Diet Philosophy
I'm a firm believer in not cutting out any types of foods entirely. I know alot of people are into the low/no carb thing, but personally I think I would go insane w/o potatoes, pasta or bread. Definitely not anything I could do long-term, or even short-term w/o being really miserable. Instead I just restrict calories and fat grams. That's it. Really simple, and plenty of food choices, because I can still eat any type of food - just not as much of it. That in itself leads to better eating choices, because when you only consume so many calories, you want to make them count. So for instance, while I would normally drink soda all day long, instead I'll have just one can of Pepsi as a treat, instead of drinking it along with meals. Even if I want McDonald's, it's okay - I'll just check the calorie/fat gram count and only eat a portion of it. Because really, calories are calories - if I have say 300 for a meal, and want to have a little part of a cheeseburger rather than a whole big salad - I'm getting the same number of calories so I will feel "full" regardless, and I will enjoy the burger alot more than I would a salad.
I have had many, many people argue with me about this way of dieting, saying that you have to take into account carbs and sugar and yadda yadda. Or that I'm not eating enough, when they see the small portions of high calorie foods that I will eat. But I support my philosophy with the fact that I started doing this at about age 15, and weighed 85 to 90 lbs all through high school, up until I was about 22 or 23 years old. (Which is when I gave up these eating habits, after getting married, and finding it too hard to stick to when taking another person's eating preferences into account.) Granted I was probably restricting calories a bit too much back then, as 85 is rather underweight for my height (5ft) but it is still proof that it works. Back then of course it was just weight control, so we will see how well it does as a weight loss plan. I haven't decided on a specific goal weight yet, I am more concerned with clothing size than anything - so we'll see what a size 2 or 4 does. :)
I have had many, many people argue with me about this way of dieting, saying that you have to take into account carbs and sugar and yadda yadda. Or that I'm not eating enough, when they see the small portions of high calorie foods that I will eat. But I support my philosophy with the fact that I started doing this at about age 15, and weighed 85 to 90 lbs all through high school, up until I was about 22 or 23 years old. (Which is when I gave up these eating habits, after getting married, and finding it too hard to stick to when taking another person's eating preferences into account.) Granted I was probably restricting calories a bit too much back then, as 85 is rather underweight for my height (5ft) but it is still proof that it works. Back then of course it was just weight control, so we will see how well it does as a weight loss plan. I haven't decided on a specific goal weight yet, I am more concerned with clothing size than anything - so we'll see what a size 2 or 4 does. :)