Look Great in 09

No wheat(use alternate and unrefined grains instead)
little dairy(And all full fat. 8% yoghurt is delicious! Non-fat products have none of the healthy bacteria our body needs, and has gone through tons of processing.)
Note* Do not rely on milk for calcium, our body doesn’t actually absorb it that easily, and most milk hardly has enough to do anything anymore.
natural sugars(fruit syrups and cane and carob chocolate)
Very little meat
Tons of fruit and veg.
Nuts, beans, and soy/rice products for regular protein.
WATER(and never buy vitamin water- full of bad sugar!)
Avoid processed food, and cereal that is not in the natural food aisle. (And even those have quite a bit of sugar.)
Flax seed oil(yummy in dressing) and seeds(absorbed best when ground)
Alcohol and coffee in small portions.
Did you know one beer has the starch equivalent to one loaf of bread! That’s why people get those beer belly’s!
Only use antibiotics in an absolute emergency! Doctors have little else to access these days and often over diagnose. Like that commercial says “Not all bugs need drugs!”
Have a headache? Drink some water and eat a banana, don’t be so quick to pop an advil.
And for the love of god, children do not need most vaccines. A fever is good for you! Sweat it out and cleanse your body. A good fever is as good as any cleanse diet
.
This is the healthiest way to go!

I strongly disagree with Alexandria. It is very important to have small(even just a handful of almonds or some figs) portions every couple of hours between main meals.

Starving yourself all day and then binging in the evening is not the way to go. Your body naturally goes into starvation mode as if you were lost in the mountains. To preserve itself it will automatically convert almost all you eat into fat for your body to store(because fat is the hardest to burn/has the most energy.) so that it can last longer.
it is NOT a physiological thing. I think slower, get dizzy and tired, and often get very painful headaches if I go too long without food and water. Anyone can last without eating, but it is unnecessarily uncomfortable and not good for you in the long run.

Most of all! Walk where you can, get a little fresh air each day, and take some time to relax.
Some of you may roll your eyes and say who has time? The reality of it is we probably waste more time stressing about not having enough time, instead of giving ourselves a few minutes a day to just be.
Hope the advice helps!

Mel — I did almost the exact same thing. I kept to under 500 calories a day, and only stuck with it for about 8 months. I lost a ton of weight but just like you, my body was fighting so hard to hold on to as much nutrition as possible, that for the longest time, if I ate anything more than 600 or 700 calories a day, I’d retain it. Bad stuff, bad stuff.
Healthy eating and regular exercise! I feel better than ever.

I workout 3-5 days a week. I count every single calories. I have discovered many ways of enjoying food but with less calories. For example I have discovered 40 calorie bread with fat free cheese and lean turkey meat with fat free miracle whip. What you say you want dessert ok….. how about fat free whip cream with fresh fruit. What you say you want coffee you can have coffee. How may you ask, first of all there are coffee creams that are only 25 calories for 1 tablespoons versus like 90 calories or more from other creamers. You also must give up the sugar and trade it in for good old spenda. You then have very low calorie coffee. I could go on and on . I have lost 25 lb’s to prove it and i am a mother of three kids, ages 5, 4, and 1. I weighed 125 lb’s and I could never figure out how to loose those last few pound’s and I finally found the secrets. I now weigh 103 pounds and I have a fantastic body. Everyone looks at me like I am a science project because I have a perfect body and i have had three children. It is possible to be fit and beautiful but you must follow certain important commandment’s. First of all you must be dedicated. 2nd youmust learn to not really give up completly but change your way of eating. You can still eat but you must learn to tune down your taste buds and eat lower calorie food and fat free foods. There is much more I could say but my info is not free. But you get the point. DEDICATION and be willing to CHANGE your EATING HABITS.

I will be 47 n 2 weeks, i just started menopaus a month ago (frightening thought) it seems everytime I go to the doctors and have my weight checked she tells me I gained another 5-10lbs. I have tried lots of different things the latest being Alli i also tried the dieter’s tea my sister in law told me I should drink a cup right before bed the 1st night which I did she said after I ate dinner the next night I will be running to bathroom (she was right) i was in bathroom about 8 times that night. 2nd night she said after drinking a cup before bed she said I wouldn’t have to go to the bathroom but she did say the 3rd night the cramping was going to be horrible she was right. after that night she told me if I continue to drink the tea every day it would clean out my system, the bad thing is I am always on the run i work 6 days and when I am not at work I am at home helping mom shopping I dont’ have the opportunity to be in the bathroom 20 hours a day….My current weight is 265 was always 145.

i quit smoking 10 years ago that helped put weight on, I went through a doivorce during that period and had surgery for a brain tumor as well, I now have high blood pressure. my legs are always hurting and I am real tired I seriously need to lose some weight.

I recommend the Eat Clean Diet Book by Tosca Reno. It’s hard to follow the diet all the time, but when I do, I am able to lose weight at a moderate rate. And a healthy dose of exercise helps A LOT.