by Zan Smith

Created on: October 28, 2008

I lost 10 lbs four years ago and I have never put it back on. When I was carrying around that extra weight I was working out every day and just could not understand why I couldn't lose weight. Nothing seemed to work for me. So what happened? Here's the story:

1. I limited my carb intake. I had the idea that too much protein was bad - bad for the animal, bad for the world eco system and bad for me. The first two things may be true, and I am not knocking vegan lifestyles, but my so called healthy habits of whole grain pasta, granola, whole wheat bread, etc., were not filling me up. In fact, the more I ate, the hungrier I got a few hours later. I didn't stop, I just always had protein anytime I had carbohydrates and I limited myself by realizing how much I was eating. I started eating tons of raw nuts instead of a granola bar or whole wheat crackers. I cooked up chicken breasts and had that as a snack. Soon I didn't want to snack, or if i did, a small amount was all I wanted. More was just too much. I was full much easier and stayed full longer.

2. This is the same as one almost, but I limited sugar. I did not cut it out, but I would not eat or drink anything with high fructose corn syrup in it and I went to natural sugar. Every book will tell you there is no difference, so who am I to say otherwise? Except that, for a few days, I would only let myself have dates. Gooey sweet dates. I read somewhere that you could eat a whole box of chocolates and still want more but just try to eat a pound of dates. I couldn't. But a few satisfied me and it just weaned me off candy. Once the habit was gone to pick up a little snickers bar as a treat i didn't even think about it.

3. I went back to whole fat foods. Sounds odd, but again the object is to feel full. Non-fat milk didn't satisfy, but half and half in my coffee did. I can't explain why this worked, but I have never looked back. And my skin and hair improved dramatically. I do not over do dairy, mind you. It is a balancing act. The real thing gave me the fat i needed to feel full, then I was much more reasonable in my selections.

4. I made sure what I ate was delicious. Well, not always. But I used olive oil to fry and gave up trying to do without; I gave up creamy dressings full of chemicals but used oil and vinegar. I was satisfied and happy. That was a key.

5. I decided chemicals are bad, not food. Prepackaged? Not for this girl. Soda? no, not even diet. I never really expected to lose weight, my goal originally was to

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