Once more into the breach...

Or something like that.

I have been in Regina for 8 months now, and while it should have been easy for me to focus on losing weight while I'm living here basically stress-free, instead, I have been gaining steadily. Again. Looking back, I have now been fighting a non-stop battle with my weight for ~15 years. Mostly unsuccessfully.

Things I have tried:

• Weight-lifting - I maintained weight and lost inches while doing strictly weight-lifting
• Herbal One - in conjunction with weight-lifting, lost 25 lbs, which stayed off until I stopped doing both activities.
• Weight Watchers - Didn't work. I was not successful at logging, or portioning correctly.
• Sara's plan; my sister prepared all my food for me and froze it and pre-bagged it for every day. - Sort of worked. I lost weight steadily (~15 lbs) but wasn't maintainable for either of us.
• Nutrisystem - Didn't work. I really like the idea of pre-packaged, portioned food, but I didn't like a lot of the food choices for lunch, which is my weakest link.
• South Beach - worked for the first two weeks, completely ineffective as soon as I started to add carbs and sugar back in. Also, I don't think it is actually healthy.

In conclusion, what works for me is (as TOTALLY expected) portioned food prepared so that I can grab and go, steady exercise, and weight loss supplements.

Problems that come up:

• Transportation. Both of food and exercise clothing.
• Preparation time (and effort)
• Portioning and craving control
• Vegetables (specifically, lettuce, celery, cucumbers)
• Sticking to a workout schedule
• I like a consistent schedule, but I also get bored with that, too.

Things I have learned that SHOULD help:

• I know how to start exercising and running so that I can go from doing nothing and build realistically from there. (based on various running programs, the Body Building Bible for Women, and Arnold Schwartzeneggar's Body Building book.
• I have access to a free gym
• Portioning: I got a couple of good tools from Nutrisystem that should come in handy - one of them is a drink shaker, and the other is a portion guide that you actually put on your plate and dish food into.
• From Weight Watchers, Herbal One, and Nutrisystem, I have a good idea of what a meal plan should look like.

Next steps:

1. Study the Canada Food Guide, Nutrisystem, and Weight Watchers to determine a meal plan that I will be able to follow.
2. Decide in advance what acceptable options will be if I miss bringing food with me to work, or don't get meals prepared in advance. (I know me, and advance preparation is NOT one of my strong points)
3. Decide on a reasonable exercise program, and figure out where it works into my schedule.

Quick Fixes (While I'm coming up with a real plan)

1. Stop eating a muffin for breakfast - eat a yoghurt with fruit instead.
2. Have a veggie/Hummus wrap instead of egg salad sandwich for lunch. Also, no more lunch specials.
3. Drink water instead of chocolate milk and juice
4. Plan a break in the afternoon before the cafe downstairs closes so I can grab another yoghurt with fruit instead of raiding the vending machines.