Smart For Life

People spend millions of dollars each year on diet programs and products to help with weight loss. Some of these products are completely useless while others will help you to lose, but you don't keep it off. I have been up and down with my weight like Kristy Alley for years. At first my weight began to increase after I got married. I was 130lbs and then I crept up to 140lbs. Then the children came and so did my weight increase. I jump from 140 to 197lbs after my third child. I would shed a few pounds by exercising, cutting back on calories and trying a few different programs. Most times I was very successful and I could easily slide back into my form fitting clothes. Then when I became pregnant again my weight climbed again. So on and on the cycle of being overweight. Like some people I ignored my weight struggles until I started to have health problems. In my family, I have a history of hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, heart attacks and stroke. Oh yeah and the big C....Cancer. So now I am more serious than ever to get my weight under control.

My up and down weight gain landed me to 187 lbs back in December. I decided after my trip to the doctor to fight the bulge. I came to the realization--after getting on the scales-- to get myself together again. In Jan 2009, I began to watch what I ate, do some exercises at home and search for a good diet and exercise program. In February, I joined the Discovery Health channel fitness program where they offer free membeship at Bally's for 30 days. I faithfully went 3-4 days a week. After my 30 days, I rejoined the gym. I got a great deal. I only paid $299 for the whole year and that included everything and the ability to use any gym in the U.S. I then decided that on the days I was not at the gym I re-started my Barry's bootcamp. I have been working out at the gym, watching what I eat, completely removing the sugar and drinking 8- 8oz glasses everyday....well most days. When I returned to the doctor for a follow-up visit, the scales showed that I was 167lbs. My goal is to get down to 140-145lbs. I believe I can using Slim For Life.

This picture of me is when I was about 187lbs.

Smart for Life offer various plans. For instance,
· 30-day Kit that contains cookies, shakes and soups.
· 21-day plan that contain only cookies
· 42-day kit that contains cookies, shake bottles, soups and other items and of course much bigger amount.

I decided to go with the 21-day plan. I brought the cookies only which come in several flavors like chocolate, oatmeal raisin and blueberry. You can also choose the more extensive packet that contains soups, muffins, and shakes. I think I got the best deal because I ordered mine from Costco, which was $150.00. You can also purchase them from Amazon.com

By eating the cookies 6 times a day, getting the water intake and a healthy meal will help my body to lose weight. I have read testimonies (mostly good), of how weight came up pretty quick but with healthy ingredients within the cookie.
 
You can see the testimonies by going on Costco's website, and type Smart For Life in the search button.

I discovered this program from Costco. They sell their product. So I went to the website to see what the hype was all about. Smart for Life is basically cookies that you eat 6 times a day. But these are not just ordinary cookies. The cookies are organic that contains triple filtered water, whole wheat, protein, fruit, flax seed and several other ingredients. So in other words it's a meal in one. You must drink water, about 64 oz per day. You are permitted to have other liquids like coffee, tea or a diet drink. You can also eat a meal for dinner that consist of protein and vegetables.

My start day for this will be on May 20th. I plan to record my journey with the Smart For Life cookies. I will record my day to day experience and I am determine to do exactly what they say!

If you are interested in joining, Just make comments on my guest book. Even if you are doing a different diet, please share your own personal experience

I think the hardest part in doing this diet will be some of the rules.

 

• No gum
**some people can chew suger free gum as long as it does not make them hungry.

• no sugar


• no fruit


• No juice drinks.They recommend water of course, diet soda, coffee without cream (unless it's non-dairy,fat free) tea and sugar-free drinks


• no coffee cream unless you do the above. See their site for more details or if you order the package, they will give you a toll free number to call.

I figure that it's only for 21 days so I can give that up for that long.

****UPDATE****
Following the rules are not hard at all. I drink my coffee with the sugar free items like Truvia and Equal and I don't feel like I have changed much. The non-dairy creamer taste good. I do miss my powder coffee cream but I enjoy the flavors coffee mate makes in non-dairy.

As far as fruit, I don't miss it and it's only for 21 days. Fruit is in the cookie.

OK. So far so good. I felt pretty bad yesterday because this was a week of celebration of birthdays and anniversary so I ate a whole lot more than I intended. I actually had plan to cancel starting today so I can finish my chocolate cake that I purchased from the Cheesecake factor and the meal that I didn't complete last night. But I made a commitment and I plan to keep it. So all the leftovers will go to the kids.
 
This morning I got up and within the hour had a chocolate Smart For Life cookie. The taste is so/so. Don't expect to be munching on a Keebler chocolate chip cookie. This cookie was a bit dry to me but I believe I can deal with it for 3 weeks. I made sure I had water with it.
 
