Diet, Diet, Diet

Diet, abstinence from food, wieght reduction plan, nutrition therapy, eating sparingly, counting calories, slimming down, tightening your belt, watching what you eat.

Oh, it goes by many names. The dreaded months before summer when the heat rises and the shorts come out. The cute highly doctored models on the magazine covers taunt us to look better and we fall victim yet again to the urges fostered in us from almost infancy. We must be skinny. We must be toned. We must be super energetic despite our 1500 calorie diets. We can look like the men and women who have thousands to blow on trainers, chefs, and surgery!

Actually I'm not one for fad dieting. At least not the kind were I have to buy pills or special foods. Alright, enough justification. I do fall prey to the dieting whims. The super high fiber, only juice, no carbs, calorie counting kind of diets that I think might somehow magically change my knees into something I will be proud of. (Note to self, once you are past 30 no knees are cute). I am also kind of hoping to get the perfect flat stomach and non jiggly arms. I  lose a few pounds and then celebrate with a weekend of ice cream and oreos.

Dang. Those 5 pounds just came back.

Truth be told I just enjoy food too much to really stick to these diets. I know many women who have the willpower and I know myself well enough to know I am not one of them. But I do feel better when I get in the regular exercise, lots of water, and a few more veggies. So this year I am doing it different.

I will only eat one small bowl of frito pie. I will skip the sour cream and reduce the number of chips.
I will buy reduced fat feta cheese for my salad tonight and increase the veggies I add.
I will only eat one cookie instead of five.
If I don't feel up for a high intensity workout I will get on the treadmill with a book or TV show tonight and walk.
I will play on the playground with my kids instead of watching them from the bench.
When I get the munchies I will grab a glass of water and then see how I feel.
If I have still have the munchies I will go ahead and make the Dr. Oz green juice drink that I actually kind of like the flavor of.

So far it seems to be working. I don't feel deprived. My sugar crashes at 2 pm are not severe. When I get the urge I do increase the fiber in a meal or have a all juiced meal without going overboard. I am not losing 5 pounds in 7 days but I have lost 1 1/2 in the last week and I figure this is a way of life I might actually be able to keep up. Who knows, by NEXT summer I might actually reach my weight loss goal!