I don't like to say diet.

Someone asked me how I've been dieting. This is basically it -I like to think of it as more of a lifestyle eating approach:

I eat about 1300 calories a day, low fat, restricted carb, with lots of fresh and steamed veggies, salmon, lean meat, yogurt, other non-fat dairy, walnuts, asparagus, some whole grain bread, multigrain pasta, fruit, esp. berries...kind of like the South Beach diet, I suspect. Not much in the way of potatoes. Some rice, grits, cream of wheat, in restricted amounts.

I journal everything I eat, even if I splurge. I have learned that if I splurge, it's not usually not nearly as bad as I thought, and it helps keep me motivated. It also gives me a record of what makes me crave or triggers other problems, like eating light, olestra cooked potato chips at lunch makes me want to eat all afternoon.

It's a pretty low fat diet because I make gallstones, so for the fats I choose, I need them to be quality for me. I basically use olive oil, but mostly as spray. I am a bit lactose intolerant, but I handle yogurt ok, so I have a Carb Control yogurt with every meal. Eat non-fat cottage cheese, non-fat cheese. Getting enough calcium is important, both for my aging bones and how it plays a role in fat metabolism, and yogurt is one of the better ways of getting it in.

I am always having to work to keep enough fiber in the diet. Eat lots of salads with non-fat salad dressings, and occasionally take fiber suplements. I have trouble getting enough fruit in my diet, so I have taken to drinking things like Bolthouse's Berry smoothie -high quality ingredients, 110 calories an 8 ounce serving, no high fructose corn syrup.

I avoid things with high fructose corn syrup - I suspect it causes some metabolism problems.

If it makes me crave, I try to stay away from it. Breakfast cereal is bad about that for me. I do better eating a turkey burger. Eating more than a smidgen of carb at lunch will set off the afternoon craves for me. When that happens, I eat non-fat cottage cheese. The protein burst seems to kill the craves better than any carb food.

Lots of water, not much soda (I do like Pepsi One, and may have one or two a day, or maybe none). I like to use things like Ocean Spray's Diet Juice and Tea and Diet Splash some too for alternative drinks. Both of those only have about 10 calories for 8 ounces.

I take chewable calcium and vitamin supplements, both chocolate flavored, which keeps me from feeling chocolate deprived.

When I need a treat, I make a cup of Hill's Brother's Non-fat Cappachino. They are not calorie free! About 90 calories a serving, but it soothes something in my heart. This is a comfort thing, because the mix has stuff I try to avoid, but we all have our weaknesses. I don't do this every day.

I have one to 3 cups of regular coffee sweetened with sugar most every day. I figure that since a typical 20 ounce coke has the equivalent of 17 teaspoons of sugar, my little 2-6 teaspoons of sugar aren't nearly as much to worry about. For some reason, I just don't like the taste of any sweetner I've tried in coffee, except sugar.

I try to follow some things I picked up from Dr. Phil: Don't keep foods around you that cause you problems. Don't keep convenience foods around. It's better for you if you have to cook, because you pay more attention to what you're doing (he calls this something else, but that's the idea). I measure and weigh everything.

I walk a lot. I work on taking extra good care of my skin, since this is somewhat stressful on my body. I try to baby my hair, which is dealing with the stress of the last two years (which have been hard! Between teenager problems and being sick, reaching the perimenopausal time of life, and dieting, it really needs babying). I make sure I do things that make me feel good, like pedicures, wearing earrings, listening to upbeat music.

I try to make sure I always get at least 1000 calories. Some days I have to push it. Other days, 1500 calories is easy to make. If I'm sick, I tell myself I can eat up to 2000 calories, and I mark it a sick day in my journal.

Goal for me is eat like this until I need more calories, then just add more to the meal allotment...and keep journaling and avoiding triggers.

So this is what I have been doing. In case you are interested!