Done! Sorry!

I feel that I owe my one reader the benefit of actually letting you know that I am done blogging here. Mostly because I've given up on the idea that the best way to lose weight is to never cook and exist on processed junk food almost exclusively.

Not that I don't still believe in that method. It definately works, if you count your calories and grams of fat. I will probably still use it on weeks that I am out of town or something. It really has been the easiest way to lose weight for me.

However, I'm about to start a whole new process (no pun intended). I'm transitioning to veganism! Which will require eliminating most of (if not all) my beloved processed foods. And especially if I want to lose weight and get healthier, I will have to learn to cook.

I will also be starting a new blog that follows me on my journey to "The Kind Life", inspired by the book "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone. I will post the link as soon as I begin the journey.

Thanks for reading what you've read.

Vegetarian Experiment.

Most days I don't eat much meat. I'm going to start eliminating it entirely. I was a vegetarian for years, and it's time to go back to that.

Today's Plan: (and I use the word "plan" loosely since I've already eaten breakfast and lunch)

breakfast: 1 banana, 1 fiberplus bar
lunch: 2 tbs chunky peanut butter, 1 cup ff cottage cheese w/ mixed fruit, 15 baked lays
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, big salad
snacks: 1 small apple, unlimited raw veggies
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 60 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

Yes, after last night's binge and lack of exercise I have decided to add cardio to every remaining day this week.

Another Confession:

I had a HUGE binge last night. It really got me thinking about my food addiction. Hopefully I'll be able to get this under control soon.

Here's what really happened yesterday:

breakfast: 1 red banana, 1 poptart
lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, green beans, fruit cup
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
snacks: 1 poptart
NIGHTTIME BINGE: 2 poptarts, 6 mini-donuts, 20 or so RF pringles, 40 or so baked lays, 2 tbs french onion dip, 1 fiberplus bar
exercise: NONE.

Okay. I need help. :-( Today's avoid-another-binge plan? Lots of gum and diet coke. Not sure if it's the best aproach, but we'll see.

Inspiration from another favorite show!

I was watching my DVDs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I think that Buffy is another great example of an intuitive eater.

Although that show does not center around food as much as Gilmore Girls does, food is still a part of it.

Plus Buffy promotes working out, something that the Gilmores just laugh at. Since I am a bigtime exerciser, if I want to look to a fictional character for exercise motivation, that would be Buffy Summers.

She really kicks some ass on that show, too. It's a real "girl power" series. I love doing my cardio workouts to some Buffy.

Here are the things that I've noticed her eating on the show: donuts, cereal, bagel with peanut butter, pizza, apples, jello, popcorn, 7Up, gum, apple juice... That's a diet that anyone could get behind. :-)

Today's Plan:

breakfast: 1 red banana, 1 poptart
lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, green beans, fruit cup
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
snacks: 1 poptart, 2 redvines, 1/2 cup mixed veggies
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

I'm very tempted to increase my exercise this week. I may add 10 minutes to my cardio every day this week and see if it affects my weight loss at all.

I'm still really enjoying the GG Diet, mostly because I get to eat poptarts daily if I so choose. Also enjoyed a couple of Easy Mac cups last week. I will be increasing my water this week, too. We'll see how it goes! My biggest fear is that the trend of my weight loss will continue until I eventually stall. I canNOT let that happen this time, because I tend to get very discouraged when I plateau.

Updated Stats:

Starting Weight (02/15/10) - 204.0
Current Weight (3/20/10) - 195.6
Average Weekly loss - 1.4 pounds!

Exercise Goal for March: 1000 minutes
Minutes Exercised so far: 1360 minutes

Kicking exercise's butt this month. Also doing pretty well with my "lose a pound a week" goal. This last week, I lost exactly a pound. What scares me a bit is that my losses have been steadily decreasing the last several weeks. 2.6, 2.4, 1.8, 1.6, 1.2, 1.0. Does that mean that this week I'm doomed to lose less than a pound? Well, I am not going to accept that. I am going to continue losing 1+ every week!!! (I believe in the law of attraction, can you tell?)

