Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Joy's Life Diet - You can see it in my face.

Well its been 3 months since I started JOY's LIFE DIET. It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Joy Bauer, celebrated nutritionist from the Today Show, is a winner! This book is my new weight loss bible! And I can't tell enough people about it.



I'm down to 208lbs from 225lbs. That's 17 lbs and counting. Everyone says they can see it in my face. I see it in my clothes (falling off me).

Some people say that it is too expensive to go on a diet. I don't think that is really true. Yes, my grocery bills for the first 2 weeks were about $150 (which was about 3x as much as what I normally spent). But now they are down to $50 or less. I have a list that I go to the grocery store with, and I try not to deviate. If it is not on my list, I don't need it. Plus, I save a ton of money eating out.

The key to my progress has been planning ahead for meals. Every night before I go to bed, I know what I will be eating the next day, from breakfast to dinner. I bring my lunch, snacks and sometimes dinner to work with me. Now, I even have a special bowl and spoon in the office with my name on it to prepare my meals in the office microwave. I save myself from having to run out and get something (most likely unhealthy) to eat, and give myself more time to focus on other things, like getting out of work early and going to the gym.

That leads me to the topic of exercise. It wasn't until I made exercise part of my routine that that the weight loss really started kicking up for me. I added classes to NYSC to help me to get my 30 minutes of exercise into my day. I enjoy the Spin classes (which I couldn't get past the warm-up when I first started) and Zumba Dance. I've cut my training sessions down to once a week with Catalino which is another big financial savings. We are down to our last 5 sessions. Catalino and I will be breaking up after a 2 year relationship. In the past this would of scared me to death. He was a HUGE part of my success to date. Sometimes Catalino was the only reason why I was going to the gym. But now that exercise is officially part of my Joy's Life Diet routine, I know I can do it.

One more thing that really helped was an office weight loss challenge. It was probably the accountability I needed to stay on track. I could earn points to help the team by eating healthy and getting in daily exercises and sleep. Days when I wanted to skip my 30 minutes of exercise, I would force myself to get it in for the team. Joy has similar challenges on the Today show. I really think this competitive environment and personal challenges help me keep on track. This year I'm planning on my 75 Mile bike ride to be a piece of cake.

For the first time in a LONG time I feel like the 175 is in my reach. That's a wonderful feeling.

One little side note on Joy Bauer: I have had the pleasure to meet Joy in person, and she is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and the most genuine person you ever want to know. She is a go-getter and you can't help but be inspired by her energy. See Joy in action:

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