The Plan...

Today is going better. Just to clarify yesterday's post...I didn't intentionally not eat anything until lunch...I forgot to eat, and I didn't have any change...of course, it would have ended up in a vending machine, and I would have blown it before I barely even got started! So, today is better and I'll try and post tonight how I did through the whole day.

A year ago I started to try and lose weight, and I developed some rules that worked for me. I'm not saying if they are right or wrong, but it helped me lose 15 pounds and keep it off for 6 months. I'm going to have to tweek it a little, though, because after the first 4 months, I hit a plateau, and that's pretty much why I quit. Obviously the plan isn't perfect, but that's why I'm blogging...for help and advice to get me to the place where I will be thin AND healthy.

So, here are the rules...my starting point:

1. No pop--even diet isn't good for you. It's not good for ME. I can't just stop at one, and the sugar in it makes me crave more sugar. I hate diet pop.
2. Always eat breakfast. Choices to include: an English muffin with a little margarine and a tablespoon of strawberry jelly on each half. or fruit and a Special K cereal bar.
3. Drink 8 - 8 oz. glasses of water every day. You can use the Crystal Light powders and count that as part of your total, because they have only 5 calories. The Raspberry Ice ones are yummy! (That's what helped me to kick my pop addiction.)
4. Try to walk every day on breaks. At least in the morning for 15 minutes if you can.
5. Lunch - Lean Cuisines or Healthy Choice or Weight Watchers during week when at work. I try to stay under 5 grams of fat...3.5 if possible.
6. Fast Food-McDonalds I will have a reg. hamburger, a fruit parfait and a bottle of water. Taco Bell you can have a bean tostada and water, but they have more fat. At Arby's, I have a regular roast beef plain and do't eat the top bun. At Burger King, I get the garden salad with grilled chicken and low fat honey mustard dressing. No croutons! So far, that's what I have been having for fast food, which I am trying to avoid. With 2 teenage daughters, that can be tough!
7. I also take a multi vitamin every day. It seems to help with my cravings. I take One A Day for Women.
8. To help with my chocolate cravings, I have chocolate Teddy Grahms. You can have 24 of them and they are about 120 calories! That is my late night snack sometimes with a small glass of milk (gotta have that calcium, too!)
9. Another snack is low fat Fudgesicles. They have them at many of the grocery store chains. Schwan's has some that are excellent, too. That curbs my ice cream cravings...
10. I only weigh myself once per week, on the same day, same scale wearing as little as possible. (That's a pretty mental picture, I'm sure.)(don't go there!)
So, that is the old rules. We'll see how that goes and try and refine it to something that works, without having to pay someone else to think for me.

All for now...off to get rid of some of the 64 oz. of water I've been drinking all morning! Bud