Today!

Today's Plan:
Breakfast: poptart
Lunch: fast food grilled chicken salad, big Diet Coke on the side
Dinner: lean cuisine, popcorn, side salad
Snacks: 2nd poptart, 2 redvines, apple, banana
Exercise: 30 minutes Gazelle, 30 minutes Curves

Review on Yesterday:

What I really ate yesterday:
breakfast: poptart and banana
lunch: big salad, chicken breast cuts, ff shredded cheese, ff dressing
dinner: lean cuisine, popcorn, salad
snacks: 2nd poptart
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 60 minutes cardio (gazelle)

So I ended up eating a bit less than planned for yesterday, and once again it was healthy foods that I neglected to eat. Oh, well. Today's another day, and I will probably plan for something simular since yesterday was so easy for me.

Unfortunately, I have two appointments today and was running late this morning, so I'm already a bit stressed about what I'm going to do for lunch. I suppose that I could get a grilled chicken salad from Wendy's or something, since that has to be close nutritionally to what I make at home... Yes that's what I'll do.

Today's Plan:

breakfast: poptart and banana
lunch: big salad, chicken breast cuts, ff shredded cheese, ff dressing
dinner: lean cuisine, popcorn, salad
snacks: 2nd poptart, 2/3 cup mixed vegetables, 1 medium apple
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 60 minutes cardio (gazelle)

Confession of a binge...

What I really ate yesterday:
breakfast- 1 poptart
lunch- lean cuisine pizza, popcorn
dinner- 1 can of pringles, 6 slices bread, 3 tbs nutella, 20 wheat thins, 1 cup salsa
snacks: 2nd poptart
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit training, 40 minutes gazelle (cardio)

Okay. So I know where I went wrong there, and it was switching up my lunch. After eating the lean cuisine and popcorn instead of my planned-for soup and sandwich, a switch clicked in my head that made me think , "Screw the plan. Eat some chips for dinner."

Well, I feel pretty bloated today, despite drinking an extra liter of water last night and adding in some cardio to try and "make up" for the binge. Today I am going back to my plan, and going to be very strict with myself. I definately need the structure today.

Tater Tot Tuesday!

Today's Plan:

breakfast- 1 poptart
lunch- tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, green beans, banana
dinner- 15 baked tater tots, big salad, hard-boiled egg
snacks: pink goo, 2nd poptart, redvines
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit training

Feeling pretty positive about today's plan. The only thing that I may struggle with is dinner, because I have a couple of my favorite lean cuisine pizzas on hand and sometimes I swap that meal around... but I shouldn't because it's tater tot tuesday!

You may have noticed that I added a list over to the left of my posts, of books that I'm reading or have recently finished. This is because I'm not just eating like a Gilmore, oh no, I'm reading like one, too. All the books that I'm reading right now can be found on "Rory's Reading List" on several websites throughout the web. I'm actually really enjoying reading these books because most are books that I would never have picked out myself, and that I'm absolutely loving.

Yesterday

What I really ate:
breakfast: 1 poptart
lunch: ham and cheese sandwich, green beans, banana
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad w/ hard boiled egg
snacks: 2nd poptart, 2 redvines

exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes gazelle (cardio)

So I swapped the carrots w/ ranch for a hard boiled egg. I love an egg in my salad! I think that I may have to start planning for them. Other than that switcheroo I stuck to my meal plan, which I'm very proud of.

Today's Plan:

breakfast: 1 poptart, 1 small yogurt
lunch: ham and cheese sandwich, green beans, banana
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
snacks: 2nd poptart, 2 redvines, carrots w/ ff dressing
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes gazelle (cardio)

Update:

Starting Weight (02/15/10) - 204.0
Current Weight (3/20/10) - 196.6
Average Weekly loss - 1.48 pounds!

