6 Week Body Makeover

Act 6:

““It’s never too late… To Lose Weight

Decide to act. Set personal small, medium and large targets. Give yourself time, don’t rush. The key is patience. Look at the positive results, however gradual. Praise yourself when you succeed. Forgive yourself when you slip, look at the big picture. Persevere.” – Patrick Lindsay

Quote in book: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ~ Proverb

Aaahh Losing weight. This item almost always makes it to most people’s New Year’s Resolution list. I know it was on the top of my this year. I had a Dr’s Appointment just before the end of the year. They weighed me and I was appalled at the number they put down. I knew I had gained a bunch of weight, because all I did the last two years was drink drink drink (and eat bar food), but it was a lot more that I thought. I was over 35 lbs from my goal weight and about 30 lb from where I would like to be and was before I started school in 2006. As much as I loved school and hanging out w/ my school friends, my waistline suffered a great deal. I had gone up 4 sizes from where I was in 2006 and I did not want to buy anymore new clothes to supplement my bad eating habits, so I set out to lose some weight.

I’ve struggled w/ my weight ever since High school. I gained the typical freshman 15 and by the end of college I was about 25 lbs overweight. I stayed at that same weight until a girl told me that we were “the same size” and it shocked me into losing weight. I looked at her and then myself and I couldn’t believe she thought that. I was later told by friends that it wasn’t true, but still… I never wanted anyone to say that again.

In 2004/2005, I went on Nutrisystem w/ my home girl. She and I shared the meals they gave you, because we both love to eat and wanted the freedom to be able to eat some non-Nutrisystem meals. For those that don’t know, Nutrisystem has pre-packaged meals that you supplement with small amounts of dairy, protein, and vegetables. It’s a portion control diet. By the end, I lost 25 lbs on Nutrisystem. It’s a great system for single people who don’t have a lot of time or don’t know how to cook. The only problem is that I love trying new foods and restaurants and being on Nutrisystem doesn’t really allow you to do that. I also love to cook and you can’t really do that on Nutrisystem either. Also, you get 1 month’s worth of meals at a time, which is fine if you have a lot of storage space. However, it worked for the time I did it and they have decent tasting food. Note: In an effort to lose weight in 2010, I went on Nutrisystem again, but didn’t really stick w/ it, so I didn’t lose any weight and I still have all this food left.

So, as of today, I’ve lost 15 lbs since Jan. I’m on a new program called the 6 Week Body Makeover. It’s really really working for me, even though technically I’m not doing the whole program. The 6 Week Body Makeover (6WBM)’s mantra is “using food to lose weight” You basically jump start your metabolism by eating small meals, multiple times day, and you eat foods that help your body type lose weight. So, this is not a one size fits all type of diet. It’s customized for you and your body type (which is why I like it). It’s a lifestyle change, so you can basically use the tips you learn during the 6 weeks to keep the weight off. This section is called “Living Lean”, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

You may ask, How does it customize the diet to your body type? - Well, the first thing you do is answer 40 questions to determine which of the 5 body types you are. I’m type C, which means my body knows how to build lean muscle, but my metabolism has slowed too much to keep up. Basically, I’m only allowed to eat lean proteins (fish, seafood, chicken/turkey breasts) and I need to stay away from red meat, pork, lamb, dark chicken meat (basically any fatty meats), until I’m in the “Living lean” portion of the diet. I eat 5-6 times a day (every 2-3 hours) and depending on the time of day, I eat ½ cup of carbs and 2 oz. of protein plus 1 cup of vegetables or 1/2 cup of fruit. I only get hungry during the day, when I miss a “feeding”. If I skip a meal, I’m starving! The program is also, low sodium, low oil, and low sugar and you’re supposed to drink 100oz of water (but I never do this). There are lots of tips on how to cook the foods the right way and that adhere to the program. For example, to sauté onions/mushrooms I don’t use oil and salt anymore, but use water, garlic powder, and a little bit of white wine. SOOO good.

This program also works on shaping your body by giving you tips on how to work out and which exercises you should be doing. – see my blog tomorrow for more on this.

All in all, even though it’s been more than 6 weeks, I’m still on the program. But I don’t follow it religiously, so I suppose you can say I’m in the “Living Lean” portion of the program. I do give myself cheat days, but since my metabolism is a lot faster it doesn’t really affect my weight in the sense that I just matintain, but I don’t really gain weight like I used to. As for now, it’s working for me and my goal is to lose 10 more lbs by the end of the year. Wish me luck.

If you’re looking to lose weight and don’t know which program to chose. According to this Consumer’s Report they named Jenny Craig above all the other weight loss programs out there. Note: Nutrisystem and 6WBM were not rated, so that’s a bummer. When trying to find this article (I heard about it on E! News), I read somewhere that Nutrisystem was not rated, because they hadn’t evaluated it’s long term effects as part of the study. Oh well.

Tonight’s the GLEE concert in Vegas. So exicted. Shout out to PYeh and KNeier who are here w/ me!