Sunday, December 18, 2005
The Jenny Craig Experiment
A good friend of mine recently lost 100 pounds, and she's still losing, albeit slowly now that she's close to goal. I am so proud of her! She looks absolutely "flabu-less" and has been a tremendous source of inspiration for me on my weight loss journey. Before signing up with Jenny Craig a year ago, my friend had no success with Curves, and limited success with Atkins (20 pound loss). After hitting a particularly stubborn plateau, she decided to sign up with Jenny Craig in the hopes that the prepackaged Jenny cuisine would help her learn portion control and make better food choices.
So far, she is very pleased with her Jenny Craig experience. So pleased, in fact, that she recommended that I consider doing Jenny, too. My first reaction was...Yuck! Microwave cuisine! My second reaction was, when has a high-carb, low-fat, calorie controlled diet ever worked for me? My friend assured me that, in her experience, the Jenny Craig way of eating can be very satisfying, and I couldn't argue with her results. She urged me to try it for a week and helped me design a Jenny-like diet using pre-packaged foods in single-serving portions. I bought a selection on Lean Cuisines, some individually packaged oatmeal, skim milk, sugar-free/fat-free yogurt, canned green beans, and some canned fruit made with Splenda. The plan was to eat three small meals and three snacks each day for a total of 2000 calories.
During my one-week trial, even though I ate frequently, I was constantly starving! The Lean Cuisines only left me wanting more food, and all the carbs set me up for sugar cravings galore. I felt possessed and couldn't stop eating, no matter how hard I tried to stick to the program. After the second day, I found myself deviating from the plan and eating foods I hadn't been tempted to taste in weeks, like chocolate. After the third day, I gave up. Experiment over. There's no doubt in my mind that I won't be shelling out hundreds of dollars a month on Jenny Craig's diet program. For one thing, I can't stand the idea of eating devitalized processed Frankenfoods when there are so many delicious, fresh foods to choose from. Secondly, this diet is much too high in carbohydrates for me. There's no question I would end up feeling hungry all the time and gaining back all the weight I've worked so hard to lose.
So, was this experiment a waste of time? Not really. It just convinced me all the more that the low-carb way of eating is the right answer. Contrary to the opinion of the people who design diets like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, successful weight loss is not about portion control, it's about the biochemistry of how our bodies handle carbohydrates. Portion size is practically irrelevant, unless you're eating carbs.
So far, she is very pleased with her Jenny Craig experience. So pleased, in fact, that she recommended that I consider doing Jenny, too. My first reaction was...Yuck! Microwave cuisine! My second reaction was, when has a high-carb, low-fat, calorie controlled diet ever worked for me? My friend assured me that, in her experience, the Jenny Craig way of eating can be very satisfying, and I couldn't argue with her results. She urged me to try it for a week and helped me design a Jenny-like diet using pre-packaged foods in single-serving portions. I bought a selection on Lean Cuisines, some individually packaged oatmeal, skim milk, sugar-free/fat-free yogurt, canned green beans, and some canned fruit made with Splenda. The plan was to eat three small meals and three snacks each day for a total of 2000 calories.
During my one-week trial, even though I ate frequently, I was constantly starving! The Lean Cuisines only left me wanting more food, and all the carbs set me up for sugar cravings galore. I felt possessed and couldn't stop eating, no matter how hard I tried to stick to the program. After the second day, I found myself deviating from the plan and eating foods I hadn't been tempted to taste in weeks, like chocolate. After the third day, I gave up. Experiment over. There's no doubt in my mind that I won't be shelling out hundreds of dollars a month on Jenny Craig's diet program. For one thing, I can't stand the idea of eating devitalized processed Frankenfoods when there are so many delicious, fresh foods to choose from. Secondly, this diet is much too high in carbohydrates for me. There's no question I would end up feeling hungry all the time and gaining back all the weight I've worked so hard to lose.
So, was this experiment a waste of time? Not really. It just convinced me all the more that the low-carb way of eating is the right answer. Contrary to the opinion of the people who design diets like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, successful weight loss is not about portion control, it's about the biochemistry of how our bodies handle carbohydrates. Portion size is practically irrelevant, unless you're eating carbs.
My Body as a Science Experiment
My apologies for being away for awhile. Things got a bit crazy around here in the past couple of weeks!
While I was on my blogging hiatus, I decided to experiment with food a bit. I made some important discoveries which, I believe, are going to be the keys to my ultimate success with this low-carb way of eating. My goal was to figure out a workable plan for me. Note that your mileage may vary. Here's what I discovered:
1. I am hypoglycemic, so it's important for me to distribute my calories evenly throughout the day by eating frequent small meals. Eating low-carb tends to suppress my appetite and tricks my brain into thinking that my body doesn't need food as often. However, I've come to realize that I can easily develop cravings and overeat at the next meal if I don't keep my body steadily supplied with fuel.
2. It's not enough for me to give up sugar, I'm going to have to give up artificial sweeteners as well. (Horrors, I know!) Aspartame gives me headaches and the sugar alcohols lead to extreme intestinal distress. All types of artificial sweeteners seem to lead to binging and intense sugar cravings. I'm totally convinced that, for me, eliminating sweets in any form is the only way to go. Sigh...
3. A couple of weeks ago, I switched to the South Beach Diet. I am still losing weight, but I feel a lot better than I did on Atkins, and my system seems less sluggish. I'm still eating in much the same way, but have introduced fruits, nonfat milk (for my latte habit!), and limited grains. Fruits are always eaten with a protein, such as apple slices with a bit of peanut butter or an orange with string cheese. Grains, if eaten at all, are limited to one serving per day with a meal.
While I was on my blogging hiatus, I decided to experiment with food a bit. I made some important discoveries which, I believe, are going to be the keys to my ultimate success with this low-carb way of eating. My goal was to figure out a workable plan for me. Note that your mileage may vary. Here's what I discovered:
1. I am hypoglycemic, so it's important for me to distribute my calories evenly throughout the day by eating frequent small meals. Eating low-carb tends to suppress my appetite and tricks my brain into thinking that my body doesn't need food as often. However, I've come to realize that I can easily develop cravings and overeat at the next meal if I don't keep my body steadily supplied with fuel.
2. It's not enough for me to give up sugar, I'm going to have to give up artificial sweeteners as well. (Horrors, I know!) Aspartame gives me headaches and the sugar alcohols lead to extreme intestinal distress. All types of artificial sweeteners seem to lead to binging and intense sugar cravings. I'm totally convinced that, for me, eliminating sweets in any form is the only way to go. Sigh...
3. A couple of weeks ago, I switched to the South Beach Diet. I am still losing weight, but I feel a lot better than I did on Atkins, and my system seems less sluggish. I'm still eating in much the same way, but have introduced fruits, nonfat milk (for my latte habit!), and limited grains. Fruits are always eaten with a protein, such as apple slices with a bit of peanut butter or an orange with string cheese. Grains, if eaten at all, are limited to one serving per day with a meal.