Exercise Goal for March: 1000 minutes
Minutes Exercised so far: 930

All I can say is... I'm on my way!!!

Pizza rolls rock my world.

I finally ate some of the pizza rolls that have been in the freezer for a couple of weeks. My review? Best food ever. Period.

Today's Plan:

breakfast: 1 poptart
lunch: 6 pizza rolls, grapes, carrots
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
snacks: 2nd poptart, redvines
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

Even as I write this plan, I'm thinking of ways to modify it to suit my needs today. I think that I'm almost ready to give up on meal plans again and play it by ear.

Basically, I have been eating the same kind of things every day. I am only eating foods that I really love, like poptarts, lean cuisine pizzas, grilled chicken in a salad, redvines, popcorn, etc. I've done this for four weeks now and I think that I have a pretty good handle on how much food I should be eating every day to add up to the fat and calories that I need to lose weight. I will try it one more week with the meal plan and then reevaluate.

Yesterday's Mess.

Here's what I actually ate yesterday: 3 musketeers truffle crip bar, big salad with grilled chicken and ff cheese, banana, lean cuisine pizza, 16 reduced fat pringles, 4 sandwich thins, 3 tbs nutella. Exercise: 1 hour gazelle

I don't know what happened to me last night. I had what I call a "mini-binge" with the sandwich thins and nutella. The crazy thing is that it was planned, and I had many chances to avoid it, but still let it happen. It was overeating that I had complete control over, so I guess that does take it out of the binge category. However, it was entirely, 100% emotional eating. I wasn't hungry. I wanted to eat something soft and sweet that would distract me from my feelings, even if only for a moment.

It's moments like that that really make me miss smoking. Yes, I'll admit it: I'm a smoker at heart. I quit smoking in July and it's only recently gotten easy to deal with. But the last couple of days I've yearned for the ability to go outside and light up, just to get away for a few.

I guess that I could still go outside, and go for a walk or just sit there sipping a soda or something. But none of those options are quite as satisfying as a cigarette. The only real solution here is to face my life's problems head-on instead of trying to distract myself and/or run away...

Today's Plan:

breakfast: 3 musketeers bar, yogurt
lunch: big salad with grilled chicken and ff cheese, banana
dinner: beefaroni, popcorn, side salad, pink goo
snacks: poptart, redvines, wheat thins
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit

Today should be interesting! I'm at work now, so I've gotta go do some actual work now.

How I did yesterday:

What I actually ate yesterday: 2 poptarts, banana, yogurt, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, green beans, lean cuisine pizza, popcorn.
Yesterday's exercise: 30 minutes Curves, 30 minutes Gazelle

Yesterday I stuck to the plan much better than the day before. Kudos to me! The only switch I made was I ate an unplanned banana and skipped on the grapes, side salad, and redvines. Today my goal is to eat all planned for fruits and vegetables. Funny I never have issues getting in both poptarts...

Today I forgot my poptarts at home, so I will have to make an adjustment for breakfast. I have a dollar, so I will probably get a full-sized 3 musketeers bar from the vending machine. Hopefully that won't mess me up too badly!

Today's Plan:

breakfast: yogurt, poptart
lunch: tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, green beans
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
snacks: 2nd poptart, 2 redvines, grapes
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

Review of yesterday:

What I really ate yesterday: 2 poptarts, popcorn, banana, 15 baked tater tots, green beans, 2 cheese sticks, 2 sugar-free freeze pops, 1 thin mint.
Exercise yesterday: 30 minutes gazelle

I think I will make this a part of my blog, always reviewing the previous day and giving myself a much-needed reality check. This should help me to stay honest with myself. Not much "real" food yesterday, and I really didn't stick to the plan well. In my defense, I wasn't feeling well, and easy-access "comfort" food sounded so good.

Today I will do better to stay on-plan! And to eat some of the fresh produce in my fridge before it goes bad.

