weightloss

I do 30 minutes of Tae Bo every night (ok, almost every night). As for the eating, I started out on lean pockets and fruit. That got old pretty fast, you have to keep changing things up or you get sick of it, and say to heck with it. Here is what worked for me:
1. First I determined my ideal weight, then found out how many calories were needed to maintain that weight.
2. To keep the calories low, I eat a lot of low fat stuff. Lean pockets, lean cuisines, etc.
3. But you have to have fat in your diet, so I make up for all the low fat by keeping sunflower seeds on my desk (160 calories for a small bag that lasts all week) and I have my salads with "real" dressing. There is usually around 150 calories in a serving of salad dressing, but a serving is 2 tablespoons. I give myself 1 tablespoon and have it on the side. I just dip my fork before each bite of salad, and that way I get a taste of dressing with each bite, but am not using more dressing than I need.
4. I use Mike's Calorie and Fat Guide to determine how many calories are in the different things I eat.
5. Lean pockets and lean cuisines do not fill me up by themselves. But if I add a salad before the meal, and a piece of fruit after, I am stuffed. For some reason, I just seem to fill up faster if I have several different types of food, rather than using all the calories for that meal on one thing.
6. Beans and rice. Sometimes I go days on beans and rice, fruit and salads. 1/2 cup canned beans and 1/2 cup Success Boil N Bag Brown Rice make a 270 calorie entree. I mix up the beans, pintos, navies, black beans, limas, etc. to vary the taste and texture. I add black pepper to navy beans and limas, and salsa to pintos and black beans for extra flavor. And I always have a salad first. Also, you can make burritos with 1/4 c. beans, 1/4 c. rice, a tortilla, and a little low fat cheese that taste great and still keeps the calories low. You can also add things like grilled zucchini or bell peppers to add bulk and flavor.
7. Know your fruit! 2 1/4 cups of strawberries are only 100 calories. I rarely eat more than 4 or 5 strawberries at a time, so that is a really low cal snack. Any type of berries are low cal. A whole cup of watermelon is around 100 calories, I think, 20 red grapes also. Peaches are about 35 calories and 3 apricots are 50.
8. Eat a lot. I eat at least 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, so I rarely get really hungry. It also keeps your metabolism going, and keeps your body from going into "shut-down" by thinking there is a famine going on.
9. Drink heavily (not alcohol, lol). Water is best, but I can only do a limited amount of water. Green tea is a great weight loss aid, due to the bioflavenoids (I think that is it) that are processed out of black tea. I buy the Lipton Mixed Berry kind and use real sugar, but only a little. Sugar is only 19 calories a teaspoon. I never drink sodas, diet or not. (Unless I am giving myself a treat, when I drink real Coke with Jim Beam, lol, but don't do it very often)
10. Make sure you are getting your vitamins. I take a very good supplement, and also phosphatidyl choline and choline & inositol, which help burn fat. These are in the B vitamin family and are not harmful in any way. I also take CoEnzyme Q-10, which is good for just about everything, as it increases oxygenation of the tissues.
11. Don't forget to snack! I buy chocolate crunch rice cakes (60 calories each), Yoplait Expresse Spoon Free Yogurt, which I freeze (60 calories each), baby carrots prepackaged with ranch dressing (60 calories each pkg), cup-a-soups (check the pkg, some are too high), and lots of fruit. I prepackage grapes and prunes in ziploc snack bags so I don't overeat.
12. Keep some filler foods handy. In case I am still hungry, I keep around some filling things that won't just kill the diet. The little cups of Split Pea Soup and flavored mashed potatoes work great for me. Read the calories on all the brands, some have a lot more calories than others. Also, I am not above eating asparagus cold right from the can. The little single serving cans only have 50 calories.
13. When I am dying for a candy bar, I buy Power Bar brand Protein Plus in either chocolate fudge brownie or chocolate peanut butter. Depending on when I am having my chocolate craving, I will have them instead of breakfast, lunch or dinner (but only one a day at the most). they are 290 calories and sit like a rock in your stomach - don't be afraid they won't fill you up! They are pretty balanced between protein & carbs and you can carry some in your purse for a quick meal on the run.
14. Have days when you eat a little more. I feel like this helps fool your body so it won't get used to the reduced calories. A lot of times when I am stuck at a plateau, if I will take a day to eat a little more, the next day I will show a loss.
15. When you eat out, eat smart. If I go to a Mexican restaurant, I will have a Baja shrimp taco (90 calories, if they don't add cheese or avocado) and a side of borracho beans. If I go out where everyone else is ordering steak, I have grilled salmon and a Caesar salad (I know, but I love Caesar salad!) and no potato.