After I dropped off the kids I went to the gym. Although they don't say you have to workout while on this diet, I decided to really give myself a boost in this weight loss and continue to exercise. I did 30 min on the Elliptical trainer, 15 min on the stationary bike and 15 min on the treadmill. I also did the Stairmaster for 15 minutes on level 3. Did about 10 minutes of the weight machines. So now my guilt has left from eating all that fattening food on Tuesday.
 
In the car, I had another Smart cookie with water. I also filled up my water bottle, which is a ½ gallon jug so I can make sure I'm getting my entire water intake in.
 
I don't feel hungry at all. Maybe a tiny, tiny bit but it's time for another cookie. This time I plan to microwave it for a few seconds to see if I can make it moist and a little bit softer.
My plan for the rest of the day is to get my veggies in order and plan what meat I will have tonight.
 
On the Slim for Life diet, you must eat 6 cookies a day when you get hungry. I figure maybe every 2-3 hours will do.
 
Rules-

• Drink lots of water


• no fried foods


• use pan spray for veggies or bake meat


• no beef or pork, no oil, no fruit or alcohol.

 
The cookie contains all-natural components like fruit, wheat, meat etc. I suppose to be able to lose up to 15 per month including inches off the waist.
 

The hardest thing right now for me is no cream in my coffee and no gum chewing.  Coffee tastes so nasty without cream! But I will just do the best I can and maybe I will acquire a taste for black coffee with equal. I did use agave nectar in my coffee. I hope that's ok. I will call them later to make sure.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. At dinner, I had baked chicken, a big salad and bel peppers with onions(pan fried with Pam spray cooking spray). I ate all my cookies. I had to force myself to eat the last one because I just wasn't hungry. I have to admit, I felt pretty good. Just a slight headache because I didn't drink my usual amount of coffee. I saw on Smart For Life's brochure that you can microwave the cookie for 8 seconds which gives it a softer, warm taste. I microwave for 10 seconds which is better to me. By the end of the day, I can say that the cookies are pretty good. They state on their literature that some people like the cookies right away, while others need a day or two. So I agree with their statement, "just give them a chance."

Today I woke up determined to get an early start on my cookies. I ate my first one at 6:50 am along with water like instructed. Today I tried the Oatmeal raisin Smart for Life cookie. I microwave it for 10 seconds. I REALLY like this cookie. Last night I discovered--at the bottom of the box--a letter. The letter stated that I should call the number listed on the paper before I start the program. So I called this morning. Basically there is a recording that tells you some of the basic things you should do on this diet. They also can connect you to a live person if you want to speak to someone. I spoke with a very friendly lady about the coffee creamer. She told me that as long as I purchase a non-dairy fat free creamer, I can use it in my coffee. They also offer coffee creamers for $24.99 three pack. I may purchase that if I can't find any in the store. I also asked her about gum. She stated that as long as the gum don't trigger me to want to eat more than it's fine. I use sugar free gum and I never had that problem before.

My goal today: Exercise at home using Barry boot camp. I plan to just target my abdomen and some leg workouts. He has a variety of exercises you can perform.

I completed my goals above. My workout was 24 minutes long. I ate all the cookies and finished my last one at 8 p.m. I also completed my water intake. I recommend getting a 1/2 gallon water bottle so you can just sip on water throughout the day.

I felt really good and full. I didn't really want to eat the last cookie. I also feel very energetic. The only problem that I have experienced so far is gas and slight abdominal discomfort....very slight. I am not sure is that due to the fiber or not.

Today I woke up and after getting a few things done, I started off with a cookie at 7 a.m. Headed for the gym at 7:45 a.m. Completed a 45 min workout. I used the elliptical trainer (about 20 min), the Treadmill (about 20), and the stationary bike for 15 min. I also did two weight machines for my legs.

Today I brought Coffee Mate's nondairy, sugar free, vanilla caramel creamer. It tastes really good. A big difference in drinking black coffee. I cheated yesterday and used powered coffee creamer but I want to do exactly what the diet says.

Goal today: Just continue to drink my water, some abdominal exercise and upper body.

I don't feel tempted to eat anything. It does feel really good to eat the meat and veggies the evening. I just need to plan to go shopping to buy more of a variety of veggies and meats.

I didn't do any additonal exercises other than play Wii Fit with my daughter.
Dinner: Had grilled Chicken Breast on my George Foreman's grill
Large salad
pan fried vel peppers and onions using Pam spray
I still feel pretty good and I am not hungry. Still have lots of gas. Could it be the veggies or the fiber in the cookies? Not sure.

I am trying the Blueberry Cookie today. I place it in the microwave and as I type I am eating it with my coffee. The blueberry cookie taste good. I am not having any problems with the taste of the cookies. Like the company stated that if you give them a chance they are pretty good. I already got my water ready for today.

