I think I posted on this before so please excuse me if this is a repeat. But due to some recent health problems (not weight related), I was required to give up a few things in my diet. My husband, who had high blood sugar, also joined me in the effort, and even though neither of us were looking to lose weight specifically, we both did anyway. I dropped 10 pounds and my husband dropped 20, in about 2 months. And it wasn't hard. Here's our deal:
1: Eliminate all sweet drinks immediately (sodas, gatorade, sweetened tea, whatever.)
2. Eliminate or drastically reduce white flours, sugar, corn syrup (read those labels), processed grains like white rice
3. Increase proteins, but keep the meat lean! Increase dark leafy greens.
4. Don't get too dogmatic or it will backfire. Once a week we eat whatever we want--pasta, mexican food, whatever. It's OK. We never gave up beer either.
Our meals now look something like this, they're all delicious, and they keep the weight off:
--BBQ chicken breasts on or off the bone served with a great salad
--Spicy turkey cheeseburgers and cole slaw (sometimes on low carb or high fiber bread, sometimes not)
--Blackened grouper with lemon butter asparagus
--Grilled chicken/veg quesadillas on low-carb tortillas with guacamole
--Greek spinach pie/spanikopita (easy to make)
--Eggs and turkey sausage if we eat breakfast, (which we're supposed to but often don't)
--Dessert: Sugar free mint choc chip ice cream (Kroger makes the best, you cant tell its sugar free, we have it almost every night!)
--Snacks: Lots of honey roasted nuts, strawberries and cherries
It's basically eating the way farmers and europeans eat...less processed foods, more simple, real food. Its the processed stuff that puffed us up, we found. Sadly, that meant giving up breakfast cereal, (my fave food!), but I got through that. I never gave up drinking, but I don't have more than a few beers throughout the week.
Once a month or so, we let ourselves get donuts or cake. Once a week, we go out to eat and order whatever the heck we want. Anyway, your mileage may vary, but this diet worked for us like a charm, got my husbands blood sugar down to healthy levels, and as a bonus, we both lost weight.
Now if only I can get my lazy butt exercising.....