The mountainmomma diet

My friends notice how skinny I've gotten.  My doctor tells me not to lose any more weight.  Last week I bought my very first pair of size 10 pants since . . . oh about 15 years ago.  I have lost 17.5 pounds in the past three months.  And everyone wants to know which diet I follow.  Atkins?  Weight watchers? 

Nope.

I've got my very own diet.  You can call it the mountainmomma diet if you like.  Or name it after yourself, because you're going to make little changes to make it suit you.  

It basically consists of being sensible, eating less, eating the right things. 

Breakfast is fairly hearty by my standards.  An apple, a big bowl of oatmeal (well, half a cup of dry oats to a cup of water, zapped), with a teaspoon and a half or so of peanut butter and a tablespoon or so of maple syrup, OR three whole grain muffins with fruit and nuts, OR whole grain waffles, OR an egg scrambled with chives and a slice of whole grain toast, and a decaf soy latte.  This is my sweets and starch blast for the day, and I have all day to work it off.

Salad for lunch is fairly key to this diet.  Green salad, with some form of protein:  meat, fish, seafood, beans and a bit of cheese.  Homemade olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, with a bit of good-tasting nutritional yeast for flavoring.  Mostly no-carb lunch.

Supper is veggies and again, some form of protein. 

A glass of wine or beer only two or three times a week.  An intense sweet (candy or chocolate fudge sundae, for example) only two or three times a week.  This actually helps the weight to drop if it's starting to plateau.  Once or twice a month it's ok to pig out.

That's it.  Oh, and regular exercise.  When I follow it, my weight drops quickly.  When I get lazy, my weight rises quickly. 

So my challenge now is to keep my weight steady once I reach my goal, that will be 2.5 pounds more, in a week or two.  I'll have to let you know how that goes.