PROBLEMS I FACE THIS WEEKEND

Since I am starting this diet near Memorial Day, I will miss out on fun foods. I usually go to a kid's event with my daughters the weekend of Memorial Day. Not only is it fun, but they have my favorite kettle corn that is simple delicious! Our neighbors are hosting a block party today so if I go I have to decline the many foods that they will offer. That's ok. I am looking at the long run of weight lost. I don't want to stop at all. Just think, by July 4th I can have some foods and my diet will be over.

A challenging day! May 23.

Temptation 1. I went to the kid's festival and boy it was hard not to buy the sweet, warm, delicious kettle corn that is at this event every year. It's tradition to buy the stuff, not to mention very tasty. Oh well. I am glad that I overcame the temptation.

Temptation 2. We went out to eat at Fresh Max. This is a place where you have a variety of salads to choose from along with pizza, breads, brownies, ice cream and the list goes on. You pay one meal then eat all you want. Well, I choose to have my dinner for lunch and loaded up on the salad items. I had wonderful items like beets, squash, spinach, lettuce, peppers, cabbage and the list goes on. I choose to use salsa instead of salad dressing. I also paid extra to have the barbecue chicken breast to place over my chicken. I had a diet Pepsi to drink.

Temptation 3. Our neighbors were out for the block party and had so much wonderful food. Most I could not eat. No chicken. I didn't eat much during lunch so I figure a little more would be fine. I did munch on one rib and some other pork meat. I mean just pieces. That is not allowed on the diet. I really just had a couple of bites. I hope this don't bite me in the end.

The rest of the day went fine. I need to eat just one more cookie and finish my water. No exercise today. I did want to do Barry's Bootcamp but it's late and I have to get up early tomorrow.

This day was another challenge for me. I read in Ebony magazine an interesting statement. In their Oct. 2008 issue under the Ebony/Jet Weight-Loss Challenge, the author stated, "Often it's the approach to weight loss that determines whether one will succeed or fail. Attitude, determination and perspective go a long way in ensuring that one keeps on the journey that's often rife with obstacles, temptations and potential detours." I say ditto to that statement. In this article, it was also pointed out that losing weight is 80% mental and 20% physical. You can't do much at all if you allow your mind to quit.

My family cooked turkey hot dogs, sausage, and turkey burgers for the Memorial Day weekend. The holiday is usually a time for me to just pig out. I love hot dogs with the white thick buns. I can eat two or three of them. Also my kids were complaining that we didn't have any desert. I didn't buy any on purpose.

Well I did pretty good. I ate all my cookies. Actually the cookies were a welcome relief. They went so well with my coffee. I choose the Oatmeal cookie again today. For dinner I had the turkey hot dog plain with barbecue sauce, two grilled turkey burgers with my big salad, and bell peppers and onion. When my husband completed the pork sausage, I didn't eat any. Instead I sipped on my water and last cookie.

Workout: None. I decided to take a break during the weekend and will resume on Monday.

I was in one of Barry's online chats recently and I asked one of his fitness instructor about sugar. I discovered that sugar is a killer to your diet. She was saying that you can workout for hours, but if you still consume sugar it is really a hindrance to weight lost. I read that sugar not only increases your blood sugar to increase but also your weight on the scales. I tried this product that I purchased from this company on Amazon. Agave Nectar looks like thick syrup. It is organic and the sweetener is taken from a blue agave plant. It's low glycemic index, which means that it absorbs in your body slow so you won't have a jump in your blood sugar. I only use a teaspoon because it is sweet. I also use equal or other artificial sweeter to give it an even more sweet taste.

My Tue went ok. The biggest problem I had today was not eating the cookies in a timely manner. I took my kids shopping and took one Smart Cookie with me, but I shopped way over two hours. I could not eat anything in the mall so I was REALLY HUNGRY!
I recommend that if you have to travel, just take some extra cookies and water with you so you can avoid your body feeling like it's starving.

When I got home I had 2 Turkey burgers, one sausage link and a big salad. After I ate that I was totally stuffed. I also treated myself to a diet soda. I am not sure that I got my entire water intake in. I am guessing that I drunk at least 6-7 cups.

Exercise: None. Took break over the weekend.

Warning: Pork is not on the list as the meat to eat, so the pork sausage is not an ideal choice. So today I plan to buy more meats that is considered low fat. I just didn't have anything else to eat and did not want to eat up the few turkey burgers that were left.

Had a GREAT DAY! I ate the chocolate chip cookies and I spaced them out pretty well along with my water intake. I just targeted toning my body on today with Barry's Boot camp. For dinner I had Baked Turkey Drumsticks, Chard greens and salad.

I completed my workout at the gym today. I completed one hour and about 5 minutes. I did 30 Elliptical and 30 Treadmill. I am challenging myself by running off and on the treadmill. I visualized being a contestant on The Biggest Loser and pushing myself beyond my norm. I am eating the Blueberry cookies today. They are great microwave with a cup of coffee.

