Believe it or not, I've never been on a weight reducing diet. I've been on special diabetes diets, but the goal was to modulate blood sugar, not lose weight. I'm always pregnant or nursing!

I generally "even out" at a size 10 in between babies . Lately, I've been a 10/12... edging closer to 12. Also, my feet just plain hurt.

I've also noticed that my "sweet treat" is now a "sweet standard - with seconds". Having a fun size candy bar with my coffee is not the exception. I spoil myself... everyday.

So I'm going to try this whole dieting thing. I may even attempt to work up a sweat.

Now the question is, which diet? We already eat fairly healthy. Brown rice, meatless meals, oatmeal for breakfast, whole wheat bread, pounds and pounds of fruit... all are standard routine around here. Which one should I try? Low carb? Food combining? McDougall?

Nah. I'm going to follow a method I heard about in high school (in biology, not the locker room) and came across again a while ago in the blogosphere. Look up how much your ideal weight is. For me, it's 135-140. ( Current weight: solid 160. I told you I was closer to a 12!)

Go here, and type in your goal weight, and other stats. Be brutally honest about activity level - check what it IS not what you want it to be. Figure out how many calories it takes to maintain that body weight. Eat that much food and no more.

For me, at a sedentary 140 pounds, it's 1909 calories per day.

The really great thing about this eating plan is that I don't have to radically alter anything for the rest of the family. There is no complaining or rebellion from anyone else to sabotage me. I can't force anyone to diet, anyway, and my kids don't need to. They shouldn't, what with the calories they burn drawing hopscotch grids on the carpet and climbing the walls and all.

So far, it's okay. Yesterday I ate 1905 calories. Today, I'm at 1500 after dinner (how the HECK did that happen?) so I have room to play - with ice cream! Woot!

The sad thing is, I've basically only eliminated mindless munching and replaced it with mindful munching. How much was I even eating before?

Things that are helping:

• I like unsweetened tea. I found coconut flavor at the dollar store and it's good!

• I went ahead and bought some frozen meals for my lunch. Michelina's budget entrees - I cook frozen veggies to add in because one of those things is seriously soooo not a meal. It's so much easier to have a portion and calorie controlled meal ready and waiting, instead of trying to figure out the calorie count from something I made. Truthfully, I usually skip lunch and just eat mindlessly here and there throughout the day.

• I made a list of 100-150 calorie snacks, so if I'm hungry, I know what to eat. I get my info from this site.

• I bought some extra munchies and divided them up into sandwich bags, each about 100 calories. 1/2 c. Crunch n Munch, for example, or 10 pretzel sticks. I rarely eat caramel corn, so it's an extra treat that helps "smooth the bumps" without breaking the calorie bank.

My list of snacks so far?

10 honey twist pretzels, 96
10 large baby carrots, 52
1 med. apple, 100
1 med. pear, 103
1 nectarine, 69
30 grapes w/ skin, 64 (frozen into grapesicles - no extra calories!)
1/2 c. oatmeal w/ 1 tsp. brown sugar, 126
Black bean salsa (black beans, corn, Rotel) 1/2 c., 75
4 gingersnaps, 120 (or, 30 calories each)
1/2 Crunch n Munch, 94


What are your favorite, low cal snacks?

Labels: cooking, diet, health