WEEK 4 -- DAY 28 -- CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW!!!!

Tomorrow is an exciting day. Not only is it my weekly weigh-in but it's also the end of the month weigh-in. According to my plan, at the end of this month, I should have lost 4 pounds. Well, I've already lost 7 pounds so it can only get better.

I came home after work today (after eating nothing at all) and had a bagel. I do love bagels and we have a store nearby that sells real New York bagels....the kind I grew up with. I was so tired from my snowstorm experience that I ended up falling asleep. By the time I woke up, I really wasn't even that hungry. It's now after 8PM so there's no way I'm going to eat anything now because tomorrow is the big day. I know, I know....this is no way to diet. But then I remind myself that I am not dieting so anything goes so to speak.

So, until tomorrow!!!!

WEEK 4 -- DAY 27 -- Oh What A Night!!!!

I was back in Atlantic City today. I planned on spending the day and returning home at about 8PM. But, once there, I was presented with a problem.....a snowstorm!!! It came on so unexpectedly. The weather people had said to expect 1-2 inches but southern New Jersey actually got 6-8 inches. To make matters worse, the storm did not stop until 3AM. I was so upset that I couldn't get home. I didn't have anything with me to stay overnight and, even if I did, there were no rooms at all at The Borgata.

So I ended up hanging around there until 5:30AM when I thought it might be safe enough to drive home. I had to be home by 9AM because I had to work at 10AM. The ride home was treacherous. Leave it to New Jersey to not even plow their highways. For the first fifteen miles of the ride home, I was driving on at least two inches of snow on the Atlantic City Expressway. It was all so white that you couldn't even see the lines dividing the lanes. (This picture looks similar to what I was driving in except I was in pitch black darkness). It was like one big massive road and cars were trying to stay in undefined lanes. As I approached PA, it got better and better as we didn't get hit with the snowstorm in PA. I finally arrived home at 7:30AM....just in time for work. That was the good news. The bad news was that I hadn't slept since the night before and I could hardly keep my eyes open.

So what's the point of this whole story. The point is that I was so disgusted at being stuck there, that I went downstairs in the hotel and got an ice cream sundae from Ben & Jerry's. As I was eating it, I realized that I hadn't really done anything like this in an entire month. No real cheating for me. But how bad can one sundae really be?

I guess I'll find out on Monday when I weigh myself.

WEEK 4 -- DAY 26 -- Umm Umm Good!!!!

Wow it was really cold here today. It was so cold all day that all I could think about was having soup for dinner. And, when you want soup, you really want Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. This can't have been a good idea because of all the sodium it contains but I had it anyway and it warmed me up. What a great comfort food.

And there's nothing better with chicken noodle soup than a buttered bagel. I'm laughing as I'm typing this because anyone reading this is probably thinking, "What kind of a diet is this?" And my answer would be, "ha ha, it isn't a diet, it's a "plan".

Even though this wasn't the best kind of dinner, it's not nearly as bad as I used to be because I was good the rest of the day. There's only three more days until my next weigh-in. This morning my scale was almost begging me to get on it but I resisted. I wore a pair of pants today that I haven't worn in awhile. This is the good and bad of dieting. You're always in between sizes. The size you started with is now too large and the next size down is still a bit too small. I have a closet full of clothes ranging anywhere from size 6 to size 20. I am now happy to say that I am too small for size 20 and almost too small for my size 18's. Hear me now.....I will never wear a size 20 again!!!

WEEK 4 -- DAY 25 -- Back to the Routine

I'm back home and back into my routine.....working, working and more working. I think my stomach must be shrinking because I don't even find myself hungry during the day. And, more importantly, I don't find myself craving anything. As a matter of fact, I have Reeses peanut butter cups in the drawer next to my bed and I'm not even dying to eat one.

After three weeks, my pants are starting to feel looser. This presents a problem when you're out of one size but not really ready for the next size. I actually went online and ordered some new pants last night and ordered two different sizes because I wasn't sure what size I was any longer. Can't wait to weigh myself on Monday. That will be the official end of January weigh in so I'll actually be able to post a monthly weight loss.

