Short Blogging Break

Actually, I ended up losing 40 pounds total. I did it by making a lot of changes:

1. No calorie-containing beverages. No non-diet sodas, no milk, milkshakes, smoothies, juice only rarely and only the no-sugar-added kind, and no alcohol. I drink water, diet soda, coffee with Splenda, and unsweetened tea.

2. Exercise. I started lifting weights, jumping rope, doing crunches, using a rowing machine, and lots of other stuff.

3. No pasta or potatoes. I still eat rice and bread, though not in large quantities, and mostly stone ground wheat bread.

4. No sweets, at least not in my apartment. I might eat a cookie if someone brings some to the office, but the closest things to sweets I keep in my apartment are fruit, honey, and no-sugar-added jam.

5. I started going out to eat less and taking a cue from the Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid in my cooking. I don't use butter, cream, margarine, or any kind of oil except olive.

For a while I entered all my food into FitDay, which counts your calories and grams for you. While I highly recommend it, I don't do that anymore, but sometimes I'll still jot down what I've eaten onto a scrap piece of paper, just to be aware of it. Oh, and I take the generic version of One-a-Day WeightSmart.