Where does time go...

So it has been a little while since I have blogged about my girl Jenny.  I am still with her but mickey and minnie interfered with my life.  A thousand dollars and new dishwasher later, and I am back.

Jenny and I are about to hit our 6th full week anniversary.  Jenny has treated me well.  I am feeling good and I am 15 pounds lighter.  15 pounds is not as much as I would have liked, but it is an excellent start.  35 pounds more to go.  This could take a while, but I have until next July :)  

A few things I want to share about my experience dealing with Jenny.  First, the worst part of doing Jenny is that she makes you weigh in every week.  It is a form of mental torture.  I go tomorrow morning and it gives me a lot of anxiety.  My brother does at home weigh-ins probably because he doesn't want to face someone every week.  I can't blame him.  Jenny is harsh.  As the weeks go by it gets harder and harder to drop more than 2-3 pounds, but you feel the pressure regardless. As my mom would tell you it gets harder and harder to lose the smaller and smaller you get.  She actually gave me a compliment and said I am not THAT big so of course I am not going to lose as much each week as my brother (I am taking it as a compliment).  My mom loses ounces now when she goes.  Jenny wants to kick her out, but she refuses to let go.  She loves Jenny and just can't say goodbye.  

Second, I mentioned in a prior post that once I get down to a certain weight Jenny puts me on a starvation diet.  In another 3 pounds, Jenny is going to drop my calories to 1200 a day from 1500 a day.  1200 calories to someone like me is starvation.  And according to my mom it is the time to add more veggies.  I am dreading dropping down to 1200 calories because I like my snacks and desserts at 1500 calories.  But, as the Staten Island Jenny tells my Boo Boo, don't question Jenny.  Jenny knows what she is doing and it works. Yeah, Jenny likes making me and others hungry.  That is what she is doing.  

Until next time...when I am hopefully even lighter.  Happy Friday!

Jenny is a Girl, Right?

I would like to think that since Jenny is presumably a girl, she understands PMS and all that good stuff that goes along with it. 

Ask my pal and she will tell you that I am not a female anatomy expert.  Yes, I date chicks, but I have a lot to learn.  I blame that on Catholic School education, which while very good tried to pretend like sex didn't happen. What I do know is that the week before you menstruate you have all these symptoms called PMS.  Girls, you know what I am talking about...weight gain, bloating, irritability, cravings, etc.  I didn't take this week and its consequences into account when starting to "do" Jenny.  

As it stands right now, I am scheduled to be weighed on my first day - Friday.  I am a little anxious about it.  For all those enquiring minds out there, I am definitely a bloater.  Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink (I hear that every time I say or think about bloating!).  I can't help it. 

I learned all sorts of interesting stuff while Googling on the bus this morning. First, I learned that I am not the first person doing Jenny to Google this about her.  Others have my same concerns.  I also learned all sorts of interesting things that happen during PMS, but I won't go into detail for all of my dude readers.  At the end of the day, there is not much I can do.  I have to go Friday, bloat or not, and get weighed. Although, I am sure that my mom will have lots to say either way. 

As for what I am thinking about - chocolate brownie for dessert.  Later.

Oh Jenny You're So Fine

You're so fine you blow my mind, oh Jenny, oh Jenny.  I do love that song, but I digress.


So I know I have been picking on Jenny and talking about her high maintenance style, but she rewarded me today for being so obedient to her.  The first week was a HUGE success.  I am thrilled to report that I lost 6.8 pounds.  Listening to everything Jenny said and exercising weekday mornings has paid off.  My mother told me that if I followed what Jenny said I would lose weight.  And mother knows best...or something like that.  


To say I was excited is an understatement.  I know every week won't be as big of a loss, but what a way to start.  Jenny sure knows how to get a person addicted. Jenny knows how to work it and if she keeps working it like this - I am all in.  The coolest part was reporting my weigh in to my mom (aka - Jenny consultant).  She was so happy for me and for herself.  For me, because of obvious reasons and for herself so she could promote Jenny and how wonderful she is for oh so many reasons.


While I sit and watch the Olympics on this Saturday night, I am loving Jenny more today than ever.  Not only because I lost a solid amount of weight, but because Jenny gave me cheesecake.  Oh Jenny.       

Nats Post Game Report

I survived...my first Nats game without a nice cold beer and a Ben's half smoke. I don't think I ever realized how much events are associated with food and eating.  