On my plan, the end of January needed to show a four pound weight loss. There's no question that January will have been a success since I've already lost three more pounds than I needed to.

WEEK 4 -- DAY 24 -- Home Again

After eating in a non "plan" kind of way for the past three days, it was almost nice to get back to my new way of eating. I pulled out the Jennie Craig food....mashed potatoes and some beef with gravy thing.....delicious. You have to admit that this meal looks very good in this picture. For breakfast I went with the bag of Entenmann's blueberry muffins. There's five little muffins in each bag. It's quick and easy to grab while I'm going out the door. Probably not very nutritious but I like them anyway.

I also had a handful of pretzels while working in my office. Pretzels are great but they are not something I look to eat when I'm not trying to lose weight. I had my dog in the office with me and she enjoyed the pretzels as well.

Even though I've been away for three days, I'm not feeling that tired or sluggish. It's amazing how much more energy I have now that I've cut down on my sugar intake. You can't even imagine how much candy I used to eat on a daily basis. It was my "food of choice" whenever I wanted to grab something. I'm proud that I'm now grabbing for pretzels!!

WEEK 4 -- DAY 23 -- Third Day in AC

As my trip to Atlantic City comes to a close, I decided to change it up for breakfast and ordered room service. One thing I absolutely love is oatmeal. Eating it also reminds me of my father who always ordered a huge bowl of oatmeal whenever I went out to breakfast with him. So I had a bowl of oatmeal (with some brown sugar in it and a little maple syrup), toast and tea. That held me over until dinner.

I was actually leaving Atlantic City at dinnertime and ended up having something pretty decadent if you're looking to be on a diet. They were selling these hot dogs and they were wrapped in a soft pretzel. The entire thing wasn't wrapped; just half of it. I have to say this little treat was delicious. Here's a picture of it although mine had much less pretzel. That's all I ended up eating so how bad could it have been.

I'll be back home in a bit and away from all this delicious food......until the next time I'm in Atlantic City.

WEEK 4 -- DAY 22 -- Second Day in AC

Well plan-wise, I've survived my first day in Atlantic City and think I did really well. Based on that, I pretty much did the exact same thing today as I did for yesterday's breakfast. I went with the scrambled eggs, potatoes and toast. I also found that eating the eggs (protein) really filled me up and I didn't find myself feeling ravenously hungry in the afternoon. (This picture is exactly what my breakfat looked like minus the bacon). So picture me eating only 1/3 of those potatoes and 2/3 of the eggs and that's what I had. Yeah, I'm proud of myself as well.

I didn't get to eat dinner until about 7PM and this time headed to the Borgata Buffet. As you can imagine, there were so many choices but I opted for the Italian fare. So I went with a little ravioli (filled with squash), some penne and a roll and butter. Then I passed the shrimp section and threw three shrimp on my plate as well. For dessert, I just couldn't pass up the bread pudding but only have a few bites of it. I now like this "few bites" idea because it doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating on my plan.

This rounded up Day 2 in Atlantic City.....will I survive Day 3?

WEEK 3 -- DAY 21 -- THIRD WEIGH IN

1.5 lbs. lost this week

7 lbs. lost this month

There's nothing better than weigh-in day and seeing that I've, once again, lost weight. This week I'm actually doing it one day sooner than usual (Sunday as opposed to Monday) so this weigh loss represents six days instead of the usual seven days.

This is the first day I haven't been home while on the "plan" as I'm in Atlantic City for the next three days. First up.....eating out for breakfast. This one was actually easy. I ate at the Metropolitan Cafe at The Borgata and ordered scrambled eggs and white toast. What I didn't know when I ordered was that there would be nice, beautiful potatoes on the plate with the scrambled eggs. You should have seen my eyes light up when I saw those potatoes. But I didn't go crazy.....I probably ate 1/3 of the potatoes and probably 2/3 of the scrambled eggs. I usually would order bacon with this meal but decided that would not be a good decision. (This picture does not have the potatoes in it but it serves the purpose of giving you an idea of what my meal looked like).