Rest of Day

The rest of my day went well. I had leftovers, which were turkey drumsticks, chard greens and salad. I also had during snack time/last lunch a turkey hot dog. I was very hungry for some reason.

Other physical changes

My stomach is still very gassy. Yuk. Also I feel rumbling in my stomach. I had this experience in the past and that means (in my system) that I am burning/losing. I dare not get on the scales. Why? Because I don't want the scales to control me so I decided not to get back on until maybe Sunday or next Wed.

I REALLY pushed myself at the gym today. I worked out from 8:15-10:15 a.m. I only stayed at the gym that long because I didn't want to go home since my oldest daughter was getting out of school early. Well after all that sweating and exhaustion, she calls letting me know she decided to hang around with her friend.
 
Here's what I did: Stationary bike for 20 min, Elliptical 30 min, Treadmill 12 min., Stairmaster 15 min., and the rest of the time working on the weight machines.
 

I started the day off with the Oatmeal cookie. I think that one is my most favorite.

I was on a conference call with the support group on yesterday. I like how they have people who will talk with me and answer any questions or concerns I may have with the product. I had asked a question about the gassy symptoms and that is common, for some people, when first using the cookie. I will experiment and make sure I am drinking water right after I eat the cookie at all times. A few times I would eat them with coffee and wait 30 min or so before I would have my water intake. On the instructions it says to drink at least 8oz of water after consuming a cookie.

I am totally relaxing today until later when I do my toning exercises. I am eating the Smart for Life Oatmeal cookies again today.

The rest of my day was uneventful. I did complete my toning exercises. The thing about Barry's Bootcamp is that it looks like you are not doing much but it's intense and I can sweat up a storm just by toning.

Lunch & Dinner: Not the greatest because funds are low. I had a sauage along with my cookie. For dinner, I ate a leftover chicken that I pan fried and greens. I doubt I ate the required 5 servings.

I plan to shop on tomorrow.

http://www.barrysbootcamp.com/

I discovered Barry on an infomercial. Most of the time, I pay absolutely no attention to those types of commericials, but this one caught my attention. What sold me is being able to exercise just for 1 min per exercise.

Other benefits for me are:

• There are about 12 exercises. They are really fun and it comes with this huge ball (you blow up) that is not round but shaped like a bullet. I get great workouts with this.


• I received 2 DVDs but within the two, you get so many workouts. They are really intense and I notice my abdomen really shaping.
  


• The exercises I see on this video is very close to what I see the fitness trainers do with their clients except you don't pay thousands of dollars. Barry's video work parts of the body that the workout machines at the gym don't. So I get the best of both worlds because I like my aerobic workouts at the gym and the target areas with Barry's bootcamp.
  
Some of the other perks with this program is that you can view their message board and Barry from time to time do conference calls where you can ask questions.

I think weekends are challenging because this is the day when I run a lot of errands and I forget to bring water and the cookie. I also don't like to drink a lot of water because I don't' care for pubic restrooms.
So today I left without a cookie or water and felt pretty drained. When I got home I resume eating my cookies and water but by the end of the day I had a cookie left and it was just to late to eat it.

For dinner: Veggie Burger with onions and bell peppers that I pan friend. The stick spray just wasn't working, it started to burn so I used olive oil. I also had a regular salad without salad dressing.

About my journey when I started on this weight loss program. On last Wed., I completed a whole week. Next Wed will be week two and then I will only have one week left. So far, I find that this diet is easy for me to do. I have developed a routine and my only struggle is doing the weekends. I don't feel really tempted because I am not hungry at all. I think that is the biggest plus in this diet.

· Do I like just eating cookies everyday and all the time?

No, not really but I realize that it's a short term discipline to a new me.

· How do I stay motivated?

By reading books and magazines on weight loss, by continuing to go to the gym and do workouts at home and by my apparent weight loss.

I was told by one of the consultants not to obsess over the scales and only weigh once a week. So I won't return to the scales until Tuesday (maybe Monday) and let that be by day to weigh in. The downside is that I am close to my cycle, which means I may have some water gain.

Today I woke up feeling really GREAT. I can't really explain why. I tried on some shorts and a blue sporty fitness top and my stomach appears to be smaller. Although I was tempted to get on the scales, I decided to let my weigh in be on Tue.

I did not go to the gym today. I plan to do Barry's bootcamp. I plan to do the regular workout along with 3-mission specialist that targets the upper, lower and abdominal. My goal is to workout before I pick up the kids so I can be done.

Today I am eating the chocolate chip Smart cookies. I woke up feeling hungry. I skipped my last cookie last night. I just didn't feel like eating it. I felt really full but I plan not to let that happen again. I want to follow exactly and eat all the cookies.

Dinner: Not sure yet. I need to go shopping.

