Do You Smell That? It's Sensa

On January 26th, svelte TV host Dayna Devon is bringing a new diet product the pantheon of impulse shopping: HSN. In case you've never dealt with insomnia, that's the Home Shopping Network's hip moniker.

The new diet product? Sensa - aka the Sprinkle Diet

Don't get too excited, it's not the little candy dealies that decorate your ice cream binge (if only those could make me thin). It's a chemical that convinces your brain that you're full. According to the Sensa website, the "Tastants" enhances the smell of food in order to trigger the "satiety center" of the brain (which, coincidentally, is close to the chocolate covered cortex) to make you stop eating. Just sprinkle on some of this magic dust - available in Salty or Sweet varieties - on at every meal.

It's supposed to help you train your brain to recognize portions. But, I liken it more to Flavor Tripping, where you pop an African berry (or gum or pill containing the active enzyme) in your mouth and suddenly everything is sweet and delicious. Your sense of taste, sweet taste specifically, become heightened. You could, without exaggeration, eat a lemon straight up and enjoy every second. However, the opposite tends to happen - you eat everything.

But Sensa, honestly, kinda freaks me out. I mean, it seems like a good idea, but it's a little Jetson-esque. The idea of sprinkling a compound on my foods kind of rubs me the wrong way (especially if said food is natural/organic/expensive). But more worrisome, is the lack of long term testing. Sure, there's a good amount of success stories, and studies to back it up. I'm a big believer of finding a diet that works for you. But, in the long run, what are the effects?

Sensa is pretty pricey - or I would've tried it before doing a write up (I still might try...ya know, for research). It's been available prior to the HSN launch tonight. It's about $60 for a month's supply, and $235 for 6 months worth. The Sensa website claims that the "average" test subject lost 30.5 pounds.

It's worth a look - again, if it works for you and you can stick to it, that's the diet you should go with. Success will not happen if you're feeling a struggle. Some dieters have really liked the product, and have found success.

For more info, check out trysensa.com or check out their own diet blog.

Oh, Willpower! Where Art Thou?

Confession: I have completely lost control. I've been on a month-long bender. Not alcohol (that would've been fun). Not drugs (I'd probably lose weight). Not shopping (haven't you seen the news? we're broke!). 

This picture is representative of my extended holiday eating spree. I have been shoveling foods into my mouth that should be illegal in 7 states, including Puerto Rico. Case in point, the pretzel pictured here, drowning in Nutella (possibly the most fattening food ever created). 

A little background: My holidays, run slightly longer than normal. My birthday is a week after New Year's, my hubby's is a short 20 days later, and before you know it, Valentine's Day is upon us. In my world, this is a whole lot of eating. I had no less than 3 birthday dinners, preceded by 2 Christmas celebrations away. And, 2 New Year's dinner parties hosted by yours truly, which means I've gorged on a ton of leftovers. That Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding with the decadent rum sauce was a good idea at the time, having it at every meal for a week...not so much. I almost linked to the recipe, but if you even go within 10 miles of that rum sauce, your pants button will pop.

Last year, I had a good amount of control. I kept a fairly even keel weight-wise. This year? I'm totally lost. The other day I found a jalapeno popper in my mouth, and I'm not even sure how it got there!

It's a shame, because right after the (regularly scheduled) holidays, I stepped on the scale to assess the damage. It wasn't bad! I was pleasantly surprised. However, something went awry and the signal of "oh sweet relief" was somehow translated by my brain as "please go eat an entire pizza." 

With this post, I resolve to do better. But to go forward, I must relive my past. Over the next week or so, I'll be recounting all my dieting successes and failures. That way, I can figure out my next step.

Sisterhood of the Accumulating Gray Pants

We're in a deep freeze here in the Northeast. It's bad, and I was NOT prepared. The morning of the cold snap had me running around like a maniac, tearing open storage boxes in search of a not-too-dated-or-ill-fitting cozy sweater. I managed to find a college-era sweater jacket, and it was probably the first time I ever hoped no one would notice it was from Abercrombie & Fitch (hey, I went to college in CT, what do you want from me?).

While tearing apart my sweater stash, I found something embarrassing: Gray Wool Pants.

This is embarrassing for a few reasons. One, the pants still had the tags on. Normally I'd be thrilled that I just found "free" pants. But, they're a size smaller than I normally wear (embarrassment #2). Now, this would typically be an inspiration moment for me...if I didn't just unpack 3 additional pairs of never-worn gray wool plants - all a size too small.

I think that every year, I score myself some sale pants. I stash them away, thinking "next year, I'll be smaller." Unfortunately, when it's wool pants weather, I'm usually bulked up for winter. Not only that, but they are light gray pants. Ya know, those ones that look tailored and sophisticated on tall, fit women world wide? But on lumpy ladies like myself, they leave nothing to the imagination. I can't even Spanx it till I make it with those things when they're the correct size!

So, gray pants part 4 is on my stack of 'wish list' pants. Maybe next year they'll fit. Maybe this year I won't succumb to Banana Republic's seasonal clearance sale...

Today's Obsession: The Biggest Loser

I'm ashamed to say that I write a diet blog, yet, I've never sat down to watch an episode of The Biggest Loser. 