Today's Plan:

breakfast: 1 pop tart, 1 banana
lunch: ham and cheese sandwich, carrot sticks with ranch
dinner: big salad, 15 baked tater tots, pink goo (cottage cheese, pineapple, cool whip and strawberry jello mixture)
snacks: 2nd poptart, redvines, popcorn
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit

Here's the thing. I've already gone way out of order with this. Mostly it's because I was sick this morning (possible UTI, nothing to be too concerned about). So here's what I've already eaten at 1:16 p.m.: 2 poptarts, popcorn, banana.

That leaves me with a lot left to finish after work, but don't worry. I'm up for the "challenge". :-)

What I actually ended up eating yesterday: 2 poptarts, soup (with 8 wheat thins), lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad (with a boiled egg!), 2 redvines.

I did the exercise I had planned.

It's interesting to see that some days I actually eat LESS than planned for. That is not the point of this diet, the point is to eat what I plan to eat, and as you can see, yesterday I strayed a bit (wheat thins, boiled egg, where's the grilled cheese sandwich, yogurt, and grapes?)

I think that it's fine to find subsitutions that listen to my body's cravings. I plan this menu a week in advance. When I planned it, I was craving those mini powdered donuts. So that's what I have planned as my big "weekend splurge" this week. Usually I go out to eat, but A)it's just not in the budget this week, and B) it's not what I wanted when I wrote the menu.

Last weekend was crazy! I had planned for going out to a nice Mexican restaurant and eating an enchilada, a crunchy taco, and some chips and salsa. That didn't happen, but I did go to the Southern Women's Show and ended up eating some free frozen yogurt samples and a pizzanini (delicious sandwich made with panini bread, cheese, and pepperoni!) so I think that it evened out. Oh, and I ate a few GS cookies on Sunday... well, I'll see if those indulgences hurt me or not at my next weigh-in. But I feel pretty hopeful that as long as I stick to the food and exercise plan the rest of the week I will once again be down at least a pound.

I weighed 197.8 on Saturday morning, and my real goal for this week is to weigh 196.0, so I will have to lose 1.8 to make that goal. This is the time to stick to my plan! I can do it!

Today's Plan:

breakfast: 1 poptart, small yogurt
lunch: soup, grilled cheese sandwich, green beans, grapes
dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
snacks: 2nd poptart, 2 redvines
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit training, 30 minutes gazelle (cardio)

Here's a great exercise tip: Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer while you do your cardio. It gives me some extra adrenaline! Plus Sarah Michelle Gellar is a great body role model to strive for. (In the early seasons anyway. Some may say she got too thin towards the end!)

My First 10%

I made it. I weigh 197.8 and I started Weight Watchers at 220.0 so I have officially lost my first 10%. It's very exciting! I didn't really start to see the scale move quickly until I started The Gilmore Girls Diet, so I'm not sure which "program" to thank the most, but I'm very happy.

Of course the biggest thanks goes to myself. I'm losing weight to get healthy, but also to be as beautiful on the outside as I feel on the inside.

This weekend I did a bit of unplanned eating once again, but I'm pretty sure that I stuck to my planned calories/fat. If not, I'm back on track today and should still show a good loss next weekend.

I'm ready to be thin and beautiful! And it feels within reach. My next goal? 185, only 12.8 pounds away. In the old days, that kind of weight loss would take several months. Now I full expect to be there within two. :-)

Today's Plan:

Breakfast: 1 pop tart
Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, wheat thins and salsa, baby carrots
Dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
Snacks: 2nd pop tart, redvines, pink goo
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes cardio (gazelle)

Tomorrow's the big day!

Or hopefully it is, anyway. I am really hoping that tomorrow will be the day that I finally reach my first 10% weight loss goal. 198.0 is the number I will be looking for. I think that I psyched myself out this week, thinking that of COURSE I will get there because I've had big losses the last two weeks, and to get to 198.0 I only need to lose .8 pound. However, I had many many weeks before the last two weeks when I would maintain, gain, or lose .2 or .4 pound. So only time will tell!

