I'm finally beginning to figure out how to eat without putting on more pounds.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

This year has been one of almost constant slow weight gain for me. A lot of the trouble is I've never had problem with weight before. I could eat whatever I wanted for the most part, and I would just burn it off without much exercise. Now my body is obviously changing.

 

So here is what I've figured I have to use as a basic meal plan for myself that is not inconvenient:

 

Breakfast- Only oatmeal (regular) or bran flakes daily, with raisins or a piece of fruit and milk on top. Cinnamon allowed, but No Sugar! Once a week a homemade breakfast, but no butter or bacon for me. If I don't stick to this I start gaining again.

 

Lunch- Vegetable soup, and half a sandwich (smoked turkey, tuna, eggsalad, grilled cheese) or whole grain crackers with cheese. Friday is homemade pizza day and I can have 2 slices.

 

Mid afternoon snack options- popcorn (no butter), pretzels, fruit, lowfat yogurt, carrot sticks.

 

Dinner- I eat the same food as everyone else but only as much starch and meat as my 3yo. and double portions of veggies.

 

Sweets- my downfall. I have decided that I will not make a homemade sweet more than once a week. The kids and dh will just have to live with it. When I do make some, I will eat one and only one serving. This is the hardest thing. I do allow myself one dessert serving at church during Wednesday night dinner and the once a month Sunday afternoon dinner, but lately I've found that they just don't seem as appetizing as they used to.

 

Eventually, I may have to cut back even more, but so far I've lost 3 lbs. in 2 weeks just sticking to this plan.

 

This is so much easier for me than trying to stick to someone else's diet plan because it works within the way our family already eats. It also allows me to feel like I'm not totally missing out.

 

Also, I'm not a big water drinker, so I've been drinking a lot more tea, mostly herbal, that helps to make me feel full.

 

Anyway, I've found that eating the same way everyday, for the most part, helps take the guess work out of deciding what to eat.

[Beth in Central TX]

Yes, an eating routine is good around here too. As I was getting older, I started putting on a few pounds here and there, even with exercising. In an attempt to watch my blood sugar recently, I decided to stop eating after 9pm because that's usually when I craved sweets. Then I moved the time back to 7pm. This little change in my eating habit helped me to those those little pounds that had been adding up over the past years. Originally, I lost 13 pounds, but now I'm holding steady at a 10 pound loss--I can still eat brownies, I just have to do it before 7pm.

[RoughCollie]

That works for me too -- when I do it. You're inspiring me to begin anew.

 

RC

 

Anyway, I've found that eating the same way everyday, for the most part, helps take the guess work out of deciding what to eat.