Rule #2 Better in the Garbage than On My Hips

In August 2011 my weight was down to 146.  I wanted to find out how low I could go, so I joined losit.com and started keeping track of what I ate and how much I exercised.  I chose loseit.com because I'd heard of it, but there are other sites MyFitnessPal, etc.

Using a database taught me that walnuts (my go-to snack) were a lot more fattening that almonds (my new go-to snack.)  Also cheese, which I love, is more fattening than hummus for an afternoon pick me up.  I like hummus, too, but I still eat cheese, maybe not so much.

Since I could only eat a limited amount of food, I decided I could to be picky.  Very picky.  Now, if something is not up to my gourmet standards, into the garbage it goes. Things I threw away: cookies with only one bite out of them, inferior chocolate candy, frozen pasta, mushy apples.  In our land of plenty: throwing away food is no longer a sin it's a necessity, no matter what your mama told you.

How to Lose Weight without Suffering #1

RULE #1 Eat whatever the hell you want…

Just not everything you want.

I lost ten percent of my body weight and have kept it off for over a year without pain, without “dieting,” without combining stupid foods. Southern Belles don’t suffer on purpose.

It all started on June 15, 2011, but I didn’t know it, I thought I was just going to spend a month in Europe.  At the time I said I weighed 150.  It was more often 152, 153, but I didn’t want to be petty. I also said, my weight fluctuated between 152 and 147.  (The only time I hit 147 was when I had the flu.)  But I thought I looked OK and at 5’4”, I wasn’t unhealthy.  Five pounds overweight, according to the CDC, but what’s 5 pounds? 

In London I joined my cousin who was going through a divorce and had lost 60 pounds on the misery diet. Misery aside, she looked great and was determined not to stay that way.  We walked everywhere.  She ran and swam.  I just walked.  She cut out sugars, starches, and breakfast. I ate breakfast and bread, but I wasn’t going to pig out on cookies around her.  Still we ate in restaurants almost every night and sometimes at lunch. She counted calories, I was just aware that I didn't want to overeat. "I didn't eat everything I wanted."

When I got home on July 15, 2011 I weighed 148.  A month later, I weighed 146 without suffering. That’s when I decided to get serious and see how much I could lose while living my life.  My goal was 130.  

In my next posts I’ll let you know how I did it and some easy rules that I follow.

The Dallas Decoder Asked Me How Should J.R. Die

So sorry to hear about Larry Hagman's passing.  He was a lovely guy, funny and generous and JR, the character David Jacobs created which Larry so ably brought to life, will go down in the annuals of pop culture history.  He became the archtypal villain you loved to hate.

A few days ago The Dallas Decoder contacted me and asked:  How should J.R. die?  I said he should die as he lived, shot by a jealous husband.  http://dallasdecoder.com/2012/12/12/dallas-decoder-asks-how-should-j-r-die/