I found out in October that I am diabetic, so I have had to modify my eating a lot. I am still trying to eat healthier but now I have to count carbohydrates, protein, and fat. I lost 6 lbs. since November and I am very happy to report that I did not gain any weight over the holidays!!
Here is the info from the healthy diet I was following before this. I mostly still follow it.
My old diet was hard to stick to because I had to eat foods I hate every two hours. I have revised it and now I'm eating less dairy and focusing more on healthy eating.
I bought this book: SuperFoods Rx : Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life by Steven G. Pratt, Kathy Matthews; it has lots of great advice and recipes.
I had already started dieting by cutting down on fat and sugar. Then I saw a magazine article about this book and so I have been using the ideas behind it to help me diet.
This doctor focuses on which foods have the most vitamins. He has grouped them into 14 different categories (these are the Super Foods). We always knew that fruit, vegys and grains are important, but this grouping tells us which ones are the most nutritious. It's a simple and yet fascinating idea. The magazine listed the super foods and some info in a chart and I have been using that to guide me. I don't eat large meals generally anyway, I just have several small meals instead. So, now each food I eat must have one of the super foods in it (actually I only eat 13 of them because I hate tea in any form). It sounds limiting but it's really been expanding my horizons in terms of what I can eat. I don't just eat fruits and green vegetables, I eat tuna, turkey, chicken, hummus, beans, edamame, soy burgers, brown rice--all sorts of stuff!!
Here are my new and improved (and shorter) rules for myself
1. cut out all fried foods (especially fast food)--I do eat quesadillas in restaurants but that's about it
2. cut out all sugary desserts and snacks (sweet junk food)
3. Don't eat anything that's not in the superfoods by itself. For example, I can eat a little cheese on my sandwich, soy burger, or salad, but I can't eat it by itself or with crackers. I stay away from potatoes except for fat free chips.
6. Cut down on bread and largely stay away from potatoes and pasta.
7. Reduce portion sizes; don't over-eat.
8. Exercise more.
Here are the kinds of things I keep in my house. Yours may vary according to your likes or dislikes:
Freezer:
Frozen chicken breasts (easy to nuke to defrost and then you can fry them with Pam or broil them in the oven; I like to put spices on them. Check out your store's spice section, they have lots of great spice combos you can use, like barbecue, taco, etc. I also use a lot of garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and red pepper to spice up my food. Experiment, you will like it!
Frozen dinners from Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice. I don't eat too many of these but like to have them on hand for emergencies.
Boca Soy Burgers (onion flavor)
Frozen fruit and vegys (not too many)
I still really love making smoothies with different kind of fruits, it's easy and tastes like milkshakes
Mango Sorbet
frozen yogurt
Notice my freezer has no ice cream, pies, etc. Get rid of that stuff! Throw it out or give it to a friend. If you live with someone who's not on a diet, they still don't need that junk. Tell them how important it is for you both to eat right. Threaten them if necessary :) If they love you, they will want you to be healthy. They can always hide candy bars in their own belongings. If you have kids, they should be eating healthy, too!
Refrigerator:
turkey, some cheese
fresh fruits and vegetables including lettuce of different types, spinach, green and red peppers, baby carrots, broccoli, strawberries, cucumbers, greenbeans, cabbage, snow peas, raspberries, tomatoes, and blueberries.
I have been using Spinach instead of lettuce on burgers, sandwiches, and in salads. It is so much healthier!
Country Crock Lite (stay away from butter and regular margarines, they are really bad for you! This stuff tastes pretty good, too--use it sparingly!)
Hellman's Light Mayonnaise
A large tub of nonfat plain yogurt (I use it in the smoothies but it's good in a lot of recipes, too)
low-fat sour cream
flavored lowfat yogurts (they must say Active Live Culture or they are not that healthy)
pickles, olives, mustard, other condiments
V-8 (tasty vegys in a can)
Bottled water
Diet Coke
Hummus
fat free hot dogs
Wheat flour tortillas
Cabinet:
Whole wheat or multi-grain bread
whole wheat pita bread
peanuts
pecans
sunflower seeds
peanut butter (don't over do it)
assorted spices
Equal (for my smoothies and my cereal)
soups (good for a small meal or snack--I try to get Healthy Choice)
CEREAL (studies show that if you start your day with a bowl of healthy cereal, you will actually lose weight; I like it with a banana cut up in it; any non-sugary cereal will do. I have lately discovered Post's Great Grains, which is a yummy high fiber cereal with oats and pecans. it is even better than Raisin Bran or Total!!)
microwave lite popcorn
bananas
raisins
tuna or salmon
Doritos Wow chips (used sparingly)
Various kinds of beans
These are the things I eat now. Notice there are plenty of snacks! I try to eat the vegys and fruits more than the starchy snacks.
A word about sugar: I love it but it is really bad for me. Heck, it's bad for all of us. It's very difficult to avoid all sugars or all carbs (carbs turn into sugars in your body). But if you try to cut back, it will help a lot. I try to avoid any sweet snacks, junk food. I have cut down on bread, crackers, potatoes, and pasta. I will sometimes not buy a product if it has a lot of added sugar, but generally I don't look too hard at food labels. You can go crazy counting those things. Also, eating sugar makes you want to eat more sugar. It's easier to cut it out completely, believe it or not, then just cutting down.
Exercise is also important; I'm lazy, too. I go to the park every morning to walk my dog around the track, while my husband runs. I am trying to find some more to incorporate into my day.
If you say, Oh, I can't give up fast food, or Oh, I can't do without chocolate, then you are just not really interested in dieting....for any real diet you have to cut out fat and sugar, and exercise. No way around it. The point of my diet is to make it a little easier to change your diet. The great thing about it is you won't be hungry, which to me is the worst part of any diet.
NOTE: I am not a dietician, doctor, or anything like this. This diet is only for myself and friends who recognize the logic of it. I have read a lot about health, nutrition, and diet over the years so that's what I'm basing this all on, besides the sources I mentioned.