Saturday, October 5, 2019

Progress is Slow But Sure; my Favorite Part of Nutrisystem Food

Well, I see interesting patterns in my weight loss journey; in putting in a new multi-year low last month, I almost immediately started a two-cycle bounce, including on one day, a discouraging 5-lb spike. Those are the days that can sap your enthusiasm. You just know that you didn't binge over the previous day, maybe somehow your body is trying to reset an equilibrium. (I also have a bad habit of weighing myself multiple times a day, beyond my usual weigh-in in the morning after a bathroom break) So early this week I woke up after a late afternoon nap to find out I had suddenly dropped 3 lbs. taking out my prior low by nearly a pound. And usually that's a good sign because my morning weigh-ins improve over prior afternoon weigh-ins.

So now I'm about 4 pounds below my prior September low. There are a couple of interesting things about my current weight; I'm about 7 pounds away from my 2004 low-carb diet low, just before my folks' anniversary, and so when I reach beyond that, it would be my lowest weight in at least 20 years. Second, I'm so used to say I'm over 100 lbs. overweight. But technically I'm now less than 100 pounds over my weight when I passed my Navy physical many years ago. Make no mistake--I still have a long way to go, at least 1-2 years away, even at an aggressive clip of 1-1.5 lbs. a week.

The current pattern is interesting--I've plateaued at nearly the same low weight for 4 days in a row. I'm used to seeing rebounds/bounces after putting in a new low. I've seen hints of an additional loss, but I'm intrigued by the changed pattern.

What do I like about Nutrisystem assortments? Well, first of all, I may not be on the same plan as others because I'm concerned about maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. So you don't see a lot of egg or meat entrees. I do recall in the past an eggs frittata entree, but maybe they've discontinued it or it's not on this plan. Much more emphasis (breakfast) on cereal, oatmeal and/or presumably higher protein pastries, like blueberry muffins. I never much cared for cereals; if and when I bought them in the past, I tended to gravitate towards original Shredded Wheat or Grapenuts (no, not Nutrisystem options--they are more like bran flakes). I'll tolerate occasional oatmeal. So I tend to prefer the pastry options; granted, no one is going to confuse Nutrisystem blueberry muffins for the oversized variety you'll buy at a bakery, but given I never buy muffins on my own, it's still a "treat"; among other things, what I'm getting from Nutrisystem is consistent quality healthy food and portion control.

I usually choose a fair proportion of protein bars, etc., which are convenient to carry and ready-to-eat. But in part, I particularly like the comfort food/pasta options, like lasagna and ravioli., and the wide variety of options (Nutrisystem allows you to adjust your options from some baseline bundle). Make no mistake--no one is going to compare Nutrisystem lasagna with Olive Garden's. And I'm not going to order 28 days of lasagna. But when you pick it out after 3 weeks of no lasagna, it's almost a treat.