(Whispering from the rooftops).

"Let me tell you about my diet."

Doesn't that phrase always make you cringe?  It does me, anyway.  It's usually someone telling me about how they lost ten pounds in the last week by only eating grapefruit with peanut butter on it...or something.  There are books to buy, classes to attend, points to count, a magic food to eat, or an evil food to avoid.  I think we all know that person who is always on some new miracle diet...for about a week.

Here's the deal:  I am on a diet.  It is hard for me to say, because I don't want to announce it for all listeners to silently, inwardly roll their eyes and wait for it to pass.  I want to share it because it's a radical idea, at least to me. 

It's not that I have not ever tried to adhere to a diet before.  I've been vegetarian and even vegan for a few months.  I have tried eliminating carbs (South Beach, not Atkins...that crap is crazy).  I have fastidiously entered every morsel I consumed onto SparkPeople, and calculated my daily intake.

I have made major changes in the way I eat, at least a few times in my life...and I always gave up on it eventually.  I can tell you all the reasons/excuses, some of which are even valid.  It is difficult to cook for a large family and prepare separate meals for me.  It is difficult to change the way everyone eats, just for me.  It is exhausting to enter every thing I eat into a calorie tracker, especially as most of the things I eat are homemade, and not in the database.  I LIKE BREAD.  I make awesome bread.  Also, I like meat.  Cheese, amen!

So, are you curious about how I eat now?  Here are the rules.  I can do it in four lines:

No Sweets.
No Snacks.
No Seconds.

Except, sometimes on days that begin with "S."  (Special occasions, within reason, are "S" days, too.  Like birthdays and anniversaries.  Yay for big families because it's always somebody's birthday).

That's it.  Here is the website, if you're curious about it.

Here's why I like it:

Nothing is off limits.
It's cheap (free).
It's easy to remember, I don't have to look up everything I eat.
It makes me think about food less. (Hmm...looking at all these healthy recipes has made me hungry).
Special days are special days.  (I can eat cake and ice cream for somebody's birthday...just not every day).
Regular days are regular days.  (I don't have to have a treat just because I'm bored, sad, tired, etc.).

Did I lose ten pounds in the first week?  No.  Have I steadily lost about half a pound as long as I've been doing it?  Yeah, I have.  Do I feel like I could eat this way forever?  Yes, I can.  Not because I suddenly have willpower, but because it is easy. 

I eat whatever I want, just not until it's all gone.  I'm never more than five days from getting to eat ice cream, or whatever gooey thing I'm looking forward to for the weekend.  I don't eat because I'm bored, or because I read that some expert recommends snacking to boost metabolism.  I eat when it's time to eat, reasonably healthy things that I serve my whole family.  I eat what's on the plate, then I'm done.  It is surprisingly easy. 

I'm kind of doing this for my whole family, too.  We have been terrible about letting the kids snack when they're hungry, then throwing away food at meal times.  This also makes the house cleaner because kids aren't dragging food all over the place to forget about it and then it rots or attracts mice and ants.  We eat when it's time to eat, and that's it.  Maybe they'll have less issues with food than I do.  That's as important to me as my own fitness/health.