What are YOUR rules for dieting?

Now, these are rules for me...they took a lot of trial and error, but I'm getting there!:

1. Never eat after 10 pm or before 8 am (I'm trying to shorten these hours)

2. If craving sugar, reach for a fruit. You'll be much happier with yourself and actually stay full. I used to try to kill this with a granola bar...but y'know, it's hard to have just one. Plus I might's well have a cookie in that case.

3. Drink plenty of fluids, especially before and after meals.

4. Watch for the 'pause' during eating, and stop then. Don't worry about being 'wasteful'. If there's not enough to save, toss it, don't make yourself eat it, for pete's sake!

5. Never have more than 500 cal in a single setting. (usually I'm closer to 400 in a meal, but sometimes when it's out of my control all I can do is eat less)

Cheat days are a must. And they don't have to be every week. I had a bit of one tonight and I ain't sorry!!!!

No eating "sharing" foods at work. This means bagels, scones (I cheated once), ice cream, candy, mints, candy...pizza, candy (oops said candy three times)...

No white bread, no potatoes (for the first 6 months), no rice (ever), never macaroni and cheese (:sad: )....

NO SKIPPING WEIGHT TRAINING DAYS....

For me, I allow myself a cheat day that consists of Adult Beverages; although it's not exactly a cheat day if I make sure I'm exercising enough to allow for it...

If I want a cookie, I have a cookie.

Everything in moderation!

1) Exercise properly. Push yourself and set exercise goals; don't just sit on the elliptical for 30 mins at a slow-moderate pace, make yourself sweat.

2) Try and get a good amount of fruits and veges in your daily diary

3) Allow yourself to have your treats if you want them, just make sure they're within your calorie limit (this helps to teach moderation) - e.g. 2 oreos = 100 calories, knowing this makes you more likely to only eat two as opposed to half the packet.

4) Eat if you're hungry; don't starve yourself

5) Remember that this is supposed to be a long process; you didn't gain that extra 10 pounds overnight and you won't lose them overnight.

6) Try not to get too hard on yourself if you go over your calorie limit on a given day; it happens, and you can make up for it tomorrow, or just forget about it and move on. Chances are it's not going to affect your progress too much in the long run.

1. If it's not working, change it up. All these rules are for right now, subject to change at any time.

2. No bread or bread products. Also no fries or chips.

3. Lots of meat. Preferably ribeye when I can afford it.

4. Putting %2 milk in my coffee is currently keeping me full most of the day, so I'm drinking it.

5. No eating exercise calories back unless I'm dizzy, sick, weak, or catch myself wondering what pets and people taste like. I just started this one today, we'll see how it goes.

6. If I eat it, I record it. Down to and including breath mints. But not my multivitamin. I draw the line at that.

7. If I must have chocolate or sweets, M&Ms seem to let me make do with smaller amounts than other sweets, so that's what I've been eating. Two at a time, slowly, preferably adding up to no more than a 1/2 serving (120ish calories) or mixed in with raisins and peanuts as a trailmix meal replacement. No eating out of the bag, though, everything must be separated in whatever portion size I'm having before I start eating. Still working on portion sizing, though, I need to buy a food scale!

8. Soda and juice rarely, especially soda, since last two times I drank it, I noticed I was very hungry the rest of the day.

9. One bad day or even a bad week or month isn't an excuse to give up. Besides, if I give up now, I know I'm going to gain it all back in less than two months, even though it's taken me almost seven months to lose 40 pounds. That's so depressing that when I think of it, I keep going.

10. I'm not going to force myself to eat food that I hate or that makes me feel ill. Unfortunately, almost all vegetables and fruits fall into one or both of these categories. Kind of strange, since I was a vegetarian for years, but then again, I did eat a lot of processed tofu products. Not to mention a lot of junk.

1) No food is off limits.
2) Portion control is key.
3) Eat many different things during the day. An array keeps boredom at bay.
4) Eat three primary meals, a morning snack, an afternoon snack, an evening snack and dessert.
5) Don't give too many damns about the latest "THIS WILL GIVE YOU CANCER" food additive. I smoked for 20+ years, 2 packs a day for 10 of them.
6) High fructose corn syrup? Don't care. Gluten? Not allergic. White flour? Yes, please.
7) Walk during every break at work.
8) Exercise at home. (this started with walking, moved to Zumba/high impact cardio and now is a combo of walking, cardio and lifting)
9) Love who I am right now and look forward to loving who I'm becoming.
10) Provide support to others who need it so that they can return the favor.
11) Fast food once a month (usually a plain hamburger and small fries), pizza once or twice a month (always cheese or cheese and mushroom), and Subway almost every Friday.

I've done all of these things and am still doing them. I use the WW flex points plan and MFP as a nice mix of diet plans. I've found that I don't eat as much red meat as I used to, but that it's not really a conscious decision, but rather a result of the changes I've made in how I eat. I also eat fat-free, reduced fat, and low cal foods and drink diet pop. I keep my calories between 1200 and 1480 calories a day and don't eat back exercise calories (or in WW speak, activity points). This is what has helped me reach my current weight of 169.0, down from 244.8 in April of 2011.

My personal 10 commandments of dieting:

1. Thou shall treat food as thy body's fuel so eat only what thy body needs
2. Thou shall eat only what is necessary for thy body. Thy body doesn't need junk foods, sodas, sugary drinks & stuff, in fact it is just outright bad for thee
3. However if thou feel like having a slice of cake or a scoop of ice cream, go for it but make sure that it fits thy daily calorie budget otherwise just save it for tomorrow. (sorry I don't believe in cheat days, I used to have that but I'm just not disciplined enough that it just made me binge on those days so I would rather have a small piece or bite of those whenever I have cravings)
4. Thou shall not eat below thy BMR
5. Thou shall not think about thy need to diet, what thy need is to change thy lifestyle
6. Honor thy muscles, feed it with adequate protein
7. Thou shall not covet your neighbor's food, even left over ones
8. Thou shall not raid the fridge come midnight
9. Thou shall eat only when thy hungry. Most of the time, thy body is only craving for water.
10. Thou shall not give up after a slip up

EDIT: thought of making a blog post on this

No soda
No candy bars
Mainly drink water, don't want to "waste" my calories on a drink
No cheat days (tried this when I first started and it didn't work for me)
If I really want "junk" then plan for it so that it is within my calories
Stop eating just because it tastes good
Don't eat my exercise calories back (tried this also when I first started and it didn't work for me)
No changes in a while- change something! Try harder!
Stay in front row at Zumba, I work harder that way (self conscience)

1. Do not binge. Unless its green veggies or fruit.
2. Do not eat anything that came from an animal. Sorry.
3. Natural, natural, natural. Processed food to a minimum.
4. Enjoy my splurges which is diet coke & alcohol!
5. TONS of fruits and veggies. I crave them now.
6. Whole foods. Nothing processed! (repeated for emphasis)