I'm not a big lunch eater and usually don't eat lunch at all. Any diet expert will tell you that's crazy but I've been doing this for so long, it's hard to change. I headed back to the Metropolitan Cafe for dinner where I had a tuna salad on white toast with some french fries. I probably ate less than 1/3 of the fries they gave me. I've loved tuna salad since I was a young girl coming home for lunch from school on Fridays when we couldn't eat meat -- Catholic training here.

I think my weigh in next Monday will be crucial to showing me if I can still do well on my plan even if I go away for a few days.

WEEK 3 -- DAY 20 -- Lions and Tigers and Quiche Lorraine....Oh My!!!!

The other day I was in the supermarket and saw a Quiche Lorraine that looked pretty good.....actually it was 1/2 of the pie. So I bought it and had a piece on Friday night and tonight had the other half of the half. I didn't eat anything else and was trying to find out online how many calories there are in this quiche. Here I am thinking that what I'm eating can't be that bad but I think now that there's a lot of calories in a quiche. Well I guess I'll know tomorrow when I weigh myself.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'll be away tomorrow and Monday which is why I'll be weighing myself tomorrow morning before I leave. In order to have lost one pound this week, I need to see 226.5 when I get on the scale in the AM. I will adjust my weight ticker before I leave.....keeping my fingers crossed that it does in fact need to be adjusted.

WEEK 3 -- DAY 19 -- "You Look Thinner", she said!!!!

Well it happened today.....someone told me I looked thinner. (The only picture I could find of the word "thinner" was a book by Richard Bachman with the same title....but it works)!!!! And it was none other than my own mother. The same mother who has made comments about my weight whenever the opportunity has presented itself. She just can't accept the fact that I'm heavy since I've been thin most of my life. But things happen and when they happened to me, I ate.

It will be interesting to see how much I've lost this week. My one pound weight loss had better be there. This week, however, I have to weigh myself on Sunday instead of Monday because I'm going away on Sunday and Monday and won't have access to a scale. So this week's weight loss will be based on six days as opposed to seven.

Nineteen days in and I'm proud I'm sticking with it. Blogging everyday sure helps the situation because it reminds me every single day that I have a "plan".

WEEK 3 -- DAY 18 -- It' a Jenny Craig Kinda Day

It's very important that I be especially good on my "plan" for the next three days because I'm going away on Sunday and Monday which will definitely make it harder while I'm gone. So today I decided to eat my Jenny Craig food starting with the blueberry muffin in the morning and the lasagne for dinner.

I've been on Jenny Craig numerous times and have always been moderately successful. What I like about it is the fact that I don't have to think about what I'm going to eat because it's right there. What I don't like about it is that when I don't eat the food, I feel like I'm cheating. Add to that the fact that I've never been able to do it for more than two months at a time and I hate going every week to report to a counselor, ends up in an overall dismal performance for me after the second month.

But the one thing about their food is that it tastes great. It's not diet food and doesn't have a diet food taste to it. That's probably because it is real food that's just proportioned properly. The thing that has always confused me about Jenny Craig food, however, is that the packaging is so awful. When I was searching Google Images today, for some Jenny Craig pictures, I came across this picture of some new packaging. I'm not sure if this is for real or it's just someone's idea of what the packaging should look like but, I have to admit, that it's so much better than what they have now (which is an ugly brown color). Whoever designed the original stuff really did not do a great job. Who wants to eat food that is packaged in boring brown packages? One can only hope that they are in fact revamping it.

So I'll try to do this on Friday and Saturday so my one pound goal for this week will be attainable.

WEEK 3 -- DAY 17 -- A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

Today was a day off from work which always makes it a little bit harder for me to stay on target. Add to that the fact that I went to a buffet tonight and you can really understand how hard this was.

