At the end of next week I am going on vacation. To Europe. It’s a vacation that I’ve been planning for months. Six months before the trip, I said to myself, “Okay – vacation is in six months…I have to lose weight.” But I didn’t. Then it was four months, then three, then two. And I did nothing except procrastinate. Because for me, a healthy eating plan is a lot of work. It takes a massive amount of mental preparation. If I don’t gear up for it and go all in, I will fail. I know this. I’ve done it before.
Don’t get me wrong – I know how to eat healthy. I have lost a lot of weight in the past by eating a very healthy and balanced diet. My normal M.O. is to try to plan out a huge number of options so that I don’t get bored, and then I find myself saying, “Okay, I ate this and this so I can have extra this at dinner.” It works, but it’s exhausting.
So exactly one month to the day before my vacation, I decided, “Look. You have to just do it. If you don’t want to hate every single photo…do it.” But this time my approach changed. And I’ve lost about 10 pounds in roughly 3 weeks. Although that’s not a massive amount of weight, for me it’s a super success, because before, I could cut down to 1000 – 1200 calories a day and not lose a pound. So this is working for me, and I’m going to tell you what I’m doing. It won’t be for everybody. And it’s not crazy or weird. And I had to decide that I was eating for fuel, not enjoyment. If I enjoyed what I ate, great, but that wasn’t going to be the goal of eating.
I decided to create a list of foods (a small list) that I could eat, and not substitute or go off of the list. So here’s my list:
- Boneless, skinless chicken
- Turkey breast
- Shrimp
- Salmon
- eggs
- egg substitute
- fruit
- green or yellow veggies
- 100 calorie wraps
- mushrooms
- South Beach snack bars
- roasted almonds
And here’s what you won’t find me eating:
- Oil or butter
- dairy
- red meat
- pork
- corn
- bananas
- peas
- bread
- pasta
- rice
- potatoes
Now I realize that the items on my ‘do not have’ list can be modified and fine for a balanced diet. I realize that you can have a little healthy olive oil, or some brown rice. I have just chosen to simplify things by sticking to my very small list. I have to tell you that it hasn’t been horrible. It hasn’t been hugely difficult. My simple list has taken away a lot of the planning that I would normally do. It’s much easier to not go out, and that’s difficult sometimes. This week we have family in town and everyone is taking turns hosting dinners. One night it was pasta (I’m not eating that), tonight it’s pizza (I’m not eating that) and tomorrow night someone is doing a pot roast (and I’m not eating that, either.) So I just eat from my list beforehand and don’t try to ‘fudge’ when I’m at someone else’s house.
I put the chicken in the crock pot with a little bit of dry onion soup mix. I cook extra so that I have it for lunches and snacks. I eat about 5 ounces at a meal and add a ton of low calorie veggies to my plate.
Speaking of the chicken, we eat it now almost every night. I buy my chicken in bulk from Zaycon foods. Only $1.69 per pound!!! Check them out!
I saute the shrimp using only cooking spray, like Pam. I throw in some garlic and baby portobello mushrooms. You can have a nice big serving of this for about 200 calories or less.
I make veggie omelets with the egg substitute, and I boil a dozen eggs at the beginning of the week for snacks.
My go-to veggie is spinach. I saute an entire bag of spinach leaves using Pam cooking spray. I saute onions, garlic, and mushrooms first, then add in the spinach and some grape tomatoes. This is really filling and healthy and adds bulk to your plate.
Other snacks include a small handful of roasted almonds or a South Beach snack bar (100 calories).
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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