A Few Tips

For a while, after 30, 40, even 50 pounds had disappeared from my body, I wondered if I looked any different. My clothes were bigger, but no one seemed to notice. I looked in the mirror and thought I could see the changes, but I needed affirmation from other people. It seemed like once one person noticed, everyone could. Suddenly, I found myself telling my story several times a day.

Everyone wants to know, “How did you do it?” I could give them the long story about how I’m still doing it, about getting up at the crack of dawn to exercise, about the torture of passing on brownie cheesecake at Easter, but instead I usually give the shorter version.

I exercise and watch what I eat. I drink mostly water. The key ingredients are walking, water, fruit, vegetables, and chicken.

People tell me I should write a book, should bottle my secret, etc. I would probably be pretty rich if I could charge people every time they ask how I’m losing weight, but I think it should be free advice. One thing a lot of people ask is how I can still manage to go out to eat, so here are a few things I’ve picked up along the way.

• Ordering a salad doesn’t mean you’re getting a healthy meal. If there’s chicken involved, make sure it’s grilled and not fried. Watch out for excessive amounts of cheese, croutons, bacon, egg. Stick with salads that include other vegetables, like tomato and cucumber.
• Take your own salad dressing. I’m sure if you look at the nutritional information for almost any salad at a restaurant, the majority of the fat grams come from the dressing. If you don’t want that hassle, ask what kind of fat free dressing they have and get it on the side so you can use it sparingly.
• Most major restaurants have web sites. Before you go out to dinner, look at the menu and nutritional info so you can make your choice ahead of time. If they don’t offer the calorie and fat count, at least you can browse the menu to make a healthier choice.
• Use common sense when picking a dish. I look at the healthy portion of a menu and cringe because most of it is not really healthier. Stick to fish, chicken, brown rice, vegetables. If you’re only option for a main course is not as healthy as you’d like, at least make sure your sides are fresh, steamed veggies.
• If you’re at a coffee shop, get everything with skim milk and sugar free syrup. Cappucino has less milk than a latte, so that gives you less calories and carbs.

Over the course of the last year, here are some restaurant meals I’ve enjoyed:

• Applebee’s Orange Chicken Bowl (the meat is crispy, but the veggies are always fresh, and the brown rice is very filling).
• Friday’s has a couple good fish options, and you can specify for them to leave off any unhealthy toppings.
• Smokey Bones has a chicken dish that I recreate at home a lot. It’s grilled chicken with a salsa that includes cucumber, tomato and dried cranberries. I usually add sliced almonds or bits of walnut for a little crunch. It’s light and fresh, good for summer.
• Even though I try to avoid most breads, I’ve recently discovered veggie sandwiches. A lot of chain sub restaurants have them, but the best are at local cafes. Of course, they do add cheese or mayo or some other kind of sauce, but you can skip those.