But guess what? I was good. I had a little bit of a few things. Then it was time for the dessert and I had a choice of at least fifteen different things. I remembered what I learned the first week on this plan and decided to pick three things and only have a bite of each. It worked well. I felt satisfied and didn't feel like I was cheating.

So all in all, a very successful day of watching what I eat even when I've deviated from my normal routine.

WEEK 3 -- DAY 16 -- Two+ Weeks In

It's a little more than two weeks since I started and it's becoming more a way of life than a diet. I find myself not wanting to eat too many calories or to consume too much sugar. I definitely have so much more energy so, consequently, I'm getting more done than I usually do.

One of my favorite things to do, when writing these daily posts, is finding the different images to add some spice to them. Since what I'm doing is not referred to as "the diet" but is referred to as "the plan", I was happy to find this image on Google. It's actually the name of singing group out of Detroit. So I'll give them a shoutout on my blog.

I'm going to be away tomorrow and Thursday so it might be tough to blog and it will definitely be tougher than being home and watching what I eat. But I'm sure I will survive and come out on top as I have the past few weeks.

It's Tuesday night so I'm getting in my dose of The Biggest Loser. Jillian is in the process of trying to "break" someone to get them to cry. Sometimes I think she thinks she's a psychologist. But I think she's met her match tonight.

You Go Jillian!!!!

WEEK 3 -- DAY 15 -- SECOND WEIGH-IN

1.5 POUNDS LOST THIS WEEK

5.5 POUNDS LOST THIS MONTH

-- THE TICKER LIES.

My weight loss this week was actually 1.5 pounds although the ticker says two pounds. I don't think it's able to calibrate half pounds. I might have to search the Internet for a new ticker because it bothers me that it says I've lost 6 pounds when it's only been 5.5 pound. I know it's a minor point but it still bothers me.

So, once again, I've achieved my goal of "one pound a week" weight loss and not only did I achieve it this week, I exceeded it. But I have to admit that it was a close call. This just proves that you have to coordinate your lower calorie intake with exercise which I admittedly have not done yet.

But here's the real kicker and this happened last week as well. Now that I've weighed in for the week, I found myself eating something I definitely wouldn't have eaten if it was close to my weigh in. Again, this is the beauty of the once a week weigh in. If I've sabotaged myself by doing this, I wouldn't know because it wouldn't be obvious until next Monday.

Which brings me to my next point......the Monday weigh-in. It's really not the best day to weigh yourself right on the heels of the weekend. So eventually I'm going to have to change this but it won't be this week as I'll be away on Wednesday and Thursday which definitely won't help my diet. It won't hurt it either because I'll still be watching what I'm eating.

So I'm happy with my results and look forward to my next weigh-in.

WEEK 2 -- DAY 14 -- Weigh In Tomorrow

Tomorrow can't get here quick enough. Now that I only weigh myself once a week, it's amazing how long it takes for seven days to go by. I'm sure I'll be up bright and early tomorrow to see the results. All it has to say is that I lost one pound and I will be happy. I have to leave for work early in the morning so I won't be able to post the results until I get home.....not that anyone is really following this. lol I used this picture because it actually looks like my scale.

Other than the Olive Garden/movie day, I had a pretty good week. Although I said I was going to try to drink more water this week, I didn't. But I definitely did cut down on my diet Coke, diet Snapple intake. Again, another week of no exercising. And yes, I'm using work as an excuse but I've been getting home past 7PM and still working when I get home (in addition to having to work both Saturday and Sunday). So I'm giving myself a pass this week.

It's amazing but I haven't been thinking about junk/food 24-7 like I usually do. I did notice that my pants were a little bit looser today so that's a definite plus.

The way I look at it is that with last week's four pound weight loss, I am no longer in the 230's. At a pound a week, it will take awhile for me to get out of the 220's but I'm patient.

In my office today, someone mentioned that they started the South Beach Diet today. I was so happy to tell him that I started something two weeks ago and had already lost four pounds. I was then especially happy to tell him that I wasn't even on a diet. That felt good. No Guilt -- No Strain on my plan. There will be no guilt trip at all on this journey. Hopefully, I'll enjoy the ride for all 52 weeks.

