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Coupon Abbreviations
  • SC = Store Coupon
  • MC = Manufacturer Coupon
  • SS = Smart Source
  • RMN = Retail Me Not
  • PG = Proctor and Gamble
Coupon Terms
  • WYB = When You Buy
  • B1G1 = Buy One Get One Free
  • .75/1 = 75 cents off one item
  • .75/3 = 75 cents off three items
  • EXP = Expiration Date

Going Nuts? I can help you understand coupon terms and abbreviations

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I can’t remember a time in my life that I didn’t struggle with food and body image.  In case you didn’t know food is really yummy, ice cream tastes amazing and butter really does make everything better and bread…

You can see where this is going.

Now over 30 lbs overweight if one more person asks when my baby is due I’m gonna cry.  I used to point to the newborn and that worked, but she’s 10 months old and the excuses are all mine.  It’s time to own my issues and move past them.

I am setting a big goal this year of dropping 30 pounds that came on with the past two babies and appears to not want to leave.  So I’m using you guys as my accountability group.  It’s one thing to say you are wanting to lose weight, it’s another to start sharing it every week.  My plan is to share any tips that helped me through the week along with any progress made.

Rather than just creating the goal of 30 lbs and leaving it hanging I also want a goal date.  So I’m going safe, but saying that I want to achieve this before labor day.  We have a big vacation planned, so it’s the perfect goal and reward all in one.  I will need to keep sticking with at least one pound loss per week to make it happen.

nutrisystem

To help me reach these goals I’ve decided to use NutriSystem.  I’ve never done it before, but really like the idea of not having to think about what to cook or grab that is healthy.  They offered me with one month for free for sharing, and since I was already interested in it, I jumped on it!

I picked the Core Plan Favorites Pack (which right now is $9.72 a day on sale).  This is where they send a mix of all their top rated items rather than you hand selecting your menu.  I was a little concerned at someone else picking, but I’m not a picky eater and it was cheaper in the long run to stick with this plan.

For the first week all your food is in a box that was inside the box above.  It’s the Turbo Boost box.  They provide meals and shakes for the first week to boost your weight loss.  This is what I ate yesterday to give you an idea:

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I should have had a second shake instead of the cookies, but I needed the snack while we were at church so it was easier to bring that than figure out how to make a shake in the middle of the sanctuary.  After the first week you don’t do shakes you just add in snacks.  Don’t panic this isn’t actually everything you eat.  You also add in 4 servings of vegetables and they give you a handy list to go off of.

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I’ve been at this for almost a week now!  The first day I was hungry but expected that I would be.  Buy day 2 I wasn’t hungry in-between meals at all.  So insert the motivation of “you can survive day one”.

Week One Results

I’m excited to say I’m already down 5 lbs!  

I don’t expect it to continue losing that fast and it’s already leveling off.  I’m one of those that loses a few pounds quickly just when I cut out sweets and sugary drinks, so that alone probably helped.  They are saying to expect about 10 lbs total for the first month so I’m looking for probably 1-2 lbs per week from here on this month.

Week One Tips

  1.  It’s really hard to diet when no one else in the house is.  I’ve been eating my dinner before I cook dinner for everyone else, this way I’m not hungry while I cook and I’m not hungry as we sit at the table.  I then eat my veggie sides with the family.  They have been eating more veggies too since I’m making them eat my veggies.
  2. Think about what you eat for the whole day.  There have been a few days where I knew we had to go out and wouldn’t be home until the afternoon.  That meant grabbing my morning snack and lunch (and possibly afternoon snack) to take with me.  The core plan box has a number of meals and meal bars, so the bars are perfect for these days.
  3. Still Track Your Food.  Whether you use the NutriSystem app or my favorite MyFitnessPal, you should still track what you are eating.  A few meals I’ve already decided to go off plan to enjoy foods that my family was eating.  Tracking though helps to make sure I still eat a good portion size and make wiser choices.  We had make your own pizza night at home.  So I ate one piece and made my part with no cheese and tons of fresh veggies!  I had spinach, tomatoes, peppers and onions and it was quite amazing.

I will be sharing every Monday.  I would also love your encouragement and tips, and I know I’m not the only one trying to shed pounds before the summer!  Feel free to leave any tips you have or even great meals you love in the comments on these posts each week.