Well, this is actually nothing new for me. Since about August 09 I have been eating differently. I have consumed a lot more fruit and vegetables. I watch my portion sizes. With that being said, I am not one for deprivation. It makes no sense to me. Self control issues are one thing, but to starve yourself with ridiculous diets one after another is foolish. You cheat your body out of the necessary calories and nutrition that it needs just for normal function, just to maintain a level of homeostasis and multiple chemical/cellular reactions throughout the day. I hate diets because again, they are the quick and easy way out. It's like a sure way of failing. Dieting is a set-up. It's a multi-billion dollar conspiracy!!!! Why, because it's a roller coaster. They're very difficult to maintain and if you do lose weight your more than likely, I mean, almost guaranteed to gain it right back because while your dieting your not being shown how to eat the right things. Your normally isolating certain things from your diet. People, think about the vampire movies and maybe this is a horrible analogy, but there is always a good guy who wants to do right and has some type of synthetic solution to replace the desire for blood. I say that, to say that in the movies the hunger always wins right? Corny, I know, but nonetheless true. The hunger will always win because it's as natural as breathing. You have to eat, no way around it. So go on all these crazy diets if you want, but when your ready to really, really make a difference in your weight and health you'll realize that it is a complete lifestyle change. You'll see when you cross that bridge.

This is gets very overwhelming for me sometimes, too. I'm just a normal “Jane Doe”. I'm a twenty-five year old married mother of two, a five-year old and a two-year old. My hubby is always on over the road. I work full-time and still have to find energy and time in between cooking, cleaning, homework, bath time, reading time, etc to exercise. I had an emergency c-section that tore me apart. My stomach muscles even after two years just aren't the same and I struggle with my core all the time. I say start of with one thing at a time. For instance, start with smaller portion sizes for a few weeks. Then move on to incorporating more veggies and fruits. After a few weeks of that, add in the exercise but do not overwhelm yourself or you'll end up quitting. Transition slowly and then gain momentum and add on according to your desires.

My Healthy Lifestyle Regimen

• As I said in the beginning I have been eating healthier and experimenting with green smoothies for a few months now.
  
• I exercise about 3-4 times a week. I use a DVD schedule that I made (13+ DVDs and several different workouts to mix it up) along with an elliptical machine. I motivate myself and include my children. I'm beginning to see my hubby come around and have an interest in getting his 360+ lbs in check.
  
• Do not forget Cardio exercise, You need to condition your heart and cardio is what is going to burn the most calories and shed the fat.
  
• I drink at least 64oz daily. The amount of water you drink is widely debatable so I just stick with two mandatory jugs. I have a 32oz water bottle that I fill up twice daily and I can't drink any other type of beverage until I've had all of the water throughout the day. This is extremely difficult for me so I reward myself. Once I get down to the 16oz mark I allow myself to mix one of the flavor packs to it. It's my own little incentive.
  
• I take multivitamins.
  
• I don't eat breakfast. It messes with my stomach. I will usually have a mid-morning snack (granola bar, yogurt parfait, etc.) I have a mid-afternoon snack also(trail mix, usually home made, granola bar, sometimes I will finish up my lunch or some other light snack)
  
• I try to have a salad with every meal before I dig into the rest of my food. I remember the size of my stomach and I never force myself to eat just because there's food still on my plate. If I have food leftover that I never touched I'll take it for lunch, no need to waste it. If you recognize when your full it will become easier for you to control your portion sizes while fixing your plate.
  
• I eat slowly unless I'm starving :) A lot of times when I eat fast (as in inhaling food), I end up eating a heck of a lot more food. I look down and I've eaten a whole bag of something or I'm sitting here feeling full and miserable because I didn't stop and rushed.
  
• My cheat day is Saturday. When I first created my cheat day I thought I would go crazy and cancel out all of my hard work during the week on this one day, but the more I got into my lifestyle change I realized how important the outcome was for me and even though it is a cheat day I am still programmed to have self-control.
  
• I do not count calories. I do, however, look at serving sizes and sodium intake. I get dehydrated very easily and it causes other issues with me that aren't so pleasant so I watch my sodium and water intake.
  
• Last but not least, I am part of a fitness challenge at my place of employment that officially starts February 4th , 2010. I got measured and I even wanted to show you semi-starter pics but there isn't a good enough reason to convince hubby that I need to be on here showing the goods, lol! Maybe I'll take a couple of pics throughout this journey. Anyway the participants are all measured and pinched. I had no idea that I had a lot of fat until I walked out of that place. She was pinching my skin, it was funny and a teeny, tiny bit embarrassing. The challenge ends in August/September 2010. It is about losing body fat percentage, most inches lost, most weight lost, etc. There are several categories and a winner or two for each category. We were all weighed and measured and will have another weight assessment in March.
  

So these are my measurements:
Weight:167
Height: 5'5''
Goal Weight: 155( I like my curves. I'm here to tone. I enjoy my thickness, but I was happy at this weight)
Biceps: 12”
Bust: 37”
Waist: 32” (I really would like to get back to 27-29”)
Hips: 44”
Thighs: 25”

Trail Mix-very simple
3 cups almonds- non-salted
1 cup or less of everything else