Confessions of a Splenda Junkie

After long last, I've finally made it back to goal. FINALLY. And I did it after reading a great book, and taking the advice I always give to my WW members. When my members reach a plateau, they usually grab me after a meeting and hit me up about what to do. The conversation usually goes like this:

Member: "I need to ask you something. I'm staying OP all week, and it seems like no matter what I do I just can't lose any weight - can you help me?"

*Please note: this member always looks like they've either been hit by a truck and didn't mind it, or they look like they would rip a chocolate bunny out of the hands of a six year old, then proceed to bite Mr. Krispy's ear off right in front of this child. Sometimes I let out a little giggle when they look me in the eye, to hide my fear.

Me: "Are you getting in your fruits and veggies, and the rest of your healthy food servings?"

The member ALWAYS says yes.

Me: "Then you have to take a good look at the foods you're eating other than your healthy choices. Are you eating enough? Are you eating your Flex and activity points?"

The answers vary, but this is often where the ugly truth comes out. Usually people are filling their days with 100-calorie packs, or they aren't eating enough. I stress to them that it's really important to take a look at the quality of the calories they're taking in, not just the amount.

Every time I struggle with a plateau I learn something. This time I had to take my own advice and look at what I was eating. This, in combination with Jillian's new book, are what finally got me back to losing the extra 10 lbs I've been carrying around since fall. I was eating a lot of chemical crap - diet pop, artificially sweetened EVERYTHING.

So I went back to basics, eating whole foods. No artificial anything. And it actually WORKED. And it's for good, forever. I'm not going back to being a Splenda junkie.

Since I'm a huge foodie, you wouldn't think that I'd try to scrimp and scrape by on low calorie alternatives for real food, would you? Well I did. And it didn't pay off. My food tasted worse and ended up stockpiling chemicals in my body. NOT GOOD.

Now that I've rid myself of the Splenda, the extra weight seems to be falling off, without a whole lot of effort on my part - a big change from a month ago where everyday was a struggle and I wasn't losing an ounce. In fact, I was gaining.

Eating Chemicals + Exercising = Gaining Weight Anyway -> BAD

Eating Real Food + Moderate Exercise = Losing Weight Without Thinking About It-> GOOD

And, to top it off, I haven't had a pimple since I made the change! That is huge for me.

So sing it with me girls, "Don't you put it in your mouth..."