An unexpected benefit of Sensa.

So, I've still been doing okay on the Sensa. I actually didn't sprinkle much today--didn't have my purse with me at lunch, and forgot to sprinkle dinner. Not good. But I was down another 1/2 pound when I weighed this morning.

But the unexpected surprise benefit of Sensa: I won a Wii Fit Plus System Bundle from the Sensa community forum!!! I actually already have almost everything that it comes with I think, so I'll probably sell it on eBay. But, hey, I'll make enough to pay for the Sensa and another 6 months of it most likely. Yay!

Second Weigh in Wednesday

Today is my second WIW. I hopped on the Wii balance board this morning, because that's the only scale I have. According to Wii, I'm down to 219. That's down 7 pounds total so far since I started Sensa. And the best part is that I haven't been trying all that hard. I'm not trying to sabotage myself or anything, but I really haven't been having cravings between meals (or really after meals which is my worst time) as much.

I have about 10 days left to still get a refund for the Sensa. As of right now, I won't be requesting a refund. Even if it's only pyschological, I'm happy for the psychology! My husband starting taking it a little more seriously--he asked me the other day "so, how much does it cost again?" I think he was a little jealous that I'd lost so much in the first couple of weeks, and was thinking of trying it out for himself!!

One thing I'd like to work on is participating in the Sensa message boards a bit more. I haven't really gotten to know anyone there yet. They're kind of dominated by a few people who are their "success stories" so I'm not sure how comfortable I feel going over there.

Here's what I ate and what I sprinkled yesterday, just for an example:
B: Bowl of Kashi Good Friends cereal, spinkled with Sweet side. I was going to have my son's leftover 1/2 a banana, but didn't really feel like it.
L: Chinese greens sauteed, two chicken drumsticks, sprinkled with salty. I kind of picked at the drumsticks, because they were a weird texture, maybe not cooked all the way through? This was one of the only meals that I didn't feel satisfied afterwards, so I had a bag of M&M pretzels, and then I was satisfied. (Often in the past, that would be enough to launch a full on binge!!)
D: We made pizzas with Canadian bacon and pineapple. I sprinkled with salty. My crust was too thick, and I picked a lot of it off and ended up not eating all that much. I thought I would go and have dessert later, but ended up not needing it.

Wow, I really didn't eat all that much yesterday! I have hardly had any between meal snacks since starting Sensa. This is partly me trying not to, but I think the Sensa may be making it easier to listen to my head telling me not to.

It's been one week.

So after what I would consider a pretty successful week (I only forgot to sprinkle three times I think), I weighed myself this morning. I'm down another 1.5 pounds, for a total of 5 pounds this week. That's a hell of a lot! And I didn't feel like I was depriving myself of anything. I definitely ate less, so this is not miracle drug that lets you eat like a pig and lose weight, it just does seem to make it easier to eat less. (Or, as I've said before, it's all in my head and I'm just more motivated right now)

I stood on the precipice...

I'm such a skeptic, that I still won't say that Sensa is changing anything. So, I'm just reporting events that have happened since starting Sensa, and over time, we'll all be able to see whether it is working or not.

I guess I'm still in that optimistic phase, though, so I'm noticing the little positive things, and haven't seen any negatives (I can't say that I've overeaten even once, and I've really cut down on eating when not hungry)

Yesterday afternoon, I stood on the precipice of a binge episode. I had my face in the freezer, ready to pull out an ice cream sandwich, even though I wasn't hungry, had just finished lunch and a popsicle for dessert. I know how it goes...the ice cream sandwich (that I'm not eating to satisfy physical hunger, but some other kind of hunger) doesn't quite satisfy me, so I reach for another, and then something else, and then I think "no, wait, maybe it's not sweet I'm craving, but salty" so then I open a bag of chips or peanuts, and before I know it, I'm full on into a giant binge episode.

So I stood on that precipice yesterday, and....I closed up the freezer door, telling myself that I wasn't hungry and that eating that ice cream sandwich would only lead to a binge, and I wouldn't be happy after that at all. And it worked!