Looking forward to tomorrow morning!!!!

WEEK 2 -- DAY 13 -- More Fitness Info

I usually tape all of the morning shows (Regis and Kelly, Rachel Ray, The View) just to see if they have anything that might have been of interest to me. I like to watch them at night after the day winds down. So yesterday, Regis and Kelly kicked off yet another great segment...Live's Fitness Friday. They had fitness expert Tracy Anderson showing some great exercises from her studio in Manhattan. Lately I've been hearing a lot about this trainer and I am looking into her fitness videos as well. Apparently she's been touted by the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Gwynneth Paltrow -- just to name a few. Apparently Kelly has been going there for awhile now as she was familiar with all of the steps and moves. She had her husband Mark Consuelos with her and, while he's in great shape, he couldn't even keep up with Tracy and Kelly so it really looks like an unbelievable workout.

I haven't really gotten into the exercise phase of my "plan" as much as I would have liked. It's par for the course that as soon as I decide to embark on this journey, my business starts booming and I'm working more hours than usual. I know this probably sounds like an excuse (which it is) but it is what it is.

I was so tempted to get on the scale this morning but I resisted as I refuse to blow this "plan". Two more days to go before my weigh in.

WEEK 2 -- DAY 12 -- Olive Garden + Movies = No Problem

Any other time, on any other diet, today would have been a problem. As a matter of fact, it would have been such a problem that I probably would have stayed home. But since my "plan" is very different, I can basically do anything I want and eat anything I want. As a result, I was able to go out to dinner and to the movies and feel no guilt. What makes it especially easy is the fact that I'm only weighing myself once a week so, even if my going out added a pound or so, I'm not even aware of it. All I care about is when I get on the scale on Monday....not what I weigh today. As long as I've lost a pound on Monday (only 1 pound), I'm happy and I'm on target.

So today I was able to enjoy some salad, some chicken parm and some fettucine. And did I ever enjoy it!!!! I also shared some dessert (zeppole) which was unbelievably delicious. All of this probably sounds so decadent for someone who's supposed to be on a diet. And it would be....if I was actually on a diet -- which I'm not. Even though I ate these things, I still followed some of the rules I've learned in the past two weeks. I only ate 3/4 of the piece of chicken and half of a side order of fettucine. And, more importantly, I only ate two of the zeppole and we left most of them uneaten because all we really wanted was a taste. Like someone said earlier in the week....three bites is enough. And then we went to the movies and I didn't have my usual popcorn especially now that I've learned it's 700 calories even if you don't put butter on it.

All in all, I think it was a very successful outing for me. Good food, good company, good movie and NO GUILT!!!!

WEEK 2 -- DAY 11 -- Knowledge Is Power

I tell you that by the time I'm done with all of this, I'll be able to write my own diet book because I'm learning more and more every day. It seems that every single TV show I turn on has a guest talking about diets and all the bad things in the different foods we eat.

Today, on the Rachel Ray Show, she had a guest, Lisa Lillien (aka Hungry girl), who had a display of about five different foods. She was talking about how much sugar was in each one. We all know that "sugar" is the "devil" when it comes to dieting. Some of the things I found out today surprised me. For instance, you know the dried fruit we love to munch on.....well it turns out it's very high in fat and calories. Here you are thinking you can snack on something healthy and it's a very unhealthy snack afterall. How about tonic water......it's loaded with sugar. And Greek yogurt.....very high in fat. And here's the kicker.....when you go to the movies and you order the popcorn and don't even put the butter on it -- it's still 700 calories for a medium popcorn. This really stinks because I'm going to the movies tomorrow and, now that I know it's 700 calories, there's no way I can sit there and eat it.

Before we see the movie tomorrow, we're going to dinner at The Olive Garden. This is the beauty of my "plan". Before, when I was on diets like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers and weighing myself every single day, I used to avoid going anywhere because I didn't want to blow my diet. But, the way I'm doing it now, leaves me open to live my life the way I normally would. So to Olive Garden I go. Can't wait.

