I hate diets. I am so against them. I think going no-sugar, no fat is rediculous.
HOWEVER. I am getting married in November and in desperate attempts to thin up (or down?) before the date comes, I am "dieting".
Now, Denise Austin is a strange strange lady - BUT - her work out videos are amazing. She is hilarious to me, and it keeps me going. She's very motivating. I have like 8 of her work out DVDs. Dancing/Yoga/Stretch for slow days, Cardio Fat Blashing "Women Zone" etc for medium days, and the BOOT CAMP 8-o (SO HARD my hubby who is in the military even breaks a sweat haha) for "LETS MELT SOME LBS!" days!
So anyways, back to the "diet". Honestly? You don't have to go nuts.
I am a fatty eater. I eat pizza (half of a frozen pizza.. really.), whole box of velveeta mac & cheese, and about a 12 box of pop a week. (yes.)
(If you want my picture, and how much I weigh, just ask! I have no problem sharing, just not in public
)
I know what my personal habits are. I cannot control my portion size. That's the big thing for me. It was tough when I went to dieting, to actually realize what a portion size is. And? When I'm nervous/overwhelmed/stressed I eat. Even if I'm as full as can be, I'll eat. (I HATE that I do that, and it seems simple to quit.. but it's like smoking. I can't! LOL)
But, the first week I started, I lost 6lbs. Honest.
I changed everything to low fat/no fat, low sugar/no sugar.
Even small changes, it all made a big difference. Here are some things
Miracle Whip instead of Mayonaise.
No Sugar Ketchup (or low sugar)
No/Low sugar Syrup
No Sugar Jelly
Diet Pop
low fat crackers
No Fat Kraft American Slices (They taste the same!!)
(Do not cook with shredded no fat cheese. It doesnt cook right - it hardens up quick when cooled. Icky)
100 calorie snack packs
100 calorie Doritos/Cheetos etc
Ultra Lean ground beef (97/3, it's like $2 more @ walmart...)
There is a type of bread, called "Delight" by Sara Lee, it's 45 calories per slice. And it's still pretty good. It's lighter than the normal slice of bread, but it gets the job done. I like it.
I don't care what people tell you about "low carb" is the way to go.
That is complete bullsh*t. Honest!! It's a quick fix, but not a long term solution.
Also, Pick up some bottled sparkling green tea from Lipton. I am a big pop drinker (obviously) so I need the carbination in drinks, therefore I get the sparkling tea. Green tea will literally help melt the lbs right off (Plus, bonus antioxidants!) I at least drank one bottle a day, and tried for two.
(You can of course drink regular green tea...
)
I try to stay around 1800-2000 calories a day. The things to look for are:
Fat, Proteins, and
Calories!!
Each meal is usually 400-500 calories, and snacks are 200-300ish.
Don't go over 4-5 hours without eating anything, or your "Starvation mode"
will become active! (That means, the next time you eat, your body will likely store more of it as fat, in case it "starves" in the future)
It's very true, that home-cooking your meals is much healthier, even if they are "Bad foods"
My favorite, of course, is pizza! My problem? Portion size!
In the bread aisle in walmart, there are "wraps" (like tortillas...)
Whole grain, of course. (healthy!)
I take one of those, put a little pizza sauce on it.
I place 10 or so pepperonis around (I think the portion size is 14 ..but check your label)
and 1/4 cup of pizzaria cheese (not a lot of cheese.. but thats the portion size! You can add more, and cut from somewhere else during the day, ofc)
I am a very VERY picky eater. No vegetables, etc. (potatoes are not a veggie to me! hah!)
Anyways, Pizza is my fav, like I mentioned, and this pizza is actually good!
It's a little floppy, as the wrap doesn't crisp up much.
You can also take a Pita Bread, and make that a crust. I do that too, (whole grain of course!) and it's crispier.
Hamburger? No problem!
Let's say you get a pound of ground beef. That's actually 4 hamburgers.
Cut it into 4s. Yum!
(Whole wheat buns! Add the no/low sugar ketchup and cheese!)
Buy a sack of potatos. Make your own french fries. Cut the potatoes, and dip the potatoes
in olive oil. salt them up, and bake them. Yum! (Don't deep fry!!! BAKE!)
Make sure with every MEAL you drink a glass of milk, and a glass of water.
Try to drink Skim or 1% milk. Absolutely avoid whole milk.
The milk will help keep you full, and water is good for you. It also helps to keep you full, but the milk is great. (three glasses of low fat milk a day help you shed your weight)
Breakfast meals are simple too. Check these out...
Make plain oatmeal (I know.. yuck) and add a tablespoon or two of your no sugar syrup. It tastes just like it has sugar in there. AMAZING ISNT IT!?
or
Make two frozen waffels (whole grain, and if you get a fruity one, make it blueberry!) and instead of syrup, try your no sugar jelly. With your waffels, you can have a fruit, and a cup of yogurt. Try a glass of orange juice instead of water for breakfast. But don't forget your milk
Speaking of Orange Juice, Try "Trop50", it's 50% less sugar, etc etc than the regular. I tried the no pulp.. but it tastes like orange water. Then I got the one with pulp and it was delicious. (I usually HATE pulp!)
One of my favorites is the western scramble. (And I normally
HATE eggs with a passion)
Take a couple eggs, whisk them up with a little milk. Add some chopped green and red peppers, and add chopped/cubed ham add cubed cooked potato. Then proceed as if you were making scrambled eggs. YUM!! You can even stuff this inside a pita bread. (Don't forget your milk! hehe)
And for me, it seems to work best to have soup for lunch. Try for Campbell healthy request, or healthy choice. Campbell also has 100calorie "to-go" soups. Along with the soup, eat a portion size (read the label) crackers. You can use saltines, or even hmm... what are they called. You know, snack crackers. Ritz? (They are also available in low fat. Get those. They honestly taste the same) But the portion size is lower on those of course as opposed to saltines (which also come in low fat. get those!).
With your soup, you can even make half a ham&cheese sandwich. (a
whole sandwhich AND a can of soup is overkill. besides, with your glass of milk & water, you'll be full!)
These examples, I am just trying to express you can pretty much eat (on the healthiest way of course) anything, just watch your portion, and fat/protein/calorie intake.
I did this, I was never hungry. I loved the food I ate.
I can actually post recipes if you gals are interested.
Again, I lost 6lbs in a week on this "diet. "
I didn't think I would last. I hate diets. But I was pleasently suprised and how I was never full. Ask my hubby, every 5 minutes. "Omg, I can't beleive im still full!" haha.
(I was also working out, cardio and weight training)
I lost a couple inches around my weight, hips, thighs and biceps. I dont have the measurements right now, I'd have to go look in my note book. Thats right.. I was recording =P)