There, I said it. I feel better. 

But as research for Diet Drama, I figured I would give it a shot. I kind of committed to it. I wanted to like it, I really did. But I guess I just can't relate. I wish they had the Biggest Fat Girl instead...just a series of women (like myself) who want to drop 30 or so pounds. I could cry on a treadmill, I used to torture my trainer with incessant whining. You need me to pass out during a work out? I can pass out! I'm full of drama, and I'm softer than I should be. Why can't one of these uber-trainers kick my ass on TV? 

Anyway, I thought some of the challenges looked kind of fun. The contestants had to race over a huge mound of dirt - and it totally looked like it was happening in slow motion. I guess what the contestants really need to be taught is how to fight for it. That's half the battle of losing weight. You have to want it. Bad. If you don't, you'll just look at the mound of dirt (or fat flopped over your waistband) as an obstacle. It should be viewed as a challenge that can easily be overcome.

What did occur to me, is I need to be more patient. I was dying for the contestants to get their butts over that dirt hill. They were all moving at a pretty slow pace. Me? I want things fastfastfast gogogo! This includes my weight loss efforts. I need to learn to accept that it takes time. The Biggest Loser, however, will not help me overcome that mentality. The contestants lose weight in an impossibly fast rate of time. I've heard rumors that there are laxatives and other shady dealing going on to help that happen (hey, it's good TV). But while it inspires people to get off the couch (after watching the show and buying all the advertisers' products, of course) and lose weight, it does instill some pretty unrealistic expectations. 

Just remember, the slower you take it off, the longer it stays off. 

Gym-any Gillickers!

So everyone is bummed....

The Economy Blows

The Job Market Sucks

The Holidays Were Hell

The least anyone can do to make themselves happy is get svelte. This is my scientific theory after seeing the parking lot at my gym last night. I showed up for my usual Pilates torture session (yes, I'm still getting the fat chick treatment) and it was like the mall at holiday time! Cars were even doing the slow creep behind the tired, sweaty post-workout people. 

Now I don't claim that I'm anywhere near in shape after the holidays. In fact, I was sick (hence the semi-blackout on this site) and couch-bound for days. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a post-holiday crowd this big before. Last year I was working with a trainer for about 4 months before the New Year's resolution-ers showed up. Even though I was able to smugly complain about the lack of elliptical machines, the crowd was minimal compared to this year. Yesterday, the gym locker room was like the bathroom in Grand Central (complete with people walking straight into me while desperately trying to avoid eye contact).

Is it because everyone is so strapped for money that they're tired of paying their self-imposed monthly Fat Tax (aka Gym Membership)? Or did we all comfort ourselves with food this December? I know I did. I'm rocking my January fat pants, but hopefully not for much longer. 

My resolution always starts around January 10th. My birthday is tomorrow (January 7...you can send me a card next year) and we'll go out the weekend after. I'll be at the gym next Monday anyway, but I'll still be mentally shaking my fist at the January gym-folk. Do I sound bitter? I'm not...I actually hope that if you started this month, you're still hogging the treadmills next month. Stick with it!!

The Cookie Diet?? Don't toy with me...

One of the first diet news items that came across my desk was some fanfare about the Cookie Diet.

Really? Could such a thing really exist? Can I live out my lifelong dream of stuffing an obnoxious number of Oreos in my mouth - so many that I need to soften them by pouring milk into my mouth in order to move my jaw....and still lose weight?

Yeah - I didn't think so. But this diet does claim you can, nay, should, eat SIX cookies a day, plus a healthy meal. Ah, but not just any cookie. It has to be Dr. Siegal's specially formulated, amino-acid-fortified, $60-for-a-weekly-supply cookie (and at CookieDiet.com, they implore you Beware of Imitators on every page).

Why is this on my desk? Because it's craziness? Yeah, a little. But this little piece of insanity has been kicking around for nearly 35 years! The secret, however is the calorie count: 1,000 per day, to be exact. Pretty much any gimick providing a super low calorie count will have you losing weight. One of the Half Their Size success stories on the cover of People magazine claims this plan as the secret to her success. It goes back to the old adage that if you find something that you can stick to, it will be successful.

CookieDiet.com recently underwent and overhaul, boasting all sorts of new features. One includes a Weight Loss Goal calculator. According to Dr. Siegal, it's designed to help one set realistic goals. He goes on to claim that this super-genius, one-of-a-kind tool (um, I've seen a BMI chart before) removes the uncertainty of dieting. So I had to check it out, of course.

I signed up for the site, assuming I needed a free membership (I didn't, but now I'm nervous that they have my billing address). Once I finally found the tool, I discovered I couldn't use it! Wha?!

It's a three-step process. But, it turns out, you have to buy a month's worth of Cookie Diet cookies (just shy of $1 each btw) to be able to calculate anything! Nothing removes uncertainty for me like not knowing what my weight loss goal is for an entire month!! I could just hear the ad executives slapping each other on the back for being so very clever. The only thing worse than a gimmick, is a thinly veiled gimmick.

If you've had success on this diet, drop me an email. I don't want to totally pan the plan as a scam, but it sounds about on par with most schemes I've had experience with (ahem...LA Weight Loss...ahem) that are all about moving product and collecting cash.