Having struggled with my weight for so long, I was at the point where any diet not too outrageous earned a second look on my part. I tried no carbs/low carbs. (Boy! Did I get sick!!!) I’ve tried counting calories, measuring all my food, counting servings, counting points, blah blah blah. I never tried any of those pre-fab, pre-packaged monthly installment food regimes. A friend of mine joined a few years back and I tasted one of her muffins. Cardboard has more flavor and probably way more fiber. I tried brand name weight loss products from the grocery store but how many times can you eat the same exact meal?
So, last year my employer, Weatherford International, sponsored my participation in a program called Naturally Slim. I don’t know how many people submitted applications (there was a screening process for potential candidates), but I was accepted along with a few others from my office. We banded together for support and it was on!
I came out of the ten week course with an entirely different point of view on food: how I eat, what I eat, why I eat, when I eat and more. I’d have to look up my starting stats but I think I weighed 257 pounds. By the end of the program I was down 30 pounds (Note: I didn’t do any exercise! I probably shouldn’t admit it, but I wanted to see just how well I could do with the educational tools the program provided before I added exercise to the equation.) I was ecstatic! Coolest thing ever? Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s. All holidays with a food foundation, right? Chocolate, turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, breads, pies, cookies, appetizers galore…. The list goes on. I ate EVERYTHING I wanted. You know how much weight I gained through the holidays? Not One Pound. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. This just doesn’t happen, right?
I own a food scale but it’s in that useless storage cupboard over the stove we all have, purchased when I participated in a weekly weigh-in diet. I don’t use the scale; it’s just taking up space. I don’t have a calorie counter/serving equivalent reference anywhere in the house. I have real butter in my refrigerator. I will not buy any “diet” food and certainly no “sugar substitutes”.
I am off the diet rotation forever.
I wish I could share details of this wonderful educational program – please, it is NOT a diet – because it has changed my outlook towards food permanently. Many people have asked me about it, so I thought I would share. (Disclaimer: The Naturally Slim people didn’t give me a penny to write this blog. Maybe they should?)
I didn’t go to the gym today, choosing instead to enjoy lunch at Ruby Tequila’s with Karen, a great friend of mine. (Do you ever feel God has blessed you with a friendship? I do.) We ordered the beef Fajita Burger. Description from their menu: Mesquite fired beef or chicken fajita meat. Served on a bed of sauteed onion and peppers, smothered in mushrooms and monterey jack cheese. They don’t mention the avocado or the bun, which is rich with flavor. It comes with a side of french fries which I asked to be cooked until crispy on the outside but not on the inside. Nothing worse than a soggy fry, right? We ordered one meal and two plates. Weird, huh? Karen and I split the burger onto our own small plates and ate the fries from the serving plate. We couldn’t even finish the fries. We were already full.
Did I mention I got on the scale again this morning? I wasn’t going to get on the scale. I fought it hard. But its siren song played me this morning. I got on.
2 2 2 . 5
That’s what I’m talking about.
As a single mother dedicated entirely to my four intelligent, spontaneous, nonconformist children for most of the past 29 years, I have found it essential to reassert my Donna-Ness. (I'm in there somewhere!)
Losing It! 
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