Email Response

I wanted to respond to a comment posted on my blog:

"As I commented on your blog before you (the plastic surgeries)you look great and I commend you efforts. But, what keeps you motivated, and i also read that you ate a lot of Lean Cuisine when you first started. What do you eat normally snacks included."

My response:
For two years, I ate a pretty plain diet while I was losing weight. My goal was to eat about 1500-1800 calories a day. For me, it was all about substituting things I liked with lower-calorie options. Instead of real butter, I used "I can't believe it's not butter" spray--I think it was like 10 calories. Here is a list of things I used to eat for each meal:

BREAKFAST
*Oatmeal or
*Breakfast sandwich (Eggbeaters, 1/2 a slice of American Cheese, English muffin)

AM SNACK
*Yogurt or
*Fruit of some kind

LUNCH
*Turkey sandwich with American Cheese on the Sara Lee 45 calorie bread with a serving of Wheat Thins

PM SNACK
*fruit

DINNER
*Lean Cuisines with a salad or
*Grilled chicken with salad or
*Fish with a salad

DESSERT
*Rice Krispie Treat (90 calorie snack size) or
*Smart Ones Frozen dessert

Why I liked eating the Lean Cuisines was simple: it's a serving size. I had to relearn what a serving was and not to overeat. Having a fixed amount of food helped. But I found that it often wasn't filling enough. That's why I would make a salad or veggie with it.

What kept me motivated was actually seeing the weight loss. I saw that what I was doing was WORKING. That's the best motivation! Something else that helped was having a specific goal that is attainable. I wanted to lose 5o pounds before my brother's wedding. I reached that goal. Then I wanted to lose 75 pounds. When I reached 75 pounds lost, I said "I can totally lose another 25!" And I did! Having a good support system helped, and of course positive feedback from other people helped too.

I'm looking forward to planting my carrots soon. The seed pack says it takes 70 days before they grow. Yay! I will have carrots for summer!

UPDATE: I tried the Dannon Greek Yogurt for snack today. It's pretty good! It's kind of like the "fruit on the bottom" yogurt. My only complaint is that it's almost too fruity and sweet.