My two diets!

I am following two diets -- so does this mean I am making up my own diet plan? For years, I have thought that I probably know just as much about dieting as those making money off various plans -- but what I lack are the credentials. I am a mere ex-journalist-turned-PR exec, who has been on hundreds of diets, and read about every other diet ever conceived.

This month I am following the Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure, keeping my sugar grams to 15 daily and my carb servings to 6, while counting Weight Watchers Points. And in the past week, I've lost 4.8 pounds, which for me is amazing. First, because that is a huge amount of weight, something I equate to almost five pounds of butter. Look at that the next time you hit the grocery stores. Or 5 pounds of potatoes.

Second: The only other time I have ever pulled these numbers is when I have decided to go on a diet, and then eaten everything in sight the week before. Those times I was losing just-gained weight. This time, I had been going to Weight Watchers for four weeks, so this weight loss is real.

I love the Belly Fat Cure, but right now, the amount of allowed fats is too much for me to wrap my mind around. And there are not real portion sizes, although Cruise is an advocate of portion control. So here's where I need Weight Watchers, a plan that is all about portion sizes.

What I am really interested in is Cruise's feeling about sugar, how harmful it is, the reason so many of us suffer from diabetes, heart disease and cancer. He says there is much research to support this claim, so right now, I am trying to read as much as I can about the sugar/disease connection.

What I do know is that this week I have had more energy than I have had in a long time, and that my food cravings have all about disappeared. This has happened before -- many times -- and I am praying that this time it will be a permanent fix. In the past, I lose interest and begin yo-yoing.

So I am taking it one day at a time, journaling like I have never done before, writing everything down that crosses my lips. Everything. I'm even writing down how much water I'm drinking, because I need to make sure I am drinking the amount I am supposed to consume.

And I say a prayer of thanks each night when I make it to bed eating only my Weight Watchers Points and controlling my sugar and carbs. And each morning, as I make my breakfast, I pray for the strength I need to make only great food choices. And this is my goal this week: To remember to say thank you and ask for guidance to make it through each day.