About the Author
Hello! My name is Mary Ann Senatore, and I live in sunny south Florida. I am the mother of a beautiful daughter named Nicole and have two cats named Zoey and Gizmo. Nicole is 22 years old and is autistic, and has shown me how to love blindly and unconditionally.
I have a Bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the University of Phoenix on-line in Business Administration. I work in a large medical center and although I am not a nurse, I find my work at the hospital challenging, rewarding, and very fast paced.
When I am not at work, I enjoy spending time with my daughter and close friends. My passion is music and seeing concerts from Billy Joel to Tom Russell and any kind of music in between, and I am look looking forward very much to seeing my first opera some day.
To date, I have lost 85 pounds and am at my goal weight. It has been a long journey with setbacks and joys, but I did it and now, I am looking forward to the opportunity this column has given me to discuss with everyone the emotions and experiences of weight loss. My weight loss program is Weight Watchers.
Losing weight is not easy, but perhaps knowing that there is a friend out there who knows what you are feeling will make the journey easier. I would like to be that friend. You can also find me on Facebook as well.
If you need motivation, NEVER LET GO OF YOUR DREAMS. Take a look at this video clip and I hope you are as inspired as I am to not give up, become discouraged, and to keep going.
http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html
Enjoying the journey,
Mary Ann Senatore
Your Weight Losing Friend
I am both a white chocaolic and need crunchies like crackers or chips. While I am not technically overweight I have gained 10 lbs. since going through menopause. Any ideas??
Rosemary,
Thank you for your question. I think chocolate is probably the most perfect food.
Dark is my preference, followed by white, and being diabetic and on Weight Watchers, I thought I was going to have to give up chocolate, but that certainly was not the case.
Of course moderation and planning are key, however I have found some amazing sugar free products and low calorie chocolate snacks.
KozyShack has an individual pudding snack called SimplyWell which does come in dark chocolate(1 point). Nabisco makes a 100 calorie snack of milk chocolate covered pretzels(2 points). For the white chocolate fans as yourself, Sunmaid has white chocolate covered raisins in snack packs( 3 points).
There are many 100 calorie snacks that are crunchy, full of taste, and perfect for individual snacking, lunches, and grab-n-go.
You also mention menopause. I am right there with you, and I especially like that you are looking at your weight at a 10 pound gain. As every weight loss journey begins with one pound, so does every weight gain journey. I am so glad to see you recognize and ask for some suggestions to get things under control. Hot flashes and weight gain is not fun!
“Only” 10 pounds, does have a way to turn to 15, or 20 and before we turn around, we are looking at an 84 pound journey as I had before me. Good for you!
I hope as you take your next trip to the supermarket that you will look for these and other healthy but good tasting snacks and please let me know how where your journey takes you next.
Thank you for letting me be part of your success!
Mary Ann
Never heard of this before, but thanks for opening up my eyes.
Thankyou, I didn’t new that, much appreciated.