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Since I SO hate even the thought of a diet you can bet that you won’t even know you’re dieting as you begin to work some of these simple changes into your daily life. They say it takes 30 days to start a new habit which is exactly why you should ease into this by making only one change at a time every week or so: it’s soooo much easier that way. Just remember, you’ve really got to feel permanently comfortable with your new habit before you begin another.

And believe me, the diet police won’t come knocking on your door if you only choose one or two (or six) of these ideas and blow off the rest. Or even add some of your own. The idea is to make small changes that work for you: Any change will make a huge difference in your health.

Oh, before we dive into the bulk of this, let me just say there is one major thing to not do in order to avoid sabotage:

“I’m gonna cut out all (fill in the blank), in my new diet!"

Anytime you make a giant, over the top declaration that you’re gonna completely cut something out of your diet, well, you’re gonna sabotage yourself. So just don’t: Don’t make the giant declaration and don’t cut one entire food group out of your diet.

Sugar for instance. Do you know how many foods have sugar in them? Then when some well-meaning friend tells you about all the natural sugar in all the fruits and berries, well, you’re gonna have a pretty boring diet cutting all those out. And you’re gonna FAIL!

Personally, my favorite foods are ice cream with chocolate sauce, pizza, and chocolate cake. I don’t have them every day, well, except the ice cream maybe, but I don’t ever say I’m not ever gonna have them again because the minute I do, I start craving them.

And berries! OMG!!! So many berries are “super foods,” such as raspberries and blueberries!

Anyway, as you move forward remember...

Everything in Moderation!

Here are the seven guidelines I learned in that crazy nutrition class back in the 90’s. I really believe they still hold true today. The nice thing is that nothing here is really going to be a big stretch. Hey, if they were, you can bet I wouldn’t have paid attention, LOL!!!

1. Diet is 90% of weight loss.

   Surprise, surprise! Do your own research and you’ll be stunned at how much info is out there to support this one.

2. Watch your portion size on everything with the exception of fruits, berries, and vegetables.

   Sue, the nutritionist, said that no matter what anyone says, you can have as many fruits and vegetables in one day as you want because it’s really hard to gain weight with those. And bonus: You get a ton of vitamins without having to buy a ton of expensive supplements.

3. Chug 8 oz of water before each main meal, you know, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s amazing how this starts affecting your portion size and you don’t even have to try very hard. Is that great or what?!
4. Weigh and measure yourself every single morning, buck-ass naked, before breakfast.
5. You must keep a food diary.

   You can use the notes app on your phone or on a small spiral bound notebook like the shown below.

Remember, it’s nearly impossible to control something if you don’t measure it daily. BTW: Only overweight people tell you to not do this daily.



I mean, think of all the things you keep track of in your life: How many hours you’re at work; how long it takes you to get to work so you can plan your morning; how much money goes in and out of your bank account; how much gas you need in your car for the week; how much food is in the fridge so you know when you need to get to the store again.

It’s not always a great idea to just “feel lucky” when you wake up and think your commute might be only 10 minutes today rather than 30, or if that almost-empty tank of gas will get you there, or if you believe you’ve already been at work for 8 hours and it’s only 10am. (Ha, your boss won’t like that!) You always look at the clock and odometer, and gage the amount of time and gas it takes to get to work as well as when it’s time to go home.

It’s also not too good of an idea if you’re “feeling rich” today and just go on a wild spending spree. If that doesn’t bite you in the ass, I don’t know what will!

Wow! Did you know how much stuff in your life you already measure? I’ll bet if you think a minute, you’ll come up with a lot more stuff. And it’s a good point it’s it?

Well, it’s the same idea when it comes to keeping track of the amount of food going in and out of your body for the sole purpose of staying healthy. If you don’t keep track of it and the quantity, how can you possibly hope to have any control over it?

In case you’re wondering, yeah, I still do this. That picture you see is my food and weight diary.

If you only make one lifestyle change this year, this one would be the most important and probably have the most impact on your life. Why? Because it makes you aware of what kind of shape you’re in. And sometimes that’s all anyone needs to start making small changes.

Oh yeah, no need to share this little log with anyone...not even your doctor. This is for your information only. So no matter how much your spouse, brother, sister, or best friend might nag you to see it, don’t share it: It can leave you wide open for a ton of annoying, unsolicited advice.

