Today was my “official” weigh-in day with my friends and I’m happy to report I’m down 5.5 pounds! Whoo-hoo! I feel like the Biggest Loser!! (That is a good thing, referencing the television reality show that encourages overweight people to get healthy and fit). While that is a pretty big weight loss for the first week,  I don’t expect that kind of weight loss every week. But I’m happy about it so I’ll take it. My goal is to lose about 30 more!!

So how did I do it? Quite simply, I ate lots of fruits & veggies and watched my calories! I wrote down everything I ate and limited myself to 1200 calories per day. For my five-foot tall frame, that’s quite enough (for you taller gals out there, you’d want to adjust your calories accordingly.). What made my eating successful this week is I tried the 6 meals a day plan. No, that doesn’t mean six large meals. It means 3 moderate 300 calorie meals with 3 healthy 100 calorie snacks, eating about every 2-3 hours.  Here are a two pictures of actual meals I ate this week, a breakfast and a dinner of 300 calories each.

The trick to keeping these meals low-calorie is in the portion sizes and by watching the condiments and sauces. The eggs and hash browns were fried in cooking spray and the corn was sweet enough that I didn’t need to add any butter. The milk is low-fat and the chicken salad was made with plain vanilla yogurt rather than mayonnaise. Notice the addition of grapes to round out the meal.

Here are  few tips on how I will maintain my enthusiasm and stick to my eating plan:

1. Don’t say NO to ANY type of food. If I want a cookie, I’m going to have a cookie but I’m going to count it as either part of my 300 calorie meal or 100 calorie snack. Hmm, 100 calorie snack packs anyone?? (And I’m going to just have 1 treat – not 10!!)

2. Add fruit and veggies to EVERY meal. They are high in fiber which fills me up and keeps me from being too hungry. A banana makes a great 100 calorie snack. 1 cup of steamed broccoli or summer squash is about 30 calories. A good sized tomato is only 25 calories.

3. Watch my liquid calories. I’m sticking to 1% milk (I don’t do fat-free anything!) Also, it’s more filling and better for your system to eat a whole orange or apple, rather than drinking it as juice. I’ll lay off the sodas and dessert drinks (I’d rather just drink water).

4. Keep going when life gets in the way. I had a small accident on my road bike this week which sent me to the doctor for stitches on my chin. But instead of using it as an excuse to give up and eat a pity party, I renewed my determination to not let anything stand in the way of my goals!

Until next week, I’ll keep thinking healthy thoughts!! In case you missed it, you can read about Week One HERE.