The one thing that could have almost guaranteed another big loss this week would have been sticking to my meal plan religiously like I did the last two weeks. However, due to some unplanned lack of funds, I didn't make it to the grocery store last weekend and had to live off of what food I already had and food at my mom's house. So I was not strict with my meals this week, though I still tried to stick to the planned calorie/fat totals each day.

Today I get paid, so I get to go to the store and stick to my meal plan again next week. So even if I don't quite get to my 10% tomorrow, I will definately get there for the next weigh-in. I will report back here on Monday...

Today's Plan:

Breakfast: 1 pop tart
Lunch: tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, green beans
Dinner: lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
Snacks: 2nd pop tart, carrots w/ ranch, broccoli
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes cardio (gazelle)

Unplanned food...

I have been writing out meal plans and sticking to them the last three weeks or so. Last night I strayed from the meal plan, and it's bothering me. But I'm thinking that I need to adjust to the occasional unplanned meal. I was at my mom's house and she had cooked one of my favorite meals, roast beef with potatoes and carrots (crock pot meal, delicious!). I had in my meal plan "15 tater tots and a big salad". I ate a serving of roast and vegetables instead. I don't know if the calorie/fat content was simular to the original plan. Probably not. I'm going onto fatsecret.com to find out in a minute. But I have decided to give myself a break. If my mom cooks a delicious meal, and it's not too horrible for me, I will give myself permission to stray from the meal plan that night, as long as I only eat to satisfaction. Hopefully this sporadic straying won't interfere with my weight-loss too much...

Today's Plan:

Breakfast: poptart and yogurt
Lunch: big salad w/ grilled chicken and ff cheese, 3 musketeers mini (2)
Dinner: ham and cheese sandwich, 15 baked steak fries, 1 cup green beans
Snacks: 4 thin mints, 5 cups ff popcorn, baby carrots and salsa
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

Notes: I didn't have time for the yogurt this morning, so that will be moved to snacks. Also, I will have to swap some other things around because I don't have salad at home for lunch, or time to cook fries during my lunch hour, so the day will definately end up looking different than planned, but I should be able to get in most of the food anyway. If I don't, it's fine because I'm actually going over my daily "points" by 1.5 with this plan. Also, I had to skip the gazelle last night, so tonight I added in the Gazelle even though originally this was a "curves only" day.

Today's Plan:

Here's the plan for today:

Breakfast - 1 poptart, 1 small banana
Lunch - tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, green beans, grapes
Dinner - lean cuisine pizza, popcorn, side salad
Snacks - 2nd poptart, redvines, carrot sticks
Exercise - 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

"Oy with the poodles already!"

This weekend I weighed myself and discovered that I now weigh less than 200 pounds. It's very exciting! I lost another 2.4 pounds. Another successful week on the Gilmore Girls Diet. I'm down another "decade" officially. In the 100's. I'm very excited about this! Suddenly all of my weight-loss goals seem very realistic and achievable. My first big goal is very close: 198. I'm now at 198.8, so I fully expect to meet that goal next week. The significance of this number? I started out at 220 pounds in June. I was told to lose 10% of my weight first, and then go from there. 198 will mark 22 pound lost, or 10% total weight gone. It's a big deal to lose 10% of my fat. Very exciting! Here's all of my weight-loss goals:

1) 198 - first 10% gone!
2) 184 - no longer considered obese
3) 170
4) 154 - no longer considered overweight!
5) 135 - perfectly in the middle of my ideal BMI

It used to feel like none of these goals would ever happen. But since starting the GG Diet, it feels not only possible, but almost easy. Almost like "how did I ever let myself gain this much weight to begin with?".

Update!