WEEK 2 -- DAY 10 -- Can I Be A "Biggest Loser?"

It's really been amazing how much more energy I have. It's only been a week and a half but I've clearly cut down on a lot of my vices......namely sugar. Based on this, I would imagine that too much sugar has been dragging me down. Not to mention (and I've already written this) that it's the cause of too much belly fat. I found this picture at a site called sugarstacks.com. They lay it right out for you, with sugar cubes, showing how much sugar you are consuming in one soda. It's an interesting site as they do these sugar stacks with many other foods. Since I drink only Diet Coke, I'm not consuming anywhere near the amount of sugar they show but it's really amazing how much sugar you can find in the most unlikely food groups.

I know I'm repeating myself but I love it that the new season of The Biggest Loser is on while I'm doing this. In the past, I used to sit there and watch it while eating candy or ice cream. This week I didn't have either and I felt so much better about myself. I want the kind of transformation these contestants will garner after being on the show. What I'd really like to do is go to The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge in Utah. You can go for a week or two weeks and work out and learn how to eat and how to cook what you eat......just like they do on the show. I'd definitely like to go with a friend but again, I don't have any friends who are heavy. I could always pay for a thinner friend to go with me I suppose and this is something I would definitely consider doing.

Here's a picture of the guests at Fitness Ridge hiking in the mountains of Utah. Anyone who knows me would be laughing just thinking of me doing this (hiking with a backpack) but it's really something I would like to do. I just think it would be a fabulous jumpstart to this whole "plan". But this is real life and it's not that easy to just drop everything and go away for a week or two. But stay tuned....I'm quite sure I will be going there.

I've still been lacking in the exercise department and I know none of this will be successful unless I increase my metabolism and start exercising.

WEEK 2 -- DAY 9 -- REALLY NOT THAT HARD

I was thinking today that what I'm doing is really not that hard. But, obviously, this is because this is just the beginning of my "plan". I'm sure I'm not going to be saying this on Day 209 but right now, on Day 9, it's not too bad. Perhaps I should be going to Staple and getting one of those "Easy" buttons. I could hit it at the end of each day just to convince myself as the "plan" progresses.

I'm starting to get used to the cutback on the Diet Cokes/Snapple Ice Teas I usually drink in a given day. By this time of the day, I would have definitely had at least two of these and at 6PM, I'm on my first Diet Coke. The one thing I'm noticing is that I have more energy than I did last week and I find myself waking up earlier in the morning. Both of these are great improvements. At this point though, anything would be an improvement.

I find myself thinking about what I'm doing all day long. Instead of just reaching and putting something in my mouth, I'm thinking about it first. And the funny thing is that I'm not really hungry.

If anyone is reading this blog and has any suggestions for something to do "for one week only", I'd like to try it. This is a week to week thing with me and every single week I'll either add something to do away with something. As I mentioned already, this week is the addition of water to my diet. It's so cold here that it's hard to get excited about drinking cold water yet I have no problem drinking cold soda....go figure. I'll also be heading to the supermarket tomorrow to stock up on some more Jello....who would have thought I'd get hooked on sugar free Jello.

WEEK 2 -- DAY 8 -- FIRST WEIGH IN

4 lbs. lost -- There is no greater motivator than this!!!!

I honestly can't believe it. I'm only supposed to be losing one pound a week yet in my first week, I've lost four pounds. I think, however, that a larger weight loss is almost expected in the first week. Any change at all will probably assure you of losing more than one pound.

So what did I do in Week 1 to achieve this weight loss??

1) I was very conscious about what I was eating and this obviously made me eat less.

2) I probably drank one or two less sodas/ice teas a day.

3) I only exercised one day for thirty minutes but it must have helped!!! lol

4) I ate less candy than usual. I love to have candy at night and I really cut down.

5) Having my sugar free Jello snacks helped when I was craving something....Jello was much better than eating a frozen ice cream cone. 10 calories vs. 310 calories

For this week, I am going to continue along but try to increase the exercise. I'm also going to try to drink one bottle of water a day. I know that doesn't sound like much but it is for me as I'm not crazy about water.

