"Skinny" me

I told Scott I didn't really want to, but I couldn't disappoint my blogging public, so here's the picture y'all requested. It's newly "skinny" me! How I did it you ask? Good ole' fashioned exercise and diet. For exercise I do Leslie Sandsone's two mile brisk walk (it's a DVD) three times a week. I like it because I can do it at home, it only takes 30 minutes and it's much easier on my back than running. She's the cheesiest person in history, and I spend the whole half an hour mocking her, but I feel great when I'm done. I also have a DVD called Yoga and Pilates done by some Australian chick. Louise Solomon. She's also fun to mock. I try to do one of the two half an hour workouts on her DVD three times a week as well. I like hers a lot because it really helps with my back. I don't think it really matters what you do as long as you are consistently exercising. I have also stopped drinking all carbonated drinks, again mostly to help my back, but there are definitely other health benefits.
Okay, diet. As many of you know, Scott let me purchase three months of NutriSystem. But looking back I wouldn't do it. I have some guilt over this puchase, but it was good in a lot of ways. My food was ready to eat in perfect portion sizes with all the right calories, protein and fiber. I can tell you the secret. For breakfast you have an entree (simply meaning main course. Something like a whole grain muffin, bagel, pancakes, eggs, protein bar, cereal etc.) a fruit serving, and a protein serving. For lunch you have an entree (tuna, chicken or egg salad, soup, pasta, lean pocket, etc) a salad serving, and a protein serving. In the afternoon, you have a snack of a fruit serving and a protein serving. Then for dinner you stuff yourself. Honestly, I have NEVER been so full in my life. I'm eating more food than I ever have, it's just the right food. You have your entree, TWO vegetable servings, a salad or a fruit serving and then some kind of snack.
A couple of tips. You can have what you want, you just can't have everything you want. If you wake up thinking, "I really need to have a brownie today!" By all means, have the brownie, but only have one brownie and then that is your treat for the day. I try to save it for after the kids go to bed when I can really enjoy it! It seems to me like fruit and vegetables should constitute about half of what you eat in the day. Remember also that typically a serving size is the size of your fist. Remember too that you are fueling your body you don't want to eat less because your body will think there's a famine. Try to eat whole grains, try to pick foods with low carbs, make the best choices you can and try to keep everything you eat in a day under 1,200 calories. I also, one of the first weeks I started, did a detox. I drank this totally gross seaweed stuff, but I really think it was a good jump start to kick my body out of it's homeostasis. Your body gets used to how things are running and is very resistent to change. Something to force it out of that homeostasis is always helpful! I have also started taking a fiber supplement which really helps to keep your body free of toxins and moving regularly. If you want more information on what constitutes a serving, what the salad, dairy or vegetable servings on leave a comment and I'll email you some things.