Diary of a "Yo-Yo" Woman

I bet you are wondering if the title is referring to me as a crotch grabbing woman who walks around saying "Yo-Yo, what's up?"  No, that's not me and it brings a funny picture into my mind of trying to actually pull off that look.  What I am referring to is being a woman who has lived and breathed the "Yo-Yo" diet thing.  I have done the whole weight loss and gain cycle about four times in my adult years with a few "diet for a day or two" things in-between.  The first time was when I was around age twenty-one.  I got down to around 119 pounds, but I never ate a damn thing.  I lived on shredded wheat and tuna with no mayo.  It was awful.  I loved how I looked, but couldn't maintain the low calorie level.  Shoot, who could??

My next go-round was in my 30's with an agency called "LA Weight Loss".  Did pretty good there, not down to to 119, but reached very happy weight.  Problem with this system, I had to buy their nutrition bars, which got expensive with newborn babies.  With that program, I kept the weight off for awhile, but having two babies two years in a row took it's toll on my body and my ability to choose my food wisely.

Next came the South Beach Diet.  I thought this was it.  I ate a ham and cheese omelet for fourteen days straight, had a salad twice a day and ate no carbs, none!!  Dropped 25 pounds on that plan.  Looking good.  Then realized that I could NEVER eat watermelon or pineapple again.  Had a hard time justifying how a fruit could be forbidden.  Chocolate was NEVER allowed also.  Kept the weight off for about six months on that diet, but really, who can NEVER eat chocolate again.  Not me!! 

Finally, I read a book that changed my outlook on food, exercise and dieting.  It's called "Beck's Diet for Life"  I read it from cover to cover, which was a change for me.  I usually just jumped right in, lost weight really fast and gained it back faster.  This book challenged me to do weight loss the right way, slow and healthy.  I don't starve.  I eat six times a day and it is protein based.  I dropped about 30 pounds on this plan and it has been two years.  I have gained back around seven pounds and I am starting to panic a bit.  I can't seem to get a grasp on my eating.  I know what to do, it just seems to be forgotten when I walk in the door at 3pm and invade my cupboards for anything unhealthy. 


Old me with famous author Diana Gabaldon



New me with friends Andrea and Gina





So why am I sharing all this??  Because DAMMIT, I refuse to allow myself to gain all that weight back.  I am going to try something new and post daily about my eating.  Kind of like a food journal.  Going to include what I consumed that day (everything, even the candy or cookies or chips I tend to sneak and not write down), exercise and what I was feeling that day.  I have noticed that stress leads to a larger consumption of the unhealthy, but wonderfully tasteful, junk food.  I am hoping that this will be the way to guide myself back to healthy behavior and take me off of the "Yo-Yo" train I've been riding for years.