The fact that I've lost four pounds this week does not, however, mean that I've already lost the amount of weight I have committed to in the month of January. It just puts me ahead of the game at the end of the year. I still have to continue to lose a pound a week for the rest of January and the rest of the year.

After this tremendously successful week, I'm really motivated to continue.

WEEK 1 -- DAY 7 -- I'M NERVOUS!!!

I'm nervous because tomorrow is the "Day of Reckoning". It's my first weigh in. I cannot even begin to tell you how hard this part has been. I automatically go to the scale each morning and have to force myself not to get on it. For so many days and so many years, this is something I've always done and now I've stopped. I think I would be so upset if I get on that scale tomorrow and haven't lost a pound. (Obviously not my feet on this scale.....this is an anonymous blog afterall). ha ha

Well, I know I have to have lost something because I have eaten less and I did walk thirty minutes one day....lol. I've been awful in that part of the "plan" for two reasons...#1 is the cold and #2 is the fact that I've been working too much and getting home too late. Which means I have to come up with some other form of exercise which is easy enough......just wait until those Richard Simmons' DVD's arrive.

I just finished my new favorite treat....my sugar free jello. My husband just looked at me and said, "You're eating sugar free jello?" Ha ha.....I told you this was a secret. Even he doesn't know what I'm doing.

WEEK 1 -- DAY 6 -- DR. OZ IS MY NEW FAVORITE

In my quest to become an expert on all things diet and health related, I finally made my way to Dr. Oz. And guess what? I'm a believer. This guy is a walking and talking health encyclopedia. He is so knowledgable about everything which makes him such a pleasure to watch. I ended up taping one of his shows this week and then I caught him on Joy Behar's new show as well.

Since these shows were all "new year" related, they had a lot to do with dieting and what's right to eat and what's wrong to eat. At this point, I think I can just about eliminate everything from my diet. Don't eat white, don't eat sugar, don't eat trans fats, don't eat hydrogenated fat, don't eat/drink high fructose, don't drink soda......I think the bottom line is just DON'T EAT.

My problem is, and it has always been, that I just don't like many of the things that are healthy. He and Joy were having a discussion about this and he said rather than trying new things that you don't like, just stick with those that you do like. So if you like chicken, eat a lot of chicken instead of trying out something new just for the sake of trying to be on a diet.

He also said something else very interesting and that was that it takes two week to train your brain to do something. So if you start to change your lifestyle and your eating habits, it will take your brain two weeks to adjust or to figure out that you're serious about what your doing. When that happens, it all becomes easier. Of course, he didn't explain it in such layman's terms but you get the gist of what I'm trying to say.

I think I'm going to add his show to my list of shows I tape on my DVR. I will say one thing though.....he showed two different hearts -- one was from a healthy person and one was from an overweight person. If this doesn't scare someone into losing weight, nothing will!!!!

WEEK 1 -- DAY 5 -- Richard Simmons DVD's -- Oh My!!!!

This is probably going to sound ridiculous but I think I'm going to get Richard Simmons' DVD's -- Sweatin' to the Oldies. I saw him on The Ellen Show today and he was talking about how important it is "just to move around". Then he had some random audience members on stage doing the exercises with him and the music was fun and they were all laughing and having fun. I just checked them out at Amazon.com and the songs on the DVD's are all ones I love so I think this would be a great addition to my "plan". A friend of mine just got "Rock Bank" and she's hooked on it. I bet I could get her to do some of this with me.

And then the coincidence of all coincidences happened. I opened up my mail and there was a $100 Amazon gift card sent to me by my brother wishing me a Happy New Year. It was just too perfect. It's all fate I tell you......fate.

I've not done too much with my exercising this week because by the time I've gotten home from work, it's been too dark to walk. But I have been making a conscious effort watching what I eat and basically educating myself on what's what with food labels. It's been an amazing and eye opening week.

