I'm 71 years old, five foot three, and recently lost 70 pounds. When people hear this, they almost invariably react with amazement. They ask, "How did you do it?" as if there's some secret or trick to losing weight.
There isn't. It's very, very simple: If you expend more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. If the reverse, you'll gain. If one equals the other, you'll stay the same.
Most people "know" this, yet they twist and turn and tiptoe around those simple facts. They want to believe there's some easier way to lose.
There isn't.
Now, you can certainly lose weight on unhealthy diets that will eventually kill you, such as ingesting only lettuce and cucumbers. Or Twinkies and Pepsi. Or rice and hard-boiled eggs. But for the long haul, you need vegetables and protein with vitamins and minerals and stuff.
However, you don't need a lot of processed foods. Whole foods are better for you in a variety of ways. A vegetarian diet, properly structured, is probably the healthiest for humans, although not for dogs.
A number of people have asked me what I eat. Here it is, very simply:
For breakfast, I have two pieces of whole wheat toast, heaped with (about) a cup of cottage cheese; three cups of coffee; a small glass of orange/mango juice.
For lunch, I have vegetables. I might have cauliflower (and I usually eat the whole head, not a prissy little piece of it); and/or broccoli (lots of it); and/or Brussels sprouts; and/or a sweet potato and/or some kind of squash (butternut, acorn, zucchini). Instead of some of the cooked vegetables, I might have a big salad. I use green- or red-leaf lettuce (never iceberg), tomatoes, beets, kidney beans (for protein), onions, and feta cheese. Lunch varies a lot and could also include spinach (the only veggie I buy frozen) or, depending on the season, some other vegetable. Occasionally, I put a hard-boiled egg in the salad, too. I use a no-calorie dressing that you get in the produce section.
Dinner varies a lot. I often have vegetables alone, or I might have a Boca burger or a piece of salmon or some shrimp. I rarely eat meat, but if I do, I'll have a very small amount of whatever I give my husband. If say, he has beef tips in gravy, I'll give myself maybe a scant ounce. Beef and other red meat really aren't good for people unless they perform very strenuous exercise throughout the day; I'm not even convinced chicken and turkey are, in particular. I realize I need protein and try to get it through the veggie route, e.g. from beans.)
At 8:00 pm, I have my daily treat: a glass of red wine and a big bowl of popcorn. I put buttery spray on the popcorn, and often follow that with fat-free, sugar-free Popsicles. Incidentally, I don't watch television until 8:00. After I clean up from dinner, I play on the computer, put in a load of wash, take a drive, and/or take my shower. Television not only rots the mind, it contributes mightily to obesity.
Do I ever deviate from the above? Of course. In fact, today, I went with my friend to The Lizzie Rose, a beautiful, over-priced restaurant in Tuckerton. Had a tomato and mozzarella salad on a bed of baby greens, dressed with some kind of oil-based vinaigrette, and I ate every morsel. I have no concern at all that I had more calories than usual--I know it will balance out, because I'm now right back on my modest regime. Usually, when I go out for lunch, I order a Caesar salad with chicken or shrimp and invariably take half home to eat for dinner. No problem.
Now I'm tired of writing. Don't want to get back into the daily blog routine. More in a few days, probably.