Last night required some planning because I had to get home from work and have my Jenny meal all before heading to the stadium.  I was able to accomplish that difficult task, but the hardest part was being at the stadium and only consuming a diet coke.  I guess on the upside it was a fountain soda which is always better than a bottle.  I went to the game with my pal and she ate and consumed some alcoholic beverages.  She is the best person to go to the Nats games with while doing Jenny because she eats from the gluten free stand.  No temptation there :)  


The most sad part of last evening was that I got home after 10:30 and decided to go up to sleep and I forgot to check with Jenny - boo me.  What that means is I missed out on a treat Jenny had for me.  She gave me a chocolate cake and I didn't know.  There is nothing like knowing you could have had chocolate cake, but instead you missed out.  I was devastated. Okay, maybe not devastated, but pretty disappointed.  And with temperamental Jenny it is not like I can have the cake today.  If you snooze you lose.  Because I didn't eat the cake yesterday, I lost out until next week.  Yes, I know, I should get over it - but it was cake.  


That Jenny is a tease.  That Jenny is also high maintenance. She requires time, planning and thought.  She is costly and anxiety producing.  My hope is that she will be worth it.  Tomorrow morning will be the first test because it is my first weigh in.  Fingers crossed.      

Happy Hour

First ever intern happy hour while on Jenny. That translates into no "bevs" - what one of my co-workers calls beer. Over the past few years I have definitely become a big time beer drinker. I love hefeweizen, Blue Moon, Sam Summer, and yes, draft Miller Light. For many years I did not drink alcohol at all... so much so that I was once asked if I was an alcoholic.
But now that I do have a love for beer, happy hours will be challenging.

I went, had a diet coke and socialized. Once my time was up I proceeded home to have my Jenny meal. Meatloaf was on the menu tonight. Too bad all I can think about is the lemon cooler cookies I got to have for dessert last night. According to my mom THOSE are my brothers favorite. Maybe cookie likes run in the family.

In other news, there is another Jenny follower to announce. My fake cousin and sidekick extraordinaire will officially be a Jenny dieter starting tomorrow evening. And yes, for those of you with inquiring minds, my mother got to her too. I love that we are doing it from a distance. NY and DC coming together for a weight loss cause. Warms my heart. But really it excites me so we can compare notes.

Tomorrow night will be my first Nats game on Jenny. Tune in to see how I do :)

Living with a NJD (Non-Jenny Dieter)

I wanted to post this earlier today, but a career fair got in my way!

Living with another person is difficult. Significant other, roommate, friend, parents, siblings, animals, etc.  They all pose different problems and conflicts, but living with a NJD is even harder.  Meals together are not the same.  Going out to dinner is not the same.  It is Jenny for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.   And it lasts for as long as you make the commitment to Jenny.  I think I underestimated how much of an adjustment Jenny would be.  Not only for me, but for my significant other.  Granted it is only day three, but I think "it is only day three" that is a large part of it.  I think if it was just me, living alone, Jenny would be easier.  Sure, I have support from friends and of course my mother, but having a Jenny buddy would make the process easier.  

Instead, my live-in chick is counting calories on an iPhone app.  She enters in all she eats and calculates calories.  Let me be honest, I am ecstatic that she has gained interest in counting calories, but it is not the same as having a microwaved meal with me every night.  She is tempted by Jenny though, I can tell.  She asks about her, looks at her food boxes and has been looking at my Jenny books.  I can tell she is curious, but I am not sure if she is curious enough to sign up.  Enter my mother, who for the past three days has called me and asked why my girlfriend is not doing it.  I think if my mother is good at anything, she is good at pressuring you into believing her vision.  At the end of the day, Jenny is showing me portion control and everyone, including my girlfriend can benefit from that lesson.          

My mom said the first 5 days are the hardest.  I always say that it takes two weeks to alter any behavior.  I haven't reached 5 days or two weeks, but what I can tell you is that the food is extremely tasty.  I've had an egg omelet, pasta with meatballs, a turkey burger and even fish and chips.  Who knew?  I would never think of fish and chips as a diet meal, but Jenny made it one.  

I had to bake 4 dozen Funfetti cupcakes and 3 dozen Funfetti cookies tonight for an event on Thursday.  I didn't eat a single one, but I did have my Jenny cookie.  Mmm Mmm Good.  

