I survived!

Well, I made it through my first week on Jenny Craig! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. With other "diets" I have tried in the past, I quickly become miserable and I imagine I make my loved ones miserable, too. I'm hungry all of the time...I get light-headed and grouchy...and I start telling myself that it is just not worth the trouble. I have even considered the possibility that God wants me to be fat. I know He loves me, no matter what I look like. But, I also know that I have not been taking care of the body He has given me and that needs to change.

Jenny Craig is definitely helping with that change. I think I have eaten more salads and veggies this week than I have my whole life! Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much! I am also amazed at what a "real" portion size looks like. For years, I've heard and read things like "one portion of meat is the size of your palm" or "a cup of rice is the size of your fist", etc. I must have huge hands because, before JC, my portions were a LOT bigger. Ok, so it wasn't necessarily the size of my hands that caused me to eat larger portions...I just used them to put large amounts of food on my plate but I digress....

Seriously, though, when I opened my first JC meal, I thought I was going to be in trouble. There was no way that small amount of food was going to fill me up and keep me satisfied for 3-4 hours! Guess what. It did. Of course, for it to really work, you have to add a large serving of veggies or a salad but it does work! It really is a balanced food plan and I DO get to eat dessert! Talk about feeling sad when I saw that serving size. Normally, I would have inhaled that sliver of cheesecake in about 2 seconds. But, now, I eat my cheesecake slowly, enjoying the cookies and cream flavor, and I drink it with a cup of milk and it is...enough. It is enough to satisfy my hunger...my sweet-tooth...and it is enough to hold me over until the next day's dessert. After living most of my life wanting more and more, it feels good to be satisfied with "enough".

I am happy to report that I lost 4.6 pounds last week!! I am so happy! I know I won't lose that much every week but it is a great start and I am thrilled. I did have a moment or two of sadness this past week while Mackenzie and I were shopping at Target, though. The Halloween candy is out...enough said. I wondered to myself, "How am I going to NOT sneak some chocolate this year??" Then I saw the sign at Starbucks: "Our Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back!" Those are my favorite! It is a personal tradition that I have at least one pumpkin spice latte to warm myself up with while I go Christmas shopping and I look forward to it every year. I immediately started feeling down and thought I should just do all of my shopping online so that I won't be tempted by the lattes. Then a thought occurred to me: I CAN have one....one of these days, just not today. I am not quite ready to start splurging or substituting "real" food for my JC food but, soon, I will be. I WILL be able to "live" and do it in a healthy way, I promised myself, and I immediately felt better. On a side note, my JC consultant told me there IS a way to fit a Starbucks latte into my diet because she does it every day!

After my weigh-in yesterday, I went to the mall to celebrate. I looked at the windows of all of the stores that I WILL be able to buy clothes from again. Ahhh, to be able to buy Gap jeans....Victoria Secret undies....anything from anywhere that isn't sized with a "W" behind the number..... It will take a while but I WILL get there!

And, don't worry, this blog isn't going to be all about my diet. I just wanted to share my good news! Thanks for reading!