Ok my evening is just about over so here is what I completed:
1. My dinner. I had baked chicken drumsticks with a large salad and pan fried veggies (bell peppers,onions, mushrooms).
2. Plain water all day. Complete my required amount of water.
3. Exercised all of my toning workouts. Will complete cardio in about 30 minutes.

So I'm just about done. 9 days left and counting.

I got on the Wii Fit game to see how much I weighed. My standard scale I don't believe is accurate since I have to keep moving the balance thing and when I get off the scales it changes again. Anyway, I purchased the Wii Fit the same week I started my diet. When I did my first weight measurement, I was considered overweight with a BMI of 25. Today I got on to weight and according to Wii Fit, I lost 8.2 lbs since May 17th. My BMI is 24 (which is in the normal range). So as it stands now, I am 158.8 lbs. When I did weight I can't say it's totally accurate because this was in the afternoon after I ate but I think it's good enough. My final weigh in will be in the morning.

Wow. I am happy. So my average weight lost from using the Smart for Life product is about 4 lbs per week.

I started the day with the Blueberry cookies. I am not sure why they called them cookies because they are more like muffins to me. I went to the gym and did lousy. For one, I was really tired and feeling that time of the month symptoms causes me to just lack energy. Secondly, I talked on the cell phone most of the time, which didn't really help me to workout at my level. The only thing I did well was the treadmill. I ran most of the time for about 20-25 minutes. I forgot to work on the Elliptical trainer and I didn't have time to get on the Stairmaster. I had to pick up my daughter from school. I did manage to do 2 weight machines. I will try to make up for it tonight by working on my abs.

Dinner will be a repeat of yestherday.

I can't believe that I only have 6 more days left on this diet. This has been an interesting journey for me. Although I can't have the strawberries that are in the fridge or my favorite breads and bagels, I am not suffering. This is not a starving diet. Although I miss eating those items, I am glad not to be hungry, so the temptation is really none at all.

I have yet to workout today so that is the only bad thing. My best time to workout is the morning and if I don't do that, it's just harder for me during the evening. I won't be going to the gym the rest of the week. I have too much early morning running around to do for my kids.

I ate my dinner early which is again leftovers. I have 2 more cookies to eat today. I am doing the Oatmeal ones.

I went to my daughter's baccalaureate on this morning and they had pastries, big huge muffins, strawberries and water. I got a water for me and a pastry for my daughter.

Well that's all I want to write about now. I have things to do and I will report on whether or not I exercised on tomorrow.


***Update*****
I did do an abdominal workout on last night.

This day was challenging for me. I had lots of running around to do in preparation for my daughter's graduation ceremony tonight.  When I am not dieting, it's easy for me to run all day long without eating. Since I have been on the cookie diet, it's a little challenge because I don't like to drink a lot of liquids when I am running errands. Today I didn't bring an extra cookie as I traveled. So by the time I completed 3 of my errands and got home, I was really hungry. I ate my cookie and had my water and back in the streets again. I have two chocolate chips cookies left and I plan to take one with me to the ceremony.
 
Cake & Ice cream
 
I picked this up today for my daughter, but I won't be eating any. Although I have not had a craving for sweets, it just seem strange not joining in the celebration via eating the chocolate cake and Ice cream. I think I will save me a piece and freeze it just to taste after the diet. Don't worry, I won't go crazy!
 
Panda Express
 
I picked this up for dinner with me and my daughter in mine. She loves Panda Express. I ordered extra veggies which will fit my meal perfectly. The other items are: Chicken (mandarin?), orange chicken, chow mien (won't touch this), and asparagus with chicken.
 
To be honest, I doubt that I will be working out today. There really wasn't anytime unless I work out very very late. So my goal is to make it up on Friday & Saturday. The only other problem is if my cycle starts. If that happens then no workout for sure, so only time will tell. If all goes well I am due for 2 more really strong calorie burning workouts. My plan is to do the stepper. I have an old Susan Powters stepper video that is awesome. 45 min of her workout will meet my goal.

**I did great on this day. I didn't eat cake, Ice cream or any sweets. We got home really late. The only downside is that I didn't eat all my cookies. The ceremony was 3 hours long and by the time I got home, I just didn't want to eat anymore. So I had 2 cookies leftover.

Today I woke up feeling really bad. It's that time of the month so I experience cramping, bloating, tiredness, weakness and just plain Yuk. I woke up and opened my Oatmeal cookies. I looked in the box and I only have 4 packages left excluding what I opened this morning. Wow. I can't believe that I just have a few days left.

What's great so far?

That I don't crave sweets
That I don't miss the Ice cream
That I don't feel hungry

My only worry is what to do after this diet. I read just recently that one to two-thirds of people losing weight on diets will regain it in a one-year period. That being stated I realized that it's not just about a diet but what you do after the diet is over. To go back to the same ole bad habits will cause the same ole problem. So I have to figure out what will work with my body. I am reading,

The Fat Smash Diet by Ian K. Smith that was given to me from a friend. I am considering during his 9-day detox. I plan to take a week off from anything after this diet. Then just basically eat healthy foods and continue to exercise. Of course my exercise will continue to increase in intensity. I plan to take a couple of workout classes to give my body something new which also aids in increasing metabolism and breaking the monotony.

