Oh you people are all way too healthy. You must all be sticks!
I just wanted to share that, with a lot of weight to lose and after an adult lifetime of dieting (not done everything, but have done a few of them several times, plus just calorie counting) ... this winter I decided to let myself eat whatever I want, but I have re-ordered how I eat. I front-load the calories, so to speak.
So...
I have a big breakfast -- usually two pieces of toast (smothered with Smart Balance, sorry, can't help it, I'm addicted to it), often with eggs but not always. Fpr awhile I was actually eating home fries with it sometimes, but I've given this up. I still lost weight just as fast, though. On Saturday mornings I make special scrambled eggs or sometimes an omelette.
Lunch is usually a box of frozen vegetables (a certain brand and mix), or often tuna salad on a salad, or sometimes cooked vegetables from the cafeteria downstairs (it's sort of a health-food cafeteria and they have fabulous vegetables).
Often I have no dinner but if I do, I make it a lean cuisine. I used to cook when I got home from work but no more.
During the day I might have a handful of trail mix. (Trader joe's. Yum!) sometimes I'm ravenous so I glom some little pretzels from someone.
To handle my sweet cravings I keep nutella at home. A teaspoon of that obliterates the need for chocolate and sweet.
I also have diet jello. That helps when I want something sweet or something cold. (This is new for me, I've never been much of a jello fanatic.) Also sugar-free popsicles or lately, Edy's no-sugar-added frozen fruit pops.
But the really funny thing is that this all started with a stomach flu. I had it for a day or two, couldn't eat, and when I got out of it my whole world had changed. I simply had a whole different outlook on food. I actually saw normal-sized portions and was satisfied by them. This makes sense because my doctor told me awhile ago that researchers had found that overweight people actually see food differently.
But here is the funniest thing of all -- the only thing I could eat when I was sick was salami. I had a huge craving for it, even stopped at a store late at night to get it. So a lot of mornings I have two pieces of salami at home. (I have breakfast at work but have an hour's drive.) So I call this the salami diet. I'm trying to give that up, though! The nitrates are so bad for you. I never ever ate the stuff before!
I only have a few guidelines, and they are no dairy (which is HUGE for me. The pounds drop off when I give up dairy), and I have as little sugar as possible. And, I front-load the calories at the beginning of the day. That has made a huge difference.
But when I'm hungry, I eat, so sometimes, like yesterday, I eat a lot more. But not usually.
I have lost about 40 lbs since January doing this. Still have a long way to go, but it is easy and it feels permanent. If I can do this while going through the past many months, I'm doing great!
Oh -- and wellbutrin is a great help, I think. It took awhile for the weight loss part to kick in, but I swear it really helps with the weight loss.
I know losing weight wasn't the point of this, but I'm so happy I found my magic formula that I just wanted to share. I finally understand how people can come home from work and have cereal for supper.
...and my new treat is Turkey Hill lemon/cherry italian ice. Great!
