Nutrisystem Week 14 Weigh-In #NSNation

It’s week 14 on our Nutrisystem journey!

Beeb’s Weigh-In:

Starting Weight: 164.5 lbs
Week 14 weight: 147.2 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 17.3 lbs
Goal Weight: 110 lbs

I lost 1.4 pounds this week, and my measurements were as follows: 10.25″ on the arms, 39″ on the chest, 31.5″ on the waist, 40″ on the hips, and 19″ on the thighs. That’s .25″ down on the arms, 1″ down on teh chest, .5″ down on the waist, and 1″ down on the thighs, with the hips remaining the same as last week.

Jai’s Weigh-In:

Starting Weight: 217.5 lbs
Week 14 Weight: 183.2 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 34.3 lbs
Goal Weight: 158 lbs

Jai lost 2.2 pounds this week, and his measurements were as follows: 13″ on the arms, 40″ on the chest, 39″ on the waist, 38″ on the hips, and 22.5″ on the thighs. That’s .5″ down on the waist and .5″ down on the thighs, with the rest of the measurements remaining the same as last week.

I’m really pleased with my weight loss this week and encouraged by how well my knees are doing. I’m able to take longer and longer walks and I’m feeling stronger than I have in a VERY long time. It’s an amazing feeling! Jai and I go for a walk every evening after work – as I’ve mentioned before, he walks a portion of it with me and then does a run. He has been steadily increasing his run time and is starting to feel really good when he jogs – I can see a real difference in a short period of time.

Another dramatic difference is how Jai can fit into clothes that he hasn’t worn in years. He was so surprised to go through a box of clothes he’d stored in the attic and find all these items of clothing that he had given up on fitting into – and now he can wear them again! We didn’t think that words could really do this justice, so Jai suggested that we film a short video to illustrate the difference:

This morning, I noticed he was wearing yet another jacket I haven’t seen in several years because it fits again. And do you remember the pants he was wearing on our very first day on Nutrisystem? They’ve been getting progressively looser, but since they have drawstrings around them in addition to a button, he’s been able to continue tightening them. He said that when he put them on today, they were too loose even with the drawstrings tied as tightly as possible. He then pulled out a belt that I bought him several years ago – which he has not been able to wear as it became too small – and it fits him once again, so now he’s using that to keep his pants up! I’m so impressed with his progress and I see a huge difference in him.

In terms of food consumption, I didn’t drink as much water or eat as many veggies as I wanted to this week, but just sticking with my usual Nutrisystem entrees and continuing my longer walks kept me on track. The reason I didn’t drink as much water as usual is because I did not sleep well this week, and with a heavy workload I found myself absolutely wiped out with exhaustion. I drank more coffee than normal just to keep functioning so I drank much less water by default. Coffee still counts, but I do find that I lose more when I drink a lot of straight water on top of my usual coffee. Being so tired is also why I didn’t eat as many veggies, because I was just dragging my feet and didn’t have the energy to do anything other than nuke my Nutrisystem entrees in the microwave. I can’t tell you how amazing it is to have dinner taken care of at the push of a button!

Another interesting thing that happened earlier in the week was when I received a gigantic box of chocolate samples in the mail to feature in our Gift Guide. Normally, a box like that wouldn’t last a day around here. But I proudly ate one little square as a taste and left it at that. As the day progressed, having that box on my desk coupled with my tiredness became quite the temptation. I did indulge in more of the chocolate, but I metered it so that I could enjoy without flushing my diet down the toilet. For example, I skipped my Nutrisystem dessert that night so that I wouldn’t go way over on calories. We then took the box of choccies over to Grandma’s so that the rest of the family could enjoy them! This approach has really been working well. We’re not “Deprived” of anything because we still get to have some – we just don’t inhale the whole box! Then our family gets to share in the enjoyment and we get it out of the house so we don’t overeat. I’ve never been someone who keeps sweets and chips in the house, specifically because I know I’ll eat them all. The only exception to this is my Nutrisystem desserts, since I know it is part of the program and I never eat extra of them. For whatever reason, there’s a big psychological difference between something that has a specific purpose and plan, and a giant bag of chips that is just there. My goal is to someday re-train myself of these habits, but it’s a work in progress so I say why tempt fate by leaving a giant box of delicious chocolate hanging around?! 😉

The fact that we can continue to live a “Normal” life and enjoy ourselves is where I think the crux of Nutrisystem’s success lies. We’re not just “Dieting”, we’re re-learning habits and developing a moderate approach that will serve us in the future on a long-term basis, no matter where we are or what we are eating. All of the Nutrisystem food is just regular old food, made with smarter ingredients and in smaller portions. The fact that I don’t feel deprived or restricted is what makes this diet so workable and sustainable. For example, if I feel like having spaghetti and cookies for dinner – I can have spaghetti and cookies for dinner. If I crave a salty snack in the evenings, I can have a bag of cheese puffs. In the mornings, I wake up to yummy french toast or a chocolate chip muffin. There’s no “Diet resentment”, because you’re not missing anything. I’ve still enjoyed family potlucks, Gift Guide chocolate, wine – I’ve just scaled it to fit with my diet. For someone like me, going on a restrictive diet would not be very helpful, because I wouldn’t have the chance to develop better habits. It’s one thing to lose weight by eating a very specific diet, but what do you do when it’s over and you find yourself being offered pie at the company picnic? You end up over-eating and the cycle starts again. Of course, every person is different, and some people have trigger foods that they just can’t eat or they know it will send them out of control. You absolutely have to do what works for you! And for me, what works is to just have balance in my life and change my overall approach with a realistic attitude. For me, this is the kind of food I would eat normally, so Nutrisystem is giving me the opportunity to get my portion sizes and eating habits back into balance and develop a routine to help me stay on track throughout various situations and stressors in life.

Although I felt like I knew most of my diets challenges going into this, it really amazes me how much I’ve learned on Nutrisystem. I knew this program was going to be a positive thing, but I really did not expect how life-changing it was going to be, and the insights I would gain. If I could go back in time, I would have done this years ago.

One such insight I had this week was how useful it has been having the Nutrisystem plan while I go to social situations that involve food. A realization I had is that some of my eating habits are stuck in the past and need to be modified. For example, when I was growing up, my family pretty much never ate out. My parents were very smart, frugal people and made a lot of sacrifices so that they could achieve amazing things in their lives. One of the ways they were able to achieve their goals was by keeping to a budget, so we ate out maybe once or twice a year as a special treat. And because half my family are in England and the other half are spread across the US and Australia, we didn’t have the opportunity to have big family gatherings very much. This meant that we pretty much always ate at home, which was awesome, because my mom was a great cook! So I’m used to thinking of eating out as a special treat. This was fine when I was 16 and enjoyed an extra helping at the all-you-can-eat buffet, because I only went there every once in a while. But as a 28-year-old who now eats out a lot, and is also lucky enough to have gained a large family of in-laws who have big family potlucks all the time, I realized that this approach is now outdated. I never thought about it consciously before, but I realized that every time I go to an event, I eat more than I really should because I’m thinking in the back of my mind that “Hey, I rarely do this!”. But now I DO eat out a lot so that old habit needs to change! That’s why this plan has been great, because I’m starting to get used to the idea of going to a potluck and NOT taking every single cookie on the sampler. And, I haven’t automatically felt deprived or hungry in these situations the way I assumed I would. Nutrisystem has been an incredibly insightful experience in ways I was not expecting. Onwards and upwards to week 15!

As members of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Panel, Jai and I will be receiving the Nutrisystem program free of charge in order to share our honest opinions with you. Always consult with your physician before embarking on any weight loss or exercise program.

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