Eating to Lose Weight and Stay Healthy

Some of you have been wondering just how/what I have been doing to lose weight.

I originally started with Weight Watchers. That worked at first, very well. But my subscription expired and I didn't want to spend the money to extend it. Not to mention I have been reading a book that goes into detail the food that I need to avoid to help my stomach. I will eventually write about my stomach problems, but they are long.

So, I decided to give this diet a try. Although I don't really like to call it a diet. It is really a lifestyle change.

I have really changed the way I eat. This is what my typical dinner consists of. Rice, vegetable and fish. In this case it was salmon. I couldn't tell you the last time I had red meat or milk for that matter.

The rice and the green beans are steamed, the salmon was grilled on cedar planks.

I eat a lot of vegetables and rice now. I am so used to eating healthy that when I do eat something junky, my stomach revolts and I am sick for a day or two!

This is blackened catfish, orange rice and green beans.

Pizza with no cheese and a salad.

It has been very hard. And while I have upped my exercise, I have not lost a single pound in over a month. I don't know if I am trading fat for muscle. But I have lost 30 pounds total and am hoping to lose another 10-20. We will see. I am not stressing over it, I want to be healthy, not super skinny.

On a typical day I eat 1/2 cup low fat granola and a banana for breakfast along with peppermint tea. If I am really tired, I will drink coffee. However I am supposed to avoid coffee. But some days it is a must.

For lunch I will eat tuna with plain pasta or a spicy black bean burger with rice. Or I will eat leftovers from dinner, always very heavy on the veggies and rice or pasta.

A snack will consist of soy yogurt with some berries mixed in, more low fat granola, a piece of fruit or a couple of homemade ginger snaps.

By the time dinner rolls around I am usually very hungry. I try to eat carrots or peppers while I am cooking but some days I succumb to my craving and steal a chocolate chip cookie. Only to feel like I am going to throw up later. Why do I do that?

It is the strangest thing. I have figured out that my main culprit in my stomach issues is chocolate. That used to be my favorite thing and my downfall. I am not one of those people that can eat a nibble and be satisfied, I have to have a lot. And a lot makes me vomit. Enough said. So, you would think I wouldn't want it at all, but I do. It is a learning process. I am trying.

My exercise routine consists of either doing one of my exercise videos at 5:00 a.m. before work or running with my little man in the jogging stroller. I enjoy the running more but some days I have to settle for the video. Also on the days I work I walk a couple miles on my morning and afternoon breaks. Not to mention I find every opportunity to play with my kids. Today for instance I spent half the day playing soccer with my kids or pulling them in wagons.