As of Sunday morning I have been on the Special K diet. I started to try it out a few years back, but then found out I was omfg! pregnant!, and kind of forgot all about it in the whirlwind excitement of what-do-you-mean-I’m-going-to-have-a-baby?!?!?! Anyway, it really isn’t that bad. You simply replace two meals (typically breakfast and lunch) with exactly one serving of Special K cereal (1 cup) and skim milk (3/4 cup). However I absolutely cannot handle skim. I’ve tried and failed. I wind up pouring it down the drain. I’m sorry, but I need just a bit more taste… something that says there’s more in the glass than eight ounces of water and ten drops of milk. So I’m using 1%.
Anyway, you also try to replace snacks with Special K bars. Again, not bad. The bars are yummy. Actually, the cereal is, too (especially the yogurt and berries variety!).
While browsing around I stumbled across my-calorie-counter.com, and I am so glad I signed up. Not only can I keep track of my weight and measurements, but there’s a terrific and very active community on the site. But best of all, IMHO, is the awesome journal logging features. You can log all of your foods for the day – grouped under breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack. There is a very handy search feature, so you can look up common items (such as cheese, meatloaf, carrots, etc.) and their nutritional information, and if you have a premium account you can add in your own foods and meals.
I am so glad I found this website. Like I’ve known before, my problem isn’t so much portions, as I’m good with small portions and grazing on light meals rather than three large ones. No, my issue isn’t how much I eat, but what I eat. And I don’t mean whoppers and twinkies. On the contrary, working at BK turns you off to its food – and the food of most fast food restaurants – entirely. And I’ve never been much for cakes and pies and ice cream. No, with me it’s the breads and the pastas. Pass me a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a few biscuits and I’m happy as can be.
Actually seeing the calorie content of the foods I’m consuming is really, really helping. It’s also rather disheartening – how could I have been so naive? For instance, as I earlier whined to Lisa, I had no idea that two measly ounces worth of longhorn cheese was over 300 calories! Or that two tablespoons worth of licks of icing from a spatula (Lissy and I had fun decorating a heart-shaped cake for Dan) would equal just about 300 calories.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. To sum it up: my-calorie-counter.com is going to be a great tool in my weight loss journey. I’ll keep with the Special K diet for the next month, make sure that my remaining meal of the day is rich in vegetables, take my prenatal vitamin daily, exercise thirty minutes a day, and keep careful track of my food.
To those who have asked what I’ve done up to this point to lose nine pounds: biking for thirty minutes a day, making sure that I’m feeling the “burn” and breaking a sweat while doing so (which for me equates biking at a speed of at least 16mph on the second level of resistance), and monitoring what I’m eating (which now I’ll be doing even more devoutly, since I have my-calorie-counter.com to assist with tracking and calculating!). Oh, and breastfeeding! Breastfeeding mothers burn an additional 500 calories (if not more) per day – and that’s just with breastfeeding the baby! I pump six to eight ounces a day in addition to nursing Ryan, so there’s more calories used up for that.
Okay, enough of my rather obsessive babbling. I’m really tired now. I was actually tired at 11:30pm, but Alyssa never went to sleep (we put her to bed at 9:00pm), and Ryan was awakened by our, uh, bedroom activities. So, I brought both kidlets out, gave Alyssa some oatmeal and settled her with a movie, then nursed Ryan while we all watched Blue’s Clues. Both little darlings are tucked in their room now, with no peeps to be heard, so now I’m going to bed!
Wow you seem really motivated into losing weight – i try, and fail! I did try the Special K diet and I tried it with Crunchy Nut too but I got bored of cereal. I’m still stick of it now thanks to that diet lol. x
you seem to be doing better and better with the weight loss thing! and just a suggestion since I really don’t know if you do it or not, but it might be a good idea to start some stretching before and after you work out. Your muscles will be more flexible and you’ll get a better workout. good luck with the special k diet
Extrapounds.com is also a great weightloss site.
I love Special K w/Redberries drenched in Vanilla Soy Milk. Mmmmmm…
I’m so glad things are going so well for you and your excited about losing weight!!! I’m also eating healthier and it feels great. Like you, I’m not much of a sweets person… my biggest weakness is the salty foods (potato chips) and yummy dinner foods (potatos w/sour cream, pasta, mac and cheese). I bought a new cookbook which has been helping me to cook healhier meals and I also snack on healthier foods too (raw carrots, rice cakes, etc) I LOVE foods that are good for you… I just love the bad ones more. hehe. So it’s hard to change, but I really need/want to, so that’s what I’m doing. Good luck!!!
I’m glad that that weightloss thing is going well. The Special K diet seems good, but I like having cornflakes without milk (why does it seem to shock people when I tell them that? I just have a problem with soggy cornflakes) so it wouldn’t work for me. ;) Hehe.
thats so great. i really hope it works out for you. good luck!!