LOSING WEIGHT WITHOUT FAD DIETS OR BOXED SHIPPED FOODS.

     I am FAT. I am a prime target for the fat shamer group. I gained so much weight over the last 2 years, that I became the person who walked around with his belly showing because my shirts and pants no longer came together to cover my girth. I saw pictures people had taken of me and, and I was beyond shocked, I was horrified what I had done to my body! I know I have to have some level of diabetes, high blood pressure and bad cholesterol...my body oozed of it!

     Yes I have tried many of the fad diets: Weight Watchers, Atkins, to name a few. However, once you reach your goal weight what then? Maintenance. In other words you go from dieting, to maintaing your dieting. Time after time I tried and failed. I never went as far as ordering pre-boxed food that famous people promote. Seems to me, if they can make the food, so can we. Plus, for most, the expense to purchase that type of food is beyond reach. I guess if your a wealthy famous person, it may not be noticeable in your budget, however, for the rest of us it would make a large dent in our income. So, what do we do?

     For me it became simple. I heard a woman on TV (Sorry, I forget what the show was or who she is) state, when deciding what to eat, she used a basic three step analysis to determine if she was going to eat the food.
1.) What is the nutritional value to your body's health?
2.) That dessert looks srcumptious, but after having eaten it, what did I just do to my body and health; and now that I have eaten it, how do I feel about myself for doing so?
3.) Sugar. What nutritional value does it add, and is there a replacement for it?

Now that may not sound earth shattering to some, but to me, it was an eye opener! I took a long look at my eating and snacking habits and I almost died of a heart attack (and soon will if I continue in the path I was traveling)! I maintained a supply of snack cakes, cookies, ice cream and anything that would supposedly satisfy my sweet tooth. Well my sweet tooth was rotting in my head from processed sugar! I couldn't go out without stopping at a convenience store to purchase a 24oz Diet Coke and two snack cakes. I ate french fries, potatoes and anything that would stop me from living healthy! So what do I do?

     I changed the way I looked at food, and my consumption of it. Snack cakes and cookies disappeared from our house and I stopped buying snack cakes at the convenience store. Most convenience stores have fruit that is available, so you can purchase an individual banana, apple or orange. I replaced my bad snacks with fruit. I didn't force myself to do it, I just tried it. Now, I can't get enough fruit! My wife and I, if eating out, discuss where we will eat, because we avoid the fatty, fast food and buffet style restaraunts. Not because we're forcing ourselves to, rather the thought of eating something we consider contrary to being healthy is taboo.

     What do you do when you get the munchies at night? We keep oranges, bananas, grapes and other fruit available. I have fallen in love with fruit! I get the sweetness I am looking for, and the explosion of flavor! We occasionally will pop fresh popcorn, not microwave. We have an Orvil Reddenbacher popper, that does it all for us. We add the popcorn kernels, two tablespoons of vegetable oil and a little lite salt, then put on the lid, add a few pats of real butter and let it do it's job. You end up with a healthy, satisfying snack! There is nothing healthy about microwave popcorn, nothing. High sodium content, artificial flavorings, and color. See how easy that is? Salads, with real ranch dressing, at time, stove top dressing and different foods. I don't do without, I enjoy food even more! I just have found a way to fall in love with good food! I have lost the unsatisfied hunger caused by eating bad foods.

     The wrong foods can never satisfy your hunger. It's a trap I fell into all my life. Now, my wife has to get after me, because there is times, often times, I am just not hungry. She reminds me I have to eat! Wow! Talk about a reversal in what I was doing! Golden Corral and I were best friends! IHOP and their pancakes were my breakfast of choice. Perkins and any dessert was a reason to drive 10 miles to be there! Oh God, their eclairs! If I were to eat one now, I would probably feint or die from the processed sugar rush! If these restaurants only knew, sliced apples, peeled oranges, bananas and all fruit would be a better and healthier option for their patrons.

     The result of what I'm doing is the shirts I used to stretch beyond their fabric, and the pants that I couldn't hold up, because the were too tight and slid down off my belly, now require me to move in three new notches on my belt. I no longer expose my stomach. My shirts and pants do what they were intended to do, cover up my body. In fact they are getting to the point they are hanging loose! Here's a guy that was within spitting distance of 400lbs., now enjoying eating, and doing it with good old everyday food, minus unnatural sweets (Cakes, snack cakes, candy, pancakes, eclairs, etc.) and loving every bite of fruit that I can get! I eats meat: Fried chicken, steak, pork chops, ham etc., but I take most of my food home with me and usually give it to the neighbor's dogs. Aches and pains, have eased.

     This morning I had two slices of sugar free toast with real butter, then, instead of jelly, I used peanut butter. At lunch, I wasn't hungry, but I knew my wife would be after me, so I ate a salad with all those luscious vegetables, real cheese, and real ranch dressing!

     If there is one thing I still struggle with is Diet Coke. I am slipping in more water each day, denying the need for a glass of Diet Coke. Hey. I ain't perfect, just a guy who is on his way to losing all his extra weight and having a blast, eating great in the process!