Now, was this due to Sensa? I'm not sure. It's kind of hard to see how it could be. Was it just that the momentum of losing a few pounds is keeping me focused better? Probably. But, who knows?

First Weigh in Wednesday

I can't say that I feel like Sensa is doing anything. I normally eat pretty small meals--I just snack a lot in between meals, and give in to periodic binges. So when I sprinkle on my meal, I don't necessarily feel suddenly very full or anything like that. In fact, we had Chinese food a couple of nights ago, and I sprinkled, and still went back for seconds (although altogether, I still only ate half a portion).

It is possible, though, that the Sensa is helping me not to think about food in between meals, because I've been able to go from meal to meal without snacking in between several times.

So, my first weigh in Wednesday, and I'm down 3 pounds!!! I wish I could tell you that it's 100% due to the Sensa, but I can't say that. I've made pretty wise food choices all week, and have tried not to overeat. Maybe Sensa has made that attempt more successful, it's hard to say so far.

Starting Sensa

Okay, my Sensa box finally arrived. I'm a little ticked off by how long it took, considering it was supposed to be expedited shipping. Now I only have about 20 days to test it out before I need to ask for a refund if I'm going to.

Starting details: I won't go into measurements here, but my starting weight is 225 (UGH!)

I received the paperback book, which was a very quick read. Basically just the science behind Sensa, and how to get the most out of Sensa. The first step is just sprinkling on everything. The second step is incorporating some better food choices to help keep away cravings and increase satiety. The third step is to incorporate some activity--not just scheduled exercise, but also more small movements throughout the day.

So, I sprinkled on my dinner last night. I was eating salad at California Pizza Kitchen. It was a pretty light choice to start with, and not a large portion. I wouldn't say that I felt full at any point. But I did leave a little over, mostly just greens after I'd eaten all the good stuff. Everyone else went for DQ afterwards, and I don't know that it had anything to do with the Sensa, or just the fact that I want to lose weight, but I was able to resist at least.

I sprinkled breakfast (a bowl of cereal), and a mid-morning snack (greek yogurt). I wasn't hungry for lunch until quite late, and had a small fruit salad and a buttered English muffin. Again, sprinkling did not cause me to leave over any of these meals, but they were pretty small to start with. Alas, I already forgot to take my sprinkles with me when we went out to dinner tonight. Fortunately, we went to Fuddrucker's, which I really don't like, so I had a light salad with some chicken, almonds, blue cheese and cranberries. Tonight, I had an ice cream sandwich, and sprinkled it.

So, first of all, although the sprinkles do have a slight smell to them, I cannot taste them at all in the food nor do I smell them once they're on the food. I haven't noticed any particular fullness. We'll just see what happens.

Waiting for delivery...

First, a brief history of me: I'm 43 years old. I've been on a million diets. Some of them worked. But I also have struggled with emotional eating and binge eating since I was about 12 years old. So, even when the diets work, inevitably, the weight doesn't stay off. I believe that the best approach for me is intuitive eating, because when I start to count calories or restrict carbs or whatnot, I get crazed and obsessive, and end up binge eating. Intuitive eating means listening to your body for hunger and fullness signals, eating what makes me feel good, and paying attention to my food. I've tried this a few times, but find that fullness and satiety signals are very hard to detect.

Given that my weight struggles are not due to being hungry all the time, I'm skeptical that something like Sensa can work for me. But, ever the optimist, I've purchased a two-month trial. I did read from the online forums that many people have said that Sensa diminishes cravings and helps with binge eating. So, maybe? Plus the main purpose of Sensa is to give you fullness and satiety feelings, which is what I've found tough to sense ordinarily.

I ordered the two-month supply and paid for it (by paying for it outright, shipping was free, and there were some little packets included for free). I'm a little ticked that even though I was supposed to be getting expedited shipping, FedEx says it won't be delivered until July 17th. Given that I only have until August 8th to request a refund, that means I won't be able to fully sample it for a month to see if it's working. But we'll see what happens.

Note: I'm not being paid by Sensa to host this blog. I'm just a regular hopeless/hopeful dieter who wants to report her results here in a blog for all the world to see.