Goal for Today: If I feel any better

I want to do stepping, which is a 45-min workout, and then do toning for the lower body.
I plan to eat leftovers from Panda Express along with a big salad
Get my entire water intake in. I didn't yesterday.

I spent most of the day in bed. Not feeling good at all. I took pain medication and had heating pad on stomach and back. I continue to eat the chocolate chips cookies. I just have 3 packs left!
I can't believe I came this far and it wasn't a hard journey, but a breeze. Unfortunately, I won't be exercising for the next few days. It's just too hard in the physical state that I am in. So I'll use this time to relax and continue to eat my sensible meal in the evening. Today I had turkey patty, left over baked chicken, salad, and pan-fried bell peppers with mushrooms. I didn't complete all my cookies again. I had two leftover. That wasn't planned, it was just so late and I didn't feel like getting up to at least eat one more. .

Just two days! Two more days!

I am feeling great minus the cramping. I am also leery about getting on the scales on Wednesday. I know that during a menstrual cycle fluid gain can occur which means more lbs on the scales. So I am not sure will I just wait to wait a few days.

As I was lying down and watching TV, I decided to look at Comcast On Demand MagTV series. It has a health section and I looked at the Obesity and Cholesterol series. The article stated that obesity cause major health problems such as high Blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, degeneration of the joints, and some forms of cancer. This was an interesting program because it also showed how the arteries could be surrounded by plague cause by too much LDL (bad cholesterol) in the body. This is another reminder on why it's important to eat right and lose the extra weight.

Today my family had pizza from this new pizza place. It was a big pizza that looked and smelled good! I didn't eat any. Since this cookie diet makes me not hungry, there was not much temptation there.

Tonight I had veggie burger patties with pan-fried onions and bell peppers. I got full pretty quick and just could not eat everything. I did manage to eat all my cookies. I only have chocolate cookies left.

______________________________________________________________

Day-20 Monday

Wow, just one more day after today. I am feeling a little better today and if I continue to feel better, I plan to catch up on some housework and exercise. My goal is to do the stepper along with some abdominal workout.

****Workout: I did complete 35 min stepper workout along with an abdominal workout.

Last night I was watching TLC program on the world biggest man. He weighs over one thousand pounds. Hard to believe but it's true. He came to this country and feel in love with all the fast foods. He began to add on the pounds pretty quickly and as I watched his story I wonder why didn't he stop at a 100 extra lbs? Why did he let it get so bad? I feel sorry for him because he can't walk, bath himself or go outside with major assistance. The program came on before and I plan to research this guy to see how he is doing now. He did lose weight and at the time weighed 800 lbs by doing the Zone diet. Other health experts felt that he really needs to do the surgery instead of continuing with the Zone. I think he's afraid because of the risks involved.

All I can say is WOW! I can't believe that I am finally seeing the very last day of my diet. It has been quite an interesting journey and I thoroughly enjoyed posting it. This has been one of the easiest journeys that I have been on. I woke up this morning and grabbed my last pack of Smart For Life cookies. My very last pack of chocolate chip.

I woke up early and had to be out of the house by 8:15 a.m. I took an extra cookie with me because I had planned to be gone for a couple of hours.

Today I plan to eat salad and chicken for lunch. This evening, I will eat the leftover turkey burgers in the fridge. I am cooking fried catfish for my family along with salad and French fries (baked). Since I am not allowed to eat fried foods I have to pass on the fish.

I also plan to just target toning my body today with Barry's Bootcamp. I will do the abdominal, upper and lower body workouts.

****I didn't eat leftovers. Instead I had catfsh. Yeah I know. I could of held out for one more day. I just hope this won't sabatoge my diet. I did not eat fries only the fish and a big salad. I did complete all my toning exercises.

My weigh in:
I plan to weigh in tomorrow using the Fitness Wii game. I am somewhat reluctant to weight in since I may have water retention but I can weigh again the end of the week just to see if there is a difference..

I didn't see any more weight lost after my 21 days other than the 8.2 lost after the first 2 weeks.

· Could it be because I am retaining fluid?
· Could it be because I was lifting weights?
· Could it be because I was at the end of my cycle?

Not sure but I plan to hop back on the scales on Saturday to see if there is a difference.

I read an article online about water retention. The article stated that water retention can occur during menstruation and is temporary. The article recommends reducing sodium intake and increase fluid intake. I did not drink all my water on the last few days so I plan to do that and not take in any salt at all.

So I will report my results on Saturday

Now this morning I was pleasantly surprised!

