How I'm Doing It...

Someone inquired in the comments about my typical day's food and exercise. So, I thought I'd post about what I do each day.

My diet is most like the South Beach diet. I avoid sugar and most highly processed foods. I don't eat potatoes or white bread or white rice. I also stay away from pasta except for the very, very occasional Dreamfields. I drink a minimum of 2 liters of water a day. I limit diet soda to 1 per day but I do drink Crystal Light. I also make sure to eat every 3 hours.

A typical day's menu looks like this:

Breakfast: I eat breakfast every single day. It's so much more important than most people realize. I usually have one of the following for breakfast:

• 2 eggs with turkey bacon
• 1/2 cup Fiber One cereal with 3 strawberries and light vanilla soy milk
• 3/4 cup Special K Protein Plus cereal with 3 strawberries and light vanilla soy milk
• South Beach High Protein cereal bar
• smoothie made with 1 c. light vanilla soy milk, 3 strawberries, yogurt, ice

Lunch: I pack my lunch every day for work. I never leave myself without healthy options. I usually have one of these choices for lunch:

• salad with grilled chicken and light ranch dressing (most days I have this)
  
• leftover meat from dinner with a side salad or veggie
• deli turkey on a Flat Out wrap with some cheese
• tuna with a little mayo on 2 Wasa crackers with raw veggies & light ranch
• South Beach Diet wrap kit (I buy these for when I have no time to make lunch)

Snack: I eat a snack 3 hours after I have lunch. I usually eat a snack at night, too. My usual snack options are:

• Dannon LightnFit Carb Control yogurt with 3-4 strawberries (not if I had strawberries at breakfast)
• Apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• celery with peanut butter
• string cheese or cheddar cheese with a few slices deli turkey
• 1 oz. almonds, cashews, or macadamia nuts
• sugar free jello
• cottage cheese
  
• raw veggies with light ranch (broccoli, cucumbers, sugar snap peas)

Dinner: Dinner is always some kind of meat (usually chicken breast) cooked in the broiler, the George Foreman grill, or sauteed in olive oil. Then I have that with steamed veggies (usually broccoli, zucchini, or squash) or with a salad. Sometimes I make tacos with lean ground beef or with chicken and I'll have 2 lowcarb tortillas with that. I also eat beans, so I like to make chili with lean ground beef, canned diced tomatoes, and black beans. Or white chicken chili with navy beans.

My menus look a little different on the weekends because we might go out to eat. Whenever we go to restaurants, I usually end up getting some kind of salad with grilled chicken because I know it's a safe choice. Or I might get grilled chicken with steamed veggies.

Exercise: I think I exercise a lot. I never really stuck to an exercise routine during my previous weight loss attempts. No matter what anyone says, I truly feel like my exercise has been a huge reason I've been successful this time around. I'm a member of a 24-hour gym and I go 5 days a week. On 3 of the days, I do 30 minutes of strength training using free weights and machines. Then, I do 20 minutes of cardio... either on the treadmill or the elliptical machine. On the other 2 days I do cardio only and I try to do at least 30 minutes. Sometimes I will go to the local high school track instead of the gym once a week to do some walking/jogging on the track.

I am also blessed beyond belief to be working with a personal trainer at the gym. I train with him once a week. If it weren't for him, I honestly believe I would still weigh 400 pounds. He's my angel.