The Explanation

After creating my first post I realized I should provide some background information.  The first and most important thing you should know is that I grew up in Brooklyn with arguably the funniest mother alive. 
I was always pleasantly plump and my mother never had a problem pointing that out to me or anyone else for that matter.  She would constantly ask me if my thighs had a rash from rubbing together (anyone who has had a weight problem knows about this).  When I asked her what the "w" on my clothes stood for she would tell me wide.  Now I am old enough to know the "w" stands for women's.  My mother once told me she wanted to video me wiggling into a Nancy Ganz body slimmer and submit it to America's Funniest Home Videos because she guaranteed we would win.  I can't deny that she is entertaining.        

And it wasn't only my mother.  Growing up, one of my skinny cousins would always tell me, "you can fix fat but you can't fix ugly" and I always took that as a compliment.  At least I wasn't ugly, right?

I will never forget this one trip to the fat girl store.  You know which one.  It was around holiday time and I was looking for a holiday outfit.  And back in the late 90s the options were not very stylish.  I will give this fat girl store credit for improving over the years and now carrying fancy jeans.  I mean, they are still no J Crew for plump chicks but they are better than they were.  Anyway, back to holiday time in the late 90s.  I entered the store and it had to be 100 degrees in there and the heat was blasting.  Yes it was winter time, and yes it was cold outside.  But, but, but, it was like hell on Earth in that store.  I was looking rack to rack when I started sweating profusely as if I was on a treadmill running uphill.  I asked the girl working in the store if they were trying to get their customers to sweat off the pounds and she said that wasn't funny.  I told her hell yeah it was funny and that she should have a sense of humor.

Here's the thing.  I was shopping at the fat girls store and therefore I surely wasn't slim.  I would like to think I am pretty self aware and that kind of thing didn't bother me.  I don't know why she acted like it was a bad thing to say. 

I know I can be thinner and I know I can be plumper...or am I supposed to say luscious these days?  I have struggled with my weight my entire life.  In the past 7 years, I have been as thin as 120 and as heavy as 260.  I went down to 120 when I lost a ton of weight right before relocating to the District.  I gained some back over the last few years, but not all of it.  I joined Jenny because I don't want to go all the way back up to 260.  When I first lost the weight I did it on my own, but I was also 10 years younger.  It is not as easy now - even with going to the gym at 5 am every morning.  

If you know me, you probably don't think I weigh as much as I do.  I owe that gratitude to my "black girl booty" which stores the bulk of my weight.  I never want to weigh 260 again and I never want to weigh 120 again.  The goal for now is 150 - or as the Jenny consultant put it - a weight within my healthy range.  I am going to do something very taboo and disclose my weight since I am sharing all this other information and hopefully it will dispel the weight taboo.  At Jenny on Saturday, I clocked in at 200.8.  To me, it truly is just a number and I have the power to change it. I hope you continue to read and enjoy my journey.       

       

And so it begins...

After months of pressure from my eccentric mother I have given in and decided to give Jenny a go.  When I say "Jenny", I am referring to Jenny Craig.  My mother and brother have been doing Jenny since January with much success.  Since the fat gene clearly runs in my family I figured what did I have to lose. 

I signed up on Saturday, using my mother's American Express card (that she was foolish to let me keep when I moved out of state almost 7 years ago).  With mom paying I definitely didn't have anything to lose.  The representative who signed me up told me all that I would want to know about the program and I told her I already knew it all because my mother is the unofficial spokesperson for Jenny in Brooklyn.  The representative also told me that my consultant would call and check on me during the week and that if I needed her to call more she could do that as well.

Little did this representative know that my mother would be calling several times a day, acting as my consultant.  My mom offered tips on certain foods.  For example, she told me to separate the blueberry pancakes from the sausage in my breakfast otherwise the pancakes taste like sausage.  And she said, "oh, Tara, be sure to only heat that one for 70 seconds, not 75".  Mother does always know best, right?   

Yesterday was day one.  Not too bad if you ask me.  The program is extremely easy to follow.  Jenny provides a sheet with all your meals on it and you just follow along. If my brother can figure it out, I can too.  Easy means this program is not cheap.  

I am going to be "doing" Jenny for longer than anticipated.  I had my bubble busted on Saturday.  I went in telling the representative that I only wanted to lose 20-30 pounds and her response was that I needed to lose at least 50 to be within my healthy weight range.  What the what?  I said that is a lot.  She was quite encouraging and here I am.  I have a 50 pound weight loss goal and I plan to share my experience doing Jenny and the craziness that unfolds with my mom along the way.  Stay tuned...