I decided to weigh this morning instead of Saturday. I got on my regular scale and I notice a drop in weight. So then I decided to get on the Wii Fit again to see exactly what I weigh.

I lose 3.3 lbs and my BMI is 24.3. Yes!!!!!!
So more than likely I did have some fluid gain.

My total weight lost on the Smart For Life diet for 21-day is 11.5 lbs. I read in the Costco magazine that the average weight loss on this plan can range from 8-15 lbs in the first month. So I think I did pretty good for 11.5 lbs in 3 weeks.

I would say yes. It was the easiest diet that I ever did. I didn't have a lot to lose so I can imagine if a person needs to lose 20-30 lbs or more can drop weight pretty fast. It also works well for people who are not that active. You can lose, according to one of the support persons, weight without working out. But of course in order to maintain one will need to develop a fitness plan. I benefited from this diet because:

· I didn't have to worry about each meal other than dinner
· I never was hungry as long as I ate every 2-3 hours
· It taught me to eat small frequent meals
· I actually lost weight quickly but not so much to be considered unhealthy
· I was putting in my body healthy organic meal with the cookies
· It taste really good to be. My favorite was the Oatmeal.

I am not an expert so I can only tell you what helped me. I wish you the best in whatever diet plan you choose.

This is me for now but I plan to lose even more. What I like about me is that I am not only losing weight but I am toning as well.

I decided to get on the scales today to see how I'm doing. I still don't like scales because I fear that to see a weight increase after all my hard work is depressing. But, I notice that I can fit into some of my clothes that were still a little tight prior to the Smart For Life diet. They were loose. So this sudden revelation motivated me to try the scales. Again, I was pleasantly surprise to find a 4 lb weight loss! Yeah me!

This is what I've been doing since Smart For Life.

1. Going to the Gym:

At least 2 times a week. My main focus there is cardio. My usual routine is:
· Elliptical trainer for 30 min.
· Treadmill for 30 with running off and on at level 4.4.,
· Stairmaster for 10-15 minutes, and weight machines for 15 minutes or less.

2. Working out at home: At least 2-3 times a week. Barry's Bootcamp has both aerobic and toning exercises. His technique is interval training. You work for a full minute for each exercise. You alternate from aerobic to toning for about 12 minutes. Afterwards you have the option to hit target areas with the additional workouts called Mission Specialist. You can do the regular mission specialist or the advance. Now I am using the advance mission specialist. This is the part on the video that you target certain areas of the body. There are three target sections, which are the upper, lower and abdominal. These workouts are tough and I see results. To be honest, some of his workouts are the same ones I see trainers teaching people who pay thousands of dollars just to have a trainer. So Barry is my FREE trainer the I only had to pay for the DVDs and high quality workout ball that is shaped like a workout bench.

3. Stepper Video: I use an old VHS tape by Susan Powter. It's a great, intense 45-minute workout video. I like hers because she has all sizes doing the workouts her video and gives you options to alternate parts to fit your fitness level.

4. Watching what I eat and water: I have a ½ gallon jug so I fill that up most mornings and drink on that throughout the day. That helps me to make sure I get my 8-8oz glasses of water each day. Types of food I eat:
· Bagel most mornings with coffee. Truvia, stevia, regular cream and Agave Nectar as the sweeter.
· Fruit or yogurt after a couple of hours
· Mostly baked chicken, turkey burgers, fried catfish (twice a month).
I still buy pasta for my family but I don't eat that much anymore. I may do some pork once a month. Mainly I try to find a lot of healthy dishes with poultry.
· Snacks: Love popcorn. They now have some made with whole grain. Popsicles- fruit filled ones. Every now and then I will eat cake but mainly now if it's a special occasion.

I have not decided what the next diet plan will be. I still need to lose 10 more pounds. I have old books, research the library, search the Internet, was given a book by a friend and purchased a couple of magazines from the grocery store.

· Library - I got a few old Weight Watchers books. They are great because they still contain some healthy food items.

· Internet - Just search a few healthy sites and I receive e-magazines from some that offer healthy and low-fat meal choices.

· I received a book from a friend. The name escapes me right now and I don't have it right before me but he offers so many days of detox then suggest healthy meals. He also recommends eating 5-6 times a day of small meals.

· I purchased "The Biggest Loser 7-day Jump start" for $3.99. It is filled with a 7-day of healthy meals. For example, day one for breakfast is ham & cheese breakfast melt with fresh blueberries and 8 oz fat-free milk with tea or coffee. Recipes are also provided. There are several pages of workouts with pictures. The numbers of reps are provided for beginnings and more advance workouts. It's a tiny booklet that is 72 pages. Great for a quick start. Since I'm advance, I would love to try this for the new exercises and the meals.

· The July issue of "Woman's World" has some great food recipes and articles on weight lost. Ironically they have a story of a lady who lost 155 lbs using the Smart For Life cookies.

