorie pack and saying, what's the harm in one more? I haven't really caved too much yet, except for my bubble tea fix at M&H cafe that I had yesterday; it was made with lowfat milk so I'm hoping it didn't send me too far off course! I had to do something to help my study snack fix without falling too far off the bandwagon.

Other than my one tiny slip I've been really good so far. My biggest test will probably be this weekend. Not only is it Mother's Day, but it's also my sister's 25th birthday. I promised her that I would go to the party that her friend is throwing and I'm sure there will be a lot of temptations there. She says her friend is making appetizers and ordering pizza. I trying to determine if I should eat before I go and avoid all of the food or to cut out my Jenny Craig dinner and some of my snacks to account for some of the extra calories from food and drinks. My only worry with that is that even though I might eat before I go I might be tempted to snack anyways....decisions decisions.

Tomorrow for Mother's Day, I'm in the clear with my diet until dinnertime. We have reservations at Timpanos Chophouse to celebrate Mothers Day and my sister's Birthday. Worryful dieting event #2 for this first weekend. My Jenny Craig consultant suggested that I order a steak, if that's what I want (as long as I order the leanest one) because I'm supposed to have 4 ounces of protein no matter what protein it is...wait a second....what steakhouse offers a 4oz steak???? This is depressing. I think their smallest filet is 8 ounces! I doubt anyone is going to want to share that with me.

If I make it through the weekend without hurting my chances at weight loss this week I'll be in good shape. I don't want to keep my expectations too high. I know that you are supposed to lost 1-2 pounds a week on this program but I have also heard that whenever you start a diet you tend to lose a bit more in the first week because your body isn't used to the healthy eating habits. Hopefully that's true and despite my weekend activities I'll still be able to drop a pound or two.

Any advice? I welcome it all!!!