Starting Weight (02/15/10) - 204.0
Current Weight (03/06/10) - 198.8
Average weekly loss - 1.74 lb

March Exercise Goal: 1000 minutes
Current Exercise: 270

TGIF! Friday's Plan

Remember when "TGIF" meant Full House and Family Matters? That's when the phrase started for me. Anyway, here's today's plan:

Breakfast: 1 pop tart
Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, green beans
Dinner: lean cuisine, baked lays, side salad
Snacks: 2 girl scout Samoa cookies, redvines, popcorn
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

"Junk Food, Fast Food, Frozen Food and Takeout!" Modifications to the original diet

But was this really all the Gilmore Girls ever ate? Definately not. Lorelai may have been all about the convenience foods, but even she got a bit healthier when times were tough. There was an episode when Rory came home from college to find her mom's fridge stuffed with fruits, vegetables, cheese, condiments, and absolutely no take-out containers or fast food leftovers.

So I guess this is how I defend my salads, carrot sticks, and near daily sandwiches. I'm on a budget! Sure, it's easier to eat pizza and fries and chinese food daily, but my budget won't allow it right now. Maybe eventually I'll be able to eat out/order out more than weekly, but for now, it's only a saturday thing.

I do make sure to incorporate junk food and frozen food into my daily menu. If possible, I opt for "healthy" options, like baked lays and lean cuisines. But there is no acceptable healthy alternative for pop tarts or redvines, so I stick to the originals in those cases.

I'm also sure that the Gilmores never counted calories. This is the second modification of the original plan. I decided that to make this work for weight loss, I needed to write out meal plans that include both the calorie count and the total grams of fat. I still include all of my favorite foods, and experiment with new foods, but stay under 1550 calories and under 30 grams of fat most days.

Third modification: Movie night! Originally, I had planned to allow myself to eat one meal a week that I did not really account for. Just a bunch of junk food during a movie, like the Gilmores do. Well, I found that I don't need to do this. I eat junk food every day, and since I don't feel deprived through the week, I don't feel the need to "splurge" on Friday night. Which to me is just proof that my diet works for me. I eat when hungry, I never deprive myself of any food (nothing is off-limits) and I'm losing weight. It's very exciting.

The crazy thing is, none of these are new concepts. They have always been out there: Eat anything in moderation. Eat less in general. Exercise more that you used to. That's all I'm doing. Building better habits for myself.

Copper Boom! (another day's plan)

Today I am tired. I need caffeine. Luckily I get to leave work in a minute and go to the store, where I will buy myself a liter of diet coke. Mmmm... Anyway, here's today's meal and exercise plan:

breakfast: banana and poptart
lunch: ham and cheese sandwich, green beans, carrot sticks, grapes
dinner: big salad with chicken toppers and shredded cheese, 15 baked steak fries
snacks: 2nd pop tart, popcorn, redvines
exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit
Daily totals: Calories- 1539, Fat (g)-29

Today's Plan

Breakfast: 1 pop tart, 1 small yogurt
Lunch: lean cuisine pizza, 1 cup green beans, 15 baked lays
Dinner: 1 cup tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, 1 cup grapes, 8 wheat thins, 1/2 cup salsa
Snacks: 2 girl scout Samoa cookies, 94% fat free popcorn, 1/2 cup cocoa puffs
Exercise: 30 minutes Curves circuit training, 30 minutes Gazelle (cardio)

About me!

The only part of my life that I will be discussing in this blog is my eating habits and my exercise habits, and everything that goes along with that.

I started this diet for several reasons. The main one is that I have tried many diets and FAILED. I thought that if I wrote the diet myself I may be more inclined to stick with it. I came up with the idea while watching one of my favorite TV shows, The Gilmore Girls.

I saw how the two main characters seemed to eat anything and everything and still stay thin and beautiful. Then I thought of all the people I've known in real life who fit that same criterea. Then I thought of me: I hadn't eaten anything "real" or anything that I really wanted to eat (without guilt, anyway!) in forever, and was very overweight. Nonsense. It was time to break the gap.

I believe that it's possible to eat junk food and fast food on a regular basis and to still lose weight. I believe that everything in moderation is the key, and that everyone should be "allowed" to eat anything and maintain a healthy weight.

So that is the ultimate goal for this blog: to chronicle how I go from "fat and dieting" to "thin and eating".