· I also simple called "The Last 10 pounds" I just need to look at it again. I had it for years.

I just purchased Barry's Booty Camp Workout and Booty Band with Bonus Red and Orange Burn and Firm Resistance Bands.

If you sign up on their website they will send e-mails of sales and specials. I was able to buy this for 19.95 (not including S&H). I have not tried it yet since it just came today so stay tune.

I believe in not getting comfortable with workouts but challenging yourself.

It's been awhile since I wrote in my weight loss journal. I just want to keep you up-to-date on what is going on in my life.

First, I have not gained any more weight. I have made a lifestyle change. I am learning how when you stick to something it just becomes a part of you and it's not a struggle. My lifestyle change consists of:
· Working out 3-4 times a week, either at home or at the gym. At home I do

· I eat a bagel, coffee and water in the morning. Sometimes I have oatmeal. Fruit for a snack mid-morning, mostly baked meat, veggies for dinner and sometimes a starch like potatoes or rice. The majority of drinks I have are water, coffee and juice every now and then. Main drink is water.

· Learned some new fitness tricks. :o)

Working at the gym

I have increased my endurance level. Now I can actually run on the treadmill at 4.5 for 20 minutes non-stop. I try to stay on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes. Most of the time I run and walk fast when I'm taking a break. What really push me is having my headphones on and playing fast inspiring music. There is nothing stopping me when I have my favorite songs on. I prefer to drink sports drinks at the gym. It seems to give me a lot more energy. I still use the elliptical machine for about 30 minutes.

I have also increased my use of the stepper machine. I can step at level 3 most days for 15 minutes. I admit sometimes I feel that I just can't make it so I will go down to a 2, recover, then back to 3. Again, music is the key for me.

The other machine I use frequently at the gym is%u2026..oh I can't remember the name. But I get on it, push my foot on the paddle and push my leg back. It's a Gluteus machine. I have the weight on 50-70lb and I do about 30 reps on each side.

Now I mainly use the gym now for aerobics. My goal is to increase my endurance level. I normally stay in the gym for one hour and a half and try to make it at least twice a week.

I have also taken a few of the classes at the gym. I didn't care for the abdominal class because she didn't show us much and I do more at home with my DVDs I did like the powerflex class. The instructor was great. She takes time with us and showed me how to properly position myself on one particular exercise. Unfortunately, I can't make that class as much since I am home schooling. My goal is to at least try once a month.

Working at home

I do some of the same old routines as well as incorporating some new.
The new things I am doing are: Julian Michael workout on Comcast on demand. She will work you hard and you will be sweating and exhausted. She has one called, No more trouble zones. It's a 60 minutes workout. She likes to do interval training in which you are getting your heart rate up and toning. She has another one (can't remember the name) but she works the body by toning, 2-minute aerobics, and abdominal workouts.

I also won a free DVD from Barry's bootcamp that is just for the abdominal area. It's a great workout. Speaking of Barry's Bootcamp, I still use all the dvds I have including the booty band. My other regular things I do are Susan Powter stepper and her toning workout. Now that video is very old and may still be on Amazon.

When I do what.

I don't have a set pattern when I do what exercise. I just wake up in the morning and decide. Sometimes I have a mental picture in my head what I'm going to do. Then I set out to do it. Sometimes I fail. Like this week didn't go so well. Here's what happened.

I did Julian Michaels workout on Monday for 60 minutes. On Tue, Wed, and Thursday I didn't take out the time to workout. For one I was extremely tired, I had lots of running around to do getting ready for the holidays and Wednesday I had plan to work out in the evening but choice to go somewhere. Then on Thursday I just wasn't physically feeling it. I was tired. I get up at 5am and sometimes don't go to bed until 10pm. So it just caught up with me. So Friday, inspire of the rain, I went to the gym and did 35 on the Tread, 15 min. on the stepper and 5 minutes on the gluteus machine. Then I had to run to pick up my child. Since I only got 2 days in, I plan to do Julian Michaels workout today and Barry's bootcamp on Sunday.

So you have to do what works for you. I also think it's important to do a variety of things so your body does not get use to one or two things. For instance, last week I did Susan powter weight toning video and my arms were sore! So in spite of doing other weights during the week her workout touch some muscles the others did not.

When I got on the scales last week, I was 149 lbs. My goal is to get down to 140. All my workout pants I started with are now big. Even some of my smaller ones that use to be tight are now so loose that when I run I have to keep pulling them up. A good problem to have. So even if the weight is not dropping like dead flies, I certainly am toning and losing inches.

 

I am really inspired the Biggest Loser show and Diet Tribe. I see the trainers working them hard because they are trying to reach a goal. This helps me because I want to work just as hard to reach my goal. If you don't have a trainer hovering over you yelling keeping pushing, be your own motivator and yell to yourself push on!