Part Deaux-catch up blog for 2012!

Good Day my lovelies!

Part 2 of the catch up blog! yay!

So, where were we? Oh, yes, we were discussing the weight loss thing.

I've had quite a few questions over the last couple of years of how I did it.  So, here is a list of my tricks that I used to help  myself.  These will not work for everyone, but might help you think of your own tricks!

1. Pick which meals are the most important to you.

This might sound really, well, damn strange, but in reality it is the truth.  For some people EVERY meal is   important.  For others, they don't care about breakfast but love a big lunch.  Some want to just have a large breakfast and snack throughout the day.  I don't really care which way you do it, but pick out your favorite eating schedule.

2. Pick out which foods you absolutely love and cannot live without.

Again, what?? You want me to admit to my favorites? Hell, I'll help you get started! Pizza, steak, hamburgers, mashed potatoes and chocolate are on my list. 

3. How can you keep your favorite foods around?

"Okay, this girl is crazy. She is tellling me I can eat pizza and chocolate?"Yes, yes I am. How? Moderation.  So, to start off I LOVE pizza. I could eat it every day, obviously, this is a bad idea, so I switched in what form I ate pizza.  Hot pockets, the small cheap frozen pizzas, ordering a personal pizza instead of a large, or a calzone. It limits the amount of pizza I have available and therefore, cannot eat too much.  Also, I eat dessert every day. Yes, every day because it is THAT important to me to make sure I keep calories around for my sweets.

4. Omg, I'M STILL HUNGRY?? Now what?

Pick something else to eat. You don't really need anymore pizza, you really need a salad or some fruit or even yes, the piece of chocolate. Food is something you need to sustain yourself, not to gorge upon.  Once you have gone more than 3-5 bites into a certain type of food, you're just eating it, not savoring it.  Enjoy another food.

5. Use a calorie counting program.

Yes, count your calories. You will have 0 idea how  many calories are in the whole pizza until you see it in black and white.  It's eye opening. It will also help you appreciate how much 1000 calories v 500 calories is in the long run.  Also, once you start cutting things in half, it will all add up to pounds lost without exercise.

6. Tricks for eating out:

    1. Order appetizers-they're usually smaller portions and way better priced. Help your wallet too!
    2. Cut all your food in half, separate into 2 meals on plate.  Eat half of one meal, stop, wait 10 min.
    3. After 10 min, start to work on the other half of your meal making sure to listen to your stomach.
    4. Once your stomach tells you to stop, look at your food. Remind yourself of how much you have    eaten.
    5. Ask for a box, box up the other half of the meal, and immediately place your napkin & any table trash on plate.

Obviously, eating out will vary especially with sharing appetizers. Just make sure to count them towards your meal and remind yourself you don't need to eat a whole lot because you ordered a meal!  I am horribly bad at mexican restaurants by eating a lot of chips & salsa and ordering a big meal. I don't need that meal. So now, I ONLY order ala carte items.  2 tacos or enchiladas..something substantial but I do not need sides.

Okay, so now that I have sufficiently bored some of you, here is what you've really been waiting for which is my pictures. The left one was taken over Memorial Day weekend in 2010.  The right one was taken on NYE this year. (Please excuse the photo-bombing dogs. They're clueless! LOL!)