After years of trying and making valiant attempts I have decided to accept the fact that I am just not a salad girl. I like meat and potatoes. I need to eat some form of pasta a few times a week. I like hearty foods especially when I exercise because my body needs the fuel to power me through my days and nights. I’ve learned that I have to succumb to my voracious appetite and unyielding indulgences from time to time without feeling guilty.

So how do I manage all this and remain at a normal weight for my size and frame? A lot of people ask, especially those who have seen me eat. So here it is. Here is what I do and don't do….

Most days of the week I try to not eat carbs
On the days when I must eat carbs I try to make them good healthy whole grain carbs. The exception to this is when I eat sushi during the week; I can do sashimi but enjoy my sushi more with rice. Brown rice sushi is awesome but not many places make it.
I avoid anything with sugar. I substitute Splenda whenever possible in recipes and coffee. The exception to the no sugar rule is birthday cake and natural sugars from fruit (bananas, apples).
I rarely drink soda or alcohol. 85% of the time I opt for water or juice.
I will only drink juices that are low sugar (under 10g) and I avoid high fructose sugar juices like orange juice and other juices that contain upwards of 30g's of sugar.
I throw out most of these rules on the weekends and let myself eat and drink whatever I want, within reason.

I am a creature of habit. Breakfast is either low fat cottage cheese with turkey bacon or whole grain oatmeal. On weekends I make French toast (with whole wheat or rye bread) or a breakfast sandwich, or Trader Joes Triple Berry O’s.
Sunday nights I make some type of roast or spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday is a large taco salad with no peppers and no black olives
Friday is sushi day with salmon and spicy tuna. Tempura flakes on the side because I like to sprinkle them on my fusion rolls. Especially when there is a nice thick brown layer of sweet eel sauce on top of my little fishies…mmmm. The tempura flakes are a cheat but they are so small and worth it that I make the allowance…plus Friday is kick off to the weekend.

I avoid things with trans fat and things that are overly processed. I stick to all natural ingredients 90% of the time.
I choose whole wheat over "enriched wheat" "unbromelated wheat" and other impure whole wheat "blends"
I avoid refined carbohydrates.
I cook whenever possible versus eating out so I can control the ingredients I’m putting into my body.

Whenever I fall off of my plan and my jeans start to fit too tight I give up all carbs and sugars for 2 weeks to reset my metabolism and glycemic levels back into place. I make sure I eat every 4-6 hours to keep the engines churning properly. That’s right I EAT every 4-6 hours when I want to lose a couple inches. I have learned that it's better to eat more than less so I force 3 square meals a day even if I'm not hungry. I stagger my meals and "graze" throughout the day with 3 snacks in between. The key is you have to make sure the things you eat are good things and that the portions you ingest are normal serving sizes.

I heard somewhere (I think it was on Oprah) the key is to never eat when you're hungry and never eat when you're full. The idea is you should constantly be eating the right things throughout the day so you never feel ravenously hungry. And on the flip side you should stop eating before you feel too full. Keeping it on a nice even keel is the way to go.

I know a lot of people who skip meals. They do so either because their schedule is too hectic to stop and eat something or maybe they are purposely skipping meals thinking if they don't eat as many it will be less calories consumed and less weight they will gain. It seems logical so I can understand why people think that. But it’s actually very wrong and going that way actually has the opposite effect, not eating enough causes you to gain or maintain. The human body is an amazing machine, that’s why. It has built in survival mechanisms that help sustain us through major disasters like drought and famine. What actually happens if your body doesn't get enough nourishment when you start missing meals? It will go into starvation mode sending messages to the brain that are like, “Uh oh body isn’t getting enough food better take some action and start storing fat instead of burning it, we might need it later.” On the flipside, when your body is getting a regular supply of food every 4-6 hours, it actually increases your metabolism which works to burn fat and calories at a higher rate. That burn process is further accelerated when you exercise.

Another thing I see at the gym all the time is women on the same stair climber or recumbent bike for the same ½ hour 5 times a week from 6:00 – 6:30 and then they are done. Those are the same gals in the locker room kvetching about their regular sweat sessions wondering why they never lose weight, only maintain and their body never changes.

It’s that awesome human body again. Cardio is great for the largest muscle in the body, the heart. But cardio alone won't improve your overall muscle tone or shape. When combined with weight lifting though….it will! Lifting weights on a regular basis is another thing you can do to speed up your metabolism on an extended basis even after your workout sessions have ended. When you lift weights a couple times a week, your body will actually burn calories in your sleep! Awesome. And I’m not even talking about heavy weight lifting. Ladies even a couple sets of 10 pound dumbbells or resistance exercises done regularly will have this effect.

Now try as hard as I might, I am definitely not perfect. I know what to do and I try to stick to it most of the time. Lo, there are a number of obstacles that I battle on a regular basis. These are the ones I am hoping to get feedback tips and advice from my readers on how to manage the pitfalls, set backs, and triggers.

Obstacles
Comfort foods = STARCHES
All my favorite things are white and starchy; mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, you get the drift. I come from a long line of comfort eaters.
I do find workarounds whenever possible (make sweet potatoes and mash them, use whole wheat pasta in mac & cheese, use Barilla plus in my slump) but they never taste as good and there are always times (mostly on weekends) when I go for the gusto with the good stuff.

Pizza Goldfish Crackers – I can (and do) eat one bag per sitting and I cannot bring myself to not buy them in the store. If I see them I have to have them. It's a $1.99 for one of the best tastes in the world.

Funks – I'm prone to the occasional funk from time to time when I just sort of check out on all things social and environmental and yes even dietary. When this occurs it usually involves the couch, sweatpants, unwashed hair, and saying fuck it to a lot of my normal good eating and exercising habits. There is a usually a trigger which could be a goal I have long struggled to achieve and then for whatever turn of events it doesn’t happen or I get derailed from the plan I had for myself. Then comes the little voice in my head that says I worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get jack so what is the point of following the rules or playing the game if it doesn’t get me where I want to be? When I get to this point of no return it usually escalates into rules being thrown out of the window and walking on a ledge of reason that I can’t talk myself down from. Next I start doing things I would not normally do like buying packs of cigarettes (even though I don't smoke), hitting McDonalds drive through for a QP with cheese and extra large fry….and a lot of other various and sundry rebellious acts. Thankfully these funks don’t happen too often and I snap out of them before too long.

Thin mint Girl Scout cookies – enough said

Portion control – Okay according to a box of spaghetti a serving size is one cup of pasta. I want to know what no-appetite miscreant at the FDA ever made this determination. A normal serving size of pasta for me is half a box. Period.

PMS. When I crave all of the above. When I want to eat everything because it tastes good and I have some unfulfilled emotional need for 3 days out of the month when my hormones demand things of me that I’m just not strong enough to fight.

Age. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you will. The older you get the more your metabolism slows down and gravity works against you. Sad but true. It makes all of the above pitfalls that much more damaging and all of the good habits all the more challenging to stick to.

Thoughts?