I Love This Diet!

Six years ago, I came across an article from Good Housekeeping called The Frozen Entree Diet. I was so taken with the idea that I thought I would take that idea and run with it. You see, I am aware that there are all sorts of programs where you can buy pre-made meals. I am talking about Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem, of course, but I am sure there are others. I have watched the commercials, and seen the special offers at Costco, but I figured I could do that on my own. After all, there are so many choices out there: Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice are the big players. There are also choices from Amy’s, Kashi, and Cedar Lane.

Unfortunately, I am one of those people who loves to plan things. I am a planner, but not always a do-er. I got very involved in compiling a binder full of listings from every low-calorie entree I could find. I also explored single serving ice cream options. Then, I hit the wall. The truth is that I love to cook, and had my husband to consider. Still, I counted on frozen entrees for breakfast and lunch options at school. I am a teacher, with a small fridge/freezer and microwave in my classroom, and it was so simple to pop one of those things in and have food ready.

Now that I am recently divorced, I still like to cook. But I have a long commute to and from work, and am often too tired or stressed to plan and cook meals. Stress, in particular, prompted me to stop at a restaurant on the way home and eat a “snack” before going home. So, basically, I am doing very little cooking at the moment. My weight is increasing at an alarming rate, and I am spending too much money in restaurants. I began looking at Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem again, since I had still not gotten my Frozen Entree Diet Plan together.

I was surfing the net to see if I could find the Good Housekeeping article when I came across the link to I Love This Diet. SOMEONE took the idea and ran with it! It comes as a set of PDF files in a .zip folder. After reading about the program, I paid the $47.00 and downloaded the whole thing. As they state on the website, you can start that very day! I did. It was not perfect, but I was able to use what I had on hand to follow the diet that day. I also joined our school’s weight loss challenge. I am feeling very positive about this. I plan to write down what I eat in the Food Plan Diary that is provided, but I also may post some of my menus and weigh ins here.

There are actually more additions since this picture was taken. They have added Kashi and Amy’s Organic brands in two new .pdfs. Pretty cool. I will let you all know how it goes.