What I'm really looking forward to is my weigh-in on Monday. This has been one of the hardest things for me to do as I'm so used to weighing myself everyday. Like everything else, I'm sure I'll get used to this.

WEEK 1 -- DAY 4 -- Biggest Loser Eric IS a Loser

Wow...,.last night I watched Confessions of a Reality Star Loser. It followed Biggest Loser winner Erik Chopin as he tries to lose the weight he regained after losing over 200 pounds to win the third season of The Biggest Loser. Talk about sour grapes!!! This guy, and his wife especially, practically blame the show for his having gained back the weight. The wife's feeling was that he was in the spotlight when it ended doing a "Got Milk" campaign, speaking engagements, radio shows and everything else that comes with 15 minutes of fame. But then, as his wife says, "they just drop you". What exactly did she expect them to do.....hold his hand and make sure he didn't go back to his old way of eating. Perhaps she could have helped him with that while they were spending the big check he got for winning. He says they don't really teach you how to keep it off, yet on every episode of this show I've seen, I see them training these people about food and teaching them how to cook it, buy it and eat it in proportion.

Now Discovery Health does a documentary on his trying to lose the weight. Just what he wants.....to be in the spotlight again. Obviously this is more about being a star than it is about losing weight. I even remember seeing him on Oprah in January when she was talking about not having lived up to her 2008 goal of losing weight. He had his wife contact the show to see if he could get on to talk about his gaining the weight back. Again, more notoriety for Eric.

I can't tell you how much this show bothered me. It was all about him being in the spotlight for losing weight. When his wife asked him why he gained all the weight back he said something to the effect that he wasn't happy and just didn't want to live. In the background, there are his three beautiful children playing. My advice to Eric.......Man up and either lose the weight or not. But do it in the privacy of your own home and not in front of any cameras.....which is something he obviously can't do.

Today on Regis and Kelly's "New Year, New You", Regis went food shopping with nutritionist Melina Jampolis. Regis is as clueless about what to buy for better eating as I am. Thank goodness for his wife Joy who apparently takes care of all of this for him. So what did I learn today. I learned to read the labels on the the packages and to look for things like fiber and whole grains. And especially to make sure that there is no hydragenated oil or high fructose corn syrup in these products. Also of note is that fact that there is a lot of hidden sugar in cereal and, when buying frozen dinners, make sure that the sodium level is 800 mg. or less.

This all seems like a lot to remember but I think after awhile, it should become easier.

WEEK 1 -- DAY 3 -- A TRIP TO THE CITY

Today was a break from my usual workday as I took off to see Billy Elliot in NYC ---- good play; not great. I liked the movie much better but I must say the boy who played the lead was terrific. By the way, the role of Billy Elliot is played by three different actors/dancers who each alternate. They're all equally wonderful so it really doesn't matter who you see. Afterwards we had dinner at Joe Allen's. The last time we were there, we sat at a table next to Henry Winkler aka "The Fonz". I had a great dinner of potato leek soup (which was such a welcome having come in from very low temperatures and a gusting wind), hamburger and french fries. I know this doesn't sound like any kind of a diet you've ever been on but I didn't eat it all and I didn't order dessert so it was definitely a change for me.

I had taped Regis and Kelly and was happy I did because today's New Year, New You guest was Jorge Cruise author of The Belly Fat Cure. He imparted some very interesting information that I did not know. SUGAR causes belly fat. If we have high levels of insulin, we lock in belly fat and there's only one thing that causes insulin levels to rise and that's too much sugar and too much processed carbohydrates. So the key is to keep sugar levels low. Three things I learned.....1) dark chocolate has a lot less sugar than milk chocolate 2) yogurt has a lot of sugar 3) oatmeal with all the maple, etc. has a lot of sugar.

So with these things in mind, I'm definitely going to be much more careful with my sugar intake....something I've never watched before.

With all the shows on this week talking about New Year's resolutions and specifically dieting, I find myself listening more closely which is definitely a good sign. This is really the perfect time to be starting this.