Lura Thoughts

Slim4Life Complaints

I love my Lijit Wijit.  If you're not familiar with Lijit, they're a company that let's you put a searchable wijit on your blog (see the right side of my web page), and then people can search all of your information that they might be interested in.  The really, really cool thing about having this wijit is that you, as a blogger, can check out who has read your blog, how many people have read your blog, and what they've searched you about.  I was impressed when I logged on to the Lijit website to find that I have been searched from all over the world, in places that I can't even name (I never was very good at Geography!). 

My blog tends to have a lot of different subjects, and I have no idea if any of my thoughts are interesting to anybody, but of all the things that I've been searched about, Slim4Life seems to pop up the most.  Deeptone runs a close second.  So I was surprised when I saw that I've recently been searched several times for the words "Slim4Life Complaints."  The irony of seeing that today was that I had just commented to my husband this morning how happy I am with the Slim4Life diet, and that of all the diets and "healthy eating" programs that I've tried, I keep coming back to Slim4Life. 

So I thought I'd relate just why it is that I enjoy Slim4Life as a diet, although I don't really like to refer to it as a diet because it's really just a good way of eating that perhaps we should all follow. 

First, I like Slim4Life because it always works for me.  Whenever I choose to go on the program, write down everything I eat on the sheets that they provide for me, and actually follow their eating with no cheating, I ALWAYS lose weight.  That's a good thing for when I've been snacking on the Starbucks pumpkin loaf a little too often. 

Slim4Life is also a very well-balanced way of eating.  It includes several portions of fruits and vegetables.  As I've said before, there's nothing like being on Atkins for a couple of weeks to make you crave an apple!  The problem is that when I find myself eating sloppily, just picking stuff up out of the cabinet, I find that my own portions of fruit goes way down.  If I'm eating pumpkin loaf, why would I want an orange for breakfast?  When I eat healthily, though, I actually look forward to a good orange or apple, or cup of strawberries. The program also includes lean protein and a very limited number of carbs.  While it's not a "Low-Carb" program, by nature the number of carbs are limited, but not to the extent that you have headaches or fatigue.  I actually have a lot of energy when I eat this way.

In addition, I actually like the supplemental foods that Slim4Life sells.  I've compared their bars with ones that you can buy at the grocery store, and the Slim4Life ones taste good and they still have more protein and less carbs than most. 

I also like the fact that when you eat according to their guidelines, you don't have to count calories.  The number of calories is limited, but by following their rules, you don't have to worry about it. 

One drawback to Slim4Life, of course, is the cost.  What you're paying for is not really the diet, because anybody could eat this way, but the counselors that keep you on track.  When you know you're going to go see a counselor the next day, suddenly that cookie doesn't look so good to you.  I have heard from people, though, who have told me that they aren't going to cheat on this diet because they paid so much to be on it, so in some ways the cost could be a benefit.

The only real drawback to Slim4Life, is that it really is mostly a low-carb, lean-protein, fruits and veggies kind of plan, and after a while I get sick of the limited number of foods that I'm allowed on it (no sauces, no rich foods, no fatty meats, no cookies).  Whenever I overeat, though, or over-indulge, I get sick of the way that I've been eating, and I find myself going back on Slim4Life because it makes me feel more healthy. 

Except for that pumpkin loaf.  I could eat that every day.

Deeptone and Slim4Life updates

Back in January, I promised that I would update on how the combination of doing the Deeptone Once a Week Workout with the Slim4Life weightloss program.  I actually blogged about Deeptone, but going back over my blog, I can't find it.  Hmmm....must have not hit the all-important "Save" button.

Anyway, after last month, I found myself bouncing between two weights within two pounds.  When my weight got to my goal, I would indulge in a pastry at Starbucks, and then when I added the couple of pounds, I would hit the Slim4Life plan really hard. 

I'm having the same problem now, though, that I've typically had with Slim4Life.  The allowed foods are so restrictive that I get tired of them.  It takes several months, but I am definitely tired of the same old foods.  This problem is at its worst when I'm in a hurry and don't have time to put together a real meal that satisfies the boundaries of the program.  One way to combat that is to buy different foods from Slim4Life (they sell snacks that you eat twice per day).  Another way is to really put some effort into the upcoming week by purchasing foods and trying to be creative about cooking.  These are the things I'm trying to do.

The Deeptone program is going great.  There was a lady in front of me who has been doing the program for over 5 years, and she was seriously strong!  I couldn't believe how much weight she can lift.   I don't particularly like the class as it's a lot of hard work, but I like how I feel after, and I like the fact that my muscles are starting to show some definition in my arms. I especially like the fact that it's only one hour a week, but I really am seeing results over weightlifting on my own.

We'll see where I'm at in the upcoming months.  With spring comes bikini season, and while I think bikinis are a thing of the past for me (after having had two kids), I still would like to look good in a hot one-piece.

Losing It

As I get older, I'm starting to see a new problem, one that I never thought I'd have to deal with.  It's that very slow, very insidious weight gain. 

As a child and teenager, I was thin.  Very, very thin.  In my teen years, I tried to watch what I ate, and I led an active lifestyle, but I never actually had to work at maintaining my weight.  I went to college, got married, bought a house, and still just watched my weight, but it was never a problem.  I thought I had it all figured out.  Healthy lifestyle, good eating habits, and only occasional excessive eating.  At 28, I had my first daughter, and nine months later I was back to my pre-baby weight.  It's all about calories in and calories out.  Wasn't it nice that I had it all figured out?

Yet somehow between my 30's and now (42), those nasty little calories just wouldn't leave me alone.  I would try limiting my calories for a while and get a slow weight loss, only to put them back on again with a single party or evening out or just a weekend where I wasn't watching it.  I tried Atkins, but there's nothing like Atkins to make you crave an entire box of Ritz crackers.  The diet books don't help much either.  Some say it's all about calories in and calories out, but others say if you lower your calories, you lower your metabolism and you're doing more harm than good.  And still the slow creep continued.

Women's magazines would give advice:  "Walk The Calories Off".  This is where they suggest parking further away from the grocery store to increase the amount of walking that you do.  I was already running three miles a day -- walking an extra 100 steps didn't push me over that edge to magical weight loss.  The problem is that the books and the magazines are all aimed at people who have more to lose than just the 10 or 15 pounds that I needed. 

Slim4Life worked well.  That's where you pay these guys huge sums of money to tell you what to eat, and then they call you if you don't come in.  I call them the diet nazis.  I'm on my third round with them.  About every two years, which is what it takes me to gain back the weight that I lost with them, they send me a "re-start" offer, which means you can go back to them to get the weight off again at a much lower price.  It always works, although each time I've gone back, it's been much harder to repeat my success there.

Then I discovered DeepTone.  I'll blog about the whole DeepTone experience later, but they advertise that you work out for one hour per week, and get in great shape.  I've seen it advertised in the Rocky Mountain News forever, and at some point, when you've even tried the "Eat for Your Blood Type" diet, you're willing to try almost anything.  I think DeepTone, combined with mostly sticking to the Slim4Life plan, has finally worked.  So far, between the two, and over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, I'm still down 8 of the 10 pounds that I wanted to lose.  Now I'm getting greedy and want to head towards a weight closer to what I was in my 20's.  We'll see if that can happen.  I'll blog about it in about a month to see where I'm at.  I promise to be honest.