What do you eat??

I get asked this question constantly. As soon as people hear I'm on a diet, they want to know two things. 1) What do I eat? 2) Do I work out?

At first, I found planning my diet to be incredibly hard. No matter what I tried, I seemed to be eating too much. And not enough.
I originally started (in January) by following the Canada food guide. 7-8 serving of vegetables and fruits, 6-7 grain products, 2 meats and alternatives, and 2 milk and alternatives. It was easy to create my own diet with so little guidelines!!
In February, when I started using loseit.com, my diet followed almost the exact same pattern every day. For breakfast I have a fruit, a grain, and a dairy. And I usually try to get some protein in (especially if I'm going to be heading to the gym!). Breakfast is usually:

• Boiled egg, one piece of toast, and a fruit
• 1/2 cup Oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, and 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds and 1 tbsp dried cranberries
• 1 cup cereal, 1 cup milk, and fruit
• Vegetable omelette with egg whites and 2 tbsp low fat cheese with a piece of toast.

I rotate between these 4 breakfasts every day and never get bored!! Most of these breakfasts are around 350-400 calories. I try to always keep my breakfast under 400 calories.
The most important thing I do is measure my food. I cannot place enough importance on this. Measuring holds me accountable to portion sizes. Before I started dieting I used food as a coping mechanism for my stress/anger/sadness. Measuring my food gives me more control than my food.

Lunch is probably my most varied meal of the day. Lunch can be leftovers from the night before, or I make lunch. Lunch is something like:

• 1/2 can tuna with 1 tbsp low fat mayo, one piece of bread, salad, 1 tbsp salad dressing, cucumber, and a fruit.
• Salad with 1 tbsp dressing, half a chicken breast, a tomato, and a fruit.
• A wrap (low fat wrap with vegetables and cheese) fruit, and a salad

I try to keep my lunch around 400-500 calories. Lunch is the meal I cheat the most on! I don't know why, maybe its cause it's in the middle of the day. Yesterday, for example. I packed a lunch and took it to work. Tuna and bread, cucumber, almonds, and pineapple. And yogurt. And instead of eating my packed lunch, I ate pizza. Why would I do that? I think I cheat then because its when I figure it's easiest to burn off the calories over the rest of the day than it is at supper time.

Supper is my favourite meal of the day. Anyone that knows me knows I love stir fry. Especially chicken stir fry. For supper, I'll make:

• Chicken stir fry; half a chicken breast and 2 cups of different vegetables, soya sauce, 1/2 cup rice, low cal pudding and fruit (dessert!!)
• Spaghetti sauce (1/2 cup) and 1 cup spaghetti, salad, 1 tbsp dressing, and yogurt.
• 1 cup chili on a bed of salad (especially on days when I overate carbs ALL day)
• Grilled chicken, 1 boiled potato, steamed vegetables, fruit salad

And so on. Supper is usually around 400-500 calories. I never have a hard time creating suppers and I don't worry about throwing weird stuff together. I always make chili and spaghetti sauce ahead because I eat it so frequently its worth my while. I make double recipes and freeze them in small containers that have just the right amount for me (and Mathew).

Snacks through my day are:

• 15 almonds and a fruit (especially if I'm heading to the gym, I'll eat almonds an hour before)
• Fruit smoothies (a combination of milk/yogurt/juice/real fruit, both fresh and frozen)
• Crackers and low fat cheese
• Popcorn (I love fresh popped popcorn!!!! and low fat bags of popcorn)
• ANY vegetables
• ANY fruit

I never the limit the amount of fruit or veggies I'll eat. If I'm over my 1400 calories for the day, I'll eat more fruit and vegetables if I'm still hungry. Not only are they healthy and low cal, but they are so good for you.

When I started my diet I remember reading somewhere... "does your food weigh you down?" and I thought "YES!!" Some weekend mornings, there's nothing more that I enjoy that McDonald's breakfast. I would go get my McGriddle and my two hashbrowns and love them.... and then need to take a nap after eating them. My food WAS weighing me down. Now my food gives me energy.

Since I started my healthy lifestyle, my body has adapted in many ways but the number one way... the amount of sleep I need. Before I would sleep about ten hours a night and still feel like I hadn't had enough. I now sleep about 7 hours a night. In fact, right now I'm awake (and its only 5:51) because I went to bed early last night (around 9) and my body just won't let me sleep anymore! Its times like this I take the sign, grab my running shoes, and head to the gym.

Healthy eating is easy. I hear excuses all the time about why people can't diet. I MADE those same excuses, too. It all has to come with a personal choice. Once YOU decide you're ready to make the changes that you have to to become the new you, it's easy to go from there. We're all in this together. Find yourself a support group of friends that are dieting, too, to hold you accountable. You'll find the further away from January you get, the more those friends will fall off the bandwagon.... but YOU don't have to! YOU can be the person that inspires your friends! All you have to do is make the choice. You want to be healthy! Your body is designed to work most optimally when you are healthy, when your heart is in good shape and you are in good shape and you're getting the right nutrients.

:) Thats my pep talk for the day! I'm off to the gym now!