6. Everything in moderation. (She said that one a lot!)
7. Don’t go cold turkey: Make one change a week to ease into it.

Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of starting or quitting anything cold turkey because, frankly, I know how weak-willed I am. So my belief is that anything you start or stop cold turkey is gonna fail and fail fast!

Between diet and exercise, I don't know which is worse. But for argument’s sake, I’m going to make one more point about it because there are more fads around for dieting than there are for exercise. Then we’ll get into some suggestions for how to incorporate some of these changes.

Well, there’s the Southbeach Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Keto Diet, the Low Carbs/No Carbs Diet, the No Sugar Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, and on and on and on! The only diet that I think that might have any hope for longevity would be a Vegetarian or Vegan diet.

My point is that any diet that cuts out an entire food group or takes some sort of degree in science to follow, is just not going to be one that anyone will maintain for the rest of their lives. Which is killing the whole point of a diet, right?

So you do your best to keep it simple by making just one small change each week or month, and see if you can maintain it before you make another one. Each small change you make will build on the next, and then all of a sudden (six months later, ha!) you will have a boatload of new lifestyle changes that you can actually maintain for the rest of your life. Does that sound doable or what???

• How about in the first week start writing down everything you eat and drink.

  Eyeball the portion sizes as best you can. If you’re feeling wild and crazy, sure, go ahead and use a measuring cup. Don’t worry if you miss a few things, just do the best you can...remember, this is for your eyes only.

• Next in week three of four, start drinking a cup of water before breakfast.

  Just guzzle it down fast.

  And maybe when you get used to that in another couple of weeks do it again before you have dinner. Eventually, you can do this before lunch too. I know that’s a bit tricky though if you’re at work so don’t beat yourself up if you have to skip the lunch time guzzle.

• Right after you start doing this, you might want to start weighing yourself, and maybe even measuring your waist and hips and add those numbers to your food diary.

  I say that because when you start switching out soda for water or tea, you may start seeing some noticeable changes.

• Next in week five or six...sometime toward the end of the second month...if you’re a soft drink drinker, substitute a big cup of water for one of your daily cokes or, at the very least, drink ice tea instead.

  And I don’t care if you add a teaspoon or so of sugar to your tea...it’s probably still less than a big gulp of coke! That and it’s not gonna rot your bones and teeth like coke does. Remember, the police clean bloody car accident sites with that stuff: guess what it’s doing to your insides!

• Toward the beginning of the third month start adding a banana to whatever you’re having for breakfast.

  Yes, a whole banana. I hear they’re really good for you. And filling. Damn filling! I actually cut mine up and eat it with a fork so it doesn’t look awkward if someone sees me. (Yeah, you know what I mean!) Anyway, these fill you up so much that you’ll unconsciously start cutting back on the amount of cereal, Eggos or cold pizza or whatever it is you usually have for breakfast. Sweet! Portion control without even trying!!!

• In another week or two, add 1-2 full cups of any vegetable to your dinner.

  Do this even if you’re making up quick, easy stuff like mac and cheese or hamburger helper. And I always suggest starting with frozen vegetables 'cuz they too are quick and easy to nuke!

Salads are ok but for me, initially, they were too much work when you have to rinse the lettuce and tomatoes and then cut them all up. See? You can do this while still be lazy like me. LOL!

Laughing aside, I still don’t care much for salads but I have this Wok now that I use to stir fry a lot of my vegetables with garlic and onions (Yum!) but I’m semi-retired now so I have time to do that. With kids running around I get it, this may or may not be realistic; you can decide.

• Ok, so now, maybe in month three or four or five you can even start bringing an apple or a hard-boiled egg to work for a snack and substitute that for one candy bar, a bunch of cookies, or a bag of chips a day.

  Again, I cut up the apple cuz I hate taking bites out of it and having the juice run down my face. Really good look when someone walks into your cubicle or office, not!

• By month six or so you may start seeing and feeling a difference. If you’ve been weighing yourself all along, you’ll definitely start seeing the changes.If you’ve not been weighing yourself, start now. There’s no rule that says you can’t.

Here’s to all kinds of good thoughts going your way and lot’s of hope for your good health!

Sincerely,