A Diet that Really Works!

Here are two red snappers, baked to perfection, peaches in between. I cannot remember the rest of the meal, but it must have been some wild rice, a side of vegetables from the garden, and a huge green salad.

This was a celebratory meal, and no doubt, we had a huge puffy lemon soufflé for dessert (and everyone scraped the last browned bits from the dish.)

When we retired (and moved to this restaurant desert), we no longer ate out- possibly once a month, if that. In not eating out you'll save at least a thousand of dollars a year!

My husband was, at 5'11", maybe 250 lbs. I was, at 5'6" closing in on 145 lbs. Not pretty. We never exactly decided to do something about this state. But my husband bought a stationary bike, and I invested in some exercise DVD's. We have been stalwart in our devotion to the morning exercise, and I have been a devotee of my Fitbit that tracks the number of steps and stairs climbed each day. It also helps that we have to do a lot of work on our property and in the garden.

But, I do not think that the exercise program is the most key thing. Right now, I am a slim 120 lbs and my husband has lost more than 80 lbs. The weight loss has left us maybe more wrinkled than we'd like, but we love being slim and fit.

When we were working full time, we ate out a lot, at home and on the road. At the end of the day, no one wanted to cook or shop for food.

O.K. THE DIET.

First, you do not have to count calories or be concerned with fat. You can eat anything you want, all you can eat. You do not have to be concerned with sodium content or fiber or vitamins.

THE BIG THING!  Everything you eat has to be made from scratch! This means no convenience foods, frozen entrees, rotisserie chickens, canned soups, Ritz crackers. (you can use panco crumbs). You can use canned or boxed tomatoes, especially the low sodium ones. You cannot use anything that has no more than three ingredients listed.

Of course, you can use flour, sugar, butter, olive oil etc. These are basic. You cannot use bottled salad dressings, boxed mac and cheese, frozen entrees, pancake mix, cake mix.

If you are not using any convenience ingredients, you'll have to be imaginative, and think ahead about what you'll cook, learn about the local vegetable purveyors. Your fridge will seem bare without all those convenience foods. There will be lunchtimes when you open the fridge and THERE IS NOTHING TO EAT! So, you'll just eat a p and j sandwich and vow to cook a few hard boiled eggs for the next day.

As you begin this diet, I recommend having lots of yogurt and cottage cheese on hand, also nuts.

So, as night falls and I am ravenous, I go up to the main house. "What's for dinner?' I ask. Tonight it's brown rice with chicken and oranges, a huge green salad with lots of mushrooms, black beans. Very satisfying indeed.

If you eat everything made from scratch you'll lose weight, I promise.