When I started this diet a week and a half ago, I weighed 204 pounds. At 5'6'', that is considered obese. When I weighed in on Saturday, after a week on the diet, I am down 2.8 pounds, weighing in at 201.2. I plan to lose 50 pounds in 2010; so far since January 1, I'm down almost 7. Now, I am a member of weight watchers.com and will be combining this diet with the points system.

Since right now I will be counting total calories and total grams of fat, this is indeed a diet. My real dream for myself (and the Gilmore Girls Diet) is to eventually be done counting altogether, and to be able to control my portions based solely on my hunger signals and maintain a healthy weight forever. I'll write another post in a minute with today's meal plan, so you can see what I eat on a typical day.

The Gilmore Girls Diet - The Original Idea

Have you watched the TV show The Gilmore Girls and wished that you could lose weight while eating like Lorelai and Rory? Have you ever wondered if it was possible? Well, I have. And I'm here to invite you to join me in my journey from "fat and dieting" to "thin and eating"!

This is of course, just an experiment, and I can't wait to see how it goes!

The four food groups of the Gilmore Girls are: fast food, junk food, frozen food, and takeout. I'm not suggesting that you stick to that 100%, but it's nice to know that you can.

The point of this diet is to enjoy eating, not to overeat. This plan will be perfect for people who don't cook, which is me, most of the time. I will not be depriving myself of any favorite food, and I will not be forcing myself to eat anything just because it's healthy.

I plan to eat for hunger only (98% of the time), but to choose delicious,fast,and convenient options, like a Gilmore would.

Breakfast:
The Gilmores almost always eat a poptart or cereal for breakfast. They also drink a lot of coffee, which I don't like unless there is a lot of milk added, so I will probably be sticking to water and diet coke most days with breakfast.

Lunch:
The faster, the better. The Gilmores are famous for eating lunch at the local diner, Luke's. I cannot afford to eat out every day, so I will be making my own sandwiches and eating them with a side of either baked french fries, tater tots, potato chips, or canned vegetables. Some days I will eat a frozen meal instead. But it has to be delicious, something that I will love.

Dinner:
Again, the Gilmores like to eat out a lot, which I cannot afford to do right now. But what I notice is that they eat junk food for dinner when they are at home. Or they eat whatever is convenient for them at the time. One day Lorelai took out a bag of salad, poured some ranch dressing in, shook it up and ate straight from the bag with a fork. Beeferoni was also mentioned as an option. Experiment with dinner options, find what works for you. Eating a variety of foods, or sticking to my favorites most of the time, all is okay.

Snacks:
Anything goes. Salty snacks are anything from chips to leftover chinese takeout. Sweet snacks are poptarts, mallowmars, dessert sushi, etc. Allow yourself to eat any of these snacks at any time, but only in excess one night a week while watching a movie. The Gilmores love movie night, and will eat a lot during the movie.

Exercise:
The Gilmore girls do not like exercise, or believe that it's important for them. This is the part of their lifestyle that I cannot abide by, since I have so much weight to lose. I also really enjoy exercise, so I will be sticking to an exercise plan every week. Usually I will do cardio 3 times and strength 3 times, exercising 5-6 days every week for a minimum of 30 minutes each session.

When to Eat/How to Eat:
Eat when hungry! I will be eating only when truly hungry and will stop eating when satisfied, not full. This goes along with the principles of Intuitive Eating, something that I am a major advocate of. I did mention earlier that I will be eating for fun once a week, giving myself permission to eat junk in excess during movie night. That is OPTIONAL, and I probably won't do this every week. Only when it makes sense.


Water intake: I drink at least 2 liters (or 8 8oz glasses) of water daily. More if I drink a lot of diet soda or coffee.

*I know that The Gilmore Girls is a TV show and that Lorelai and Rory are fictional characters. I also know that the actresses who play these parts do not really eat this way. I'm just using them as fun examples of intuitive eaters.