Diet Tips and Secrets

It seems like only yesterday that I sat in my Italian Grandma's kitchen watching her make those big round ravioli's stuffed with cheese and her homemade sausage. I remember having to sit forward in my seat because her homemade noodles were hanging from the backs of all the chairs to dry.  I also remember not being able to sit at all, but just lie down and moan as the day went on because I was just so full.  I recall when she'd make her special apple pie and she'd take the leftover pie crust and bake it for me because I just loved eating the crust so much.  Sometimes she'd top it with raspberry jam.

In retrospect, it amazes me that today I don't weight 400 pounds.  I must have had one heck of a metabolism, but still, the weight started to creep up in early grammar school.  I never was exactly fat, but I hated that my Dad called me "chubby little Nan".  It wouldn't be until High School that I'd do anything about it and I remember drinking nothing but something called Metrical, a chocolate diet drink from back in the day.  Eventually, as I crept into my twenties,  I'd starve myself to stay slim, often proud and boasting to my cousin Kim that I'd only eaten 1 apple and a cup of chicken bouillon all day.  I was anorexic then, at only about 95 pounds on my 5'4" frame.

In my late twenties, I tried a vegetarian diet.  It worked OK, but I wasn't as slim as I would have liked, and I was never able to hold the 115 pound goal I was aiming for.  My focus became a series of different fad diets, every one that you've heard of I've tried.  I've eaten low fat and no fat foods for years and years and while I would lose a few pounds, I would never reach my goal no matter how long I stayed on it or how little fat I ate.  Everyone I whined to told me to get over it, that I was getting older and that my goal was unreasonable.  Finally, one of my internet friends, just around my age,  told me what she was doing, and that she was having problems keeping the weight on.  I tried what she was doing and I didn't lose.  Finally, I adapted my own method, adapting her style and tips with my own,  and I'm happy to say that finally, some thirty years later, I've reached my goal and I've kept the weight off.

So I'll bet you're wondering what the diet "secret" is.  Well, unfortunately the most important tool for success is your own self control.  There are no miracle diets or secrets that will work without your own determination and discipline, but I can perhaps make it easier for you....and there is one major secret to this diet.  I don't want to even refer to it as a diet actually, because it must become  a "lifestyle", something permanent.

OK then, so what's the secret?  Go ahead and eat that double cheeseburger if you must......but please......THROW AWAY the bun !!!  Sugar is your enemy!!  Your body turns carbohydrates into sugar.  Your body doesn't know the difference between a cup of sugar and a cup of pasta.  Now you wouldn't eat a cup of sugar would you?  Throw away the pasta  !!!  Throw away the rice and the potatoes !!!!

Think it's impossible?  Not really, you'll get used to it very quickly if you find something else you like instead.  No one can tell you what that is, you have to figure this out for yourself.

Let me explain to you how I do it.  I don't starve myself at all, I'm plenty full all day, and it seems that all I do is eat.   Imagine that!!!!  Someone actually even pointed that out to me the other day.  I wasn't even embarrassed, I just giggled.

First of all I admit that it's easier for me because I'm single, but I have a friend that's married with a family and she's done it.  Gone from 170 pounds to 120 pounds in just a few months, and kept it off.

Here's what I did.  I threw away all the bread, rolls, buns, pasta, and rice.  I bought vegetables, fruit (go easy on apples, pears, and bananas), dried fruit (go easy, just a few), nuts, and lots of mostly-lean proteins, eggs, low fat cheeses and dairy.  The fun part is that you don't need to eliminate fat altogether.  You can eat cheese, you can eat whole eggs, you can use olive oil or canola oil, you can use mayo or even butter.  Just don't spread that butter on a slice of bread, and try not to eat a lot of fat when it's not necessary to still get full flavor.

Once a week I make a big vegetable and turkey-sausage soup because I like to have something simple and hot when I get home late at night from my 14 hour work day.  During the week I also keep cut up raw veggies and prepare my own low-fat dip.  I usually just buy a pre-made, sour-cream-based dip from the store and thin it with lots of low fat yogurt to cut calories way down but still get the flavor.  I'll often make a batch of deviled eggs on Sunday while I'm making the soup.  I buy freshly sliced deli cold cuts (don't buy the cheaper but yucky pre-packaged stuff) and freshly sliced deli cheeses.  I poach some boneless skinless chicken breasts, and I buy some ready-made chicken salad from the deli counter.  I may buy some frozen broccoli or spinach in cheese sauce, and a can of tuna fish.  I like to prepare the broccoli in cheese sauce in the microwave, then stir in a can of tuna and just eat it in a bowl for a quick snack.  There's a Russian market near me that sells these yummy eggplant or red bell pepper appetizers in jars that contain no sugar and few calories.  They really dress up that chicken, hot or cold.

I no longer cook/eat any "meals" per se.  I simply snack on the foods that I have purchased for the week as listed above or similar foods.  Before work I'm usually too busy to eat trying to get ready and taking care of my FurGang of animals, but I pack up all the food I plan to eat over the next 14 hours and I take it all with me.  I'm the one eating grapes while driving on the freeway instead of potato chips.   Here's where determination and control come in.  I only eat what I brought with me and I don't leave to go get food.  Actually now, I have everyone at work bringing their own food too.  My containers generally hold a nice variety of things so I don't get bored.  A couple pieces of fruit, a cold chicken breast with some of that eggplant or roasted red pepper appetizer I previously mentioned.  I may bring an artichoke, a few deviled egg halves, a scoop of chicken salad....maybe some cold roast of some sort that I made in the crock pot over the weekend, and always, always a big container of raw veggies and dip for whenever I get the need to munch.  I eat all day long and usually weight less when I get home than when I got up.

When I get home I eat something small before I go to bed.  I find comfort from the long, hard work day when I climb into my bed with food.  It's usually a little after midnight by this time and a nice bowl of soup hits the spot.  My very own special comforting, creamy soup recipe can be found on my cooking pages as well as my delicious crustless pizza.  Crustless pizza?  How can that be?  How about a pizza made with a "crust" of ground turkey, then topped with all the usual pizza toppings.  YUM !!!  Even my regular-pizza-eating friends wanted to try it.

Now don't think that I haven't any weaknesses either.  I LOVE chocolate.  Well, guess what?  I buy sugar-free, carbolite (carb-free) brand chocolate bars and they are really, really good.  I also buy one container of my favorite chocolate velvet soy ice cream every week.  Yes, it has sugar, but I just have a small bowl only sometimes when I get home from work instead of the soup.  Don't deny yourself completely, but don't eat anything made with flour or other starchy things.  Have pudding (you can make it sugar free), or jello, or custard.  There is a sugar substitute called Splenda that is great in cooking, measures the same as sugar.  Make a pumpkin pie with Splenda, and eat it like custard, without the crust.  You can even make a "crust of ground pecans and melted better pressed into a pie plate and topped with the pumpkin mixture.  Again though, watch your calories, they DO count.  Make  a low fat cheesecake ( use Splenda instead of sugar and don't make the crust...you'll have a wonderful cheese mousse.)

So, now that you've got the hang of it, good luck and Email me with your success story and I'll link it to my page if you'd like.

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