Meredith

Country: Vienna, Virginia, USA
Age: 25
Weight before diet: 187.5 lbs.
Weight now: 157.8 lbs.
Target weight: 140 is when I buy some celebratory new clothes...130 would be awesome if I can make it there! And 120-125 is my dream weight.

Meredith has tried a number of weight loss programs, and here she shares some reasons why the Diet-to-Go plan is just right for her. Now that she's losing weight, she is learning to deal with problems like portion control and junk food. Slowly but surely, she's on her way to reaching her goal.

-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program?
I had been on Weight Watchers in the past - I started when I was about 167 and I lost a little over 30 pounds with them but I gained it back. When I saw that I was almost 190 I was shocked and ashamed to show my body. I knew I wanted to be comfortable with myself, so I decided I was going to lose weight.

-What type of weight loss program are you following?
I am on Diet-to-Go. This is a service that provides all your food for you, with portion controlled meals. They have local pickup in the Baltimore/Washington DC area, and in the San Francisco area; local customers receive fresh food twice a week. They also have nationwide mail-order service that is shipped in dry ice on a weekly basis. They have 1200-calorie and 1600-calorie portions, the food is the same but it's different amounts. They have low-fat, low-carb, and vegetarian menus.

The point of Diet-to-Go is that they provide ALL your food. The only food you add to the plan is two glasses of skim milk a day. I frequently substitute this with fat-free yogurt, and I occasionally have a piece of fruit. But because you are not supposed to add anything, it is easier to turn down sweets and other bad foods - you know for sure that it's not on your diet, so you just ignore all the bad stuff completely!

-Why did you choose this weight loss program?
I had seen the Diet-to-Go trucks around town; their main warehouse is near where I work. When I first looked into it I thought it was very expensive, but when I decided that just "counting calories" wasn't working anymore I decided it was worth the extra cash if the plan worked.

-How long have you been on your weight loss program?
I started on January 3rd, 2006. I originally thought I would try it for one month and see if it worked. I lost 7 pounds the first week, and two pounds for each of the next couple of weeks, so I knew it was effective for me and I decided to stay on it! After a while I decided I wanted a change - the meal plan is four weeks long and then it repeats - so I tried NutriSystem Nourish (vegetarian plan) for the months of May and June 2006. I really didn't like the food, so I went back on Diet-to-Go and I've been on it since.

-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to help you lose weight and stay fit?
I am very sedentary - I hardly ever exercise. I'm slowly losing weight anyway, but I would lose faster and be healthier if I exercised. I prefer to exercise at home - I have an elliptical trainer and a stationary bike. I've tried workout videos but I'm not fond of them. The main outdoor activities I enjoy are kayaking and geocaching.

-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming?
I struggle with my family not dieting with me. My spouse is on the dinner-only plan from Diet-to-Go, but it's more so she doesn't have to cook after work but can still have a healthy meal. Because she's not dieting and my other two housemates are not either, there's a lot of "toxic" (bad) food in the house. I know it's not on my plan, but it's still tempting. I also struggled with junk food at work - multiple people have candy on their desks, there's always doughnuts on Fridays, etc. I have mostly overcome these obstacles but they continue to be a mental struggle...which I am winning most of the time, but that doesn't mean it's not hard.

-How do you keep yourself motivated?
When I see the scale go up, I know it's because of my own mistakes - having things I shouldn't, etc. So if the scale goes up, I resolve to do better again next time. Every day is a new chance to stick to my diet. And of course if the scale goes down, I want to keep it going! I also check myself out in the mirror a lot. The weight I've lost this year is very visible, and I'm so much happier about how I look now. Looking in the mirror is a great reinforcement.

-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers?
If you can afford it, spend money to achieve your goal. It's hard to wrap your mind around "throwing away money" but that's really not what you're doing. The joy you will get from being successful is WELL worth the money spent. If it costs a little more money to eat healthy food, do it! You'll thank yourself when you've lost the weight.

-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening?
If I stopped using Diet-to-Go, I would almost certainly go back to my old ways. My main problem was always portion control...I just ate too much of what I was eating. I wasn't eating very nutritionally before, though - I think I am eating more appropriately on Diet-to-Go, so I will probably stay on it as long as I can afford to, with perhaps half a week off here and there.

-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helps or inspires you to lose weight?
Not really...the only diet site I check regularly is my Diet-to-Go menu so I know what's for dinner that night! I used to keep a diet blog (prior to starting DTG) but I fell out of that habit. Some sites that I find helpful are the restaurant listings at Dotti's Weight Loss Zone, Calorie King for food facts, and FitDay for a free web-based food journal with reports. My own journal is at Amanita.net.