[justme78]

A few other things I wanna throw in :-)

Stop using huge dinner plates for your meals. Buy a few small 7" salad plates, and have those be your "meal" plates. People tend to fill up the plates that they have. 1/2 of that plate should be covered with veggies or a salad. Then 1/4 protein, then go ahead and have the small baked potato that you know you want. Of course...it's better if you find a way to eat it without all of the butter, sour cream, and bacon bits...but that's up to you and what you want to lose.

DO snack in between meals. I know everyone has heard this lately, but it is a good practice. Have a string cheese or a yogurt. Get in some dairy for the day. Generally if you focus on making sure that you get the nutrients and the water that you should be getting throughout the day, a lot of times you'll find that you're not really hungry for anything else.

It's been a while since I saw the nutritionist, and my body works differently (I had gastric bypass last year), but in trying to work with my niece and nephew who begged for my help. I made a little booklet for them to cross off what they're eating every day, and I only gave them 1 new thing to focus on each week. For the first week, their booklet only had 8 "w's" for each day. As they drank a glass of water (and I showed them the size it that it had to be), they could cross off a w. That gives them a healthier way to "obsess" over food while they're re-learning good habits. The next week I added pictures of 3 cartons of milk to represent 3 servings of dairy that they should be getting each day, as they're growing kids. I then continued over the next couple of weeks adding 3 v's, for veggies, then rounded it off with fruit for each day. They're still allowed to have a "treat" if they would like...but only after they've had everything that they're supposed to have first. I found that with focusing on what they should be eating rather than focusing on that they can't...they're actually doing well. Sure, they'll still have a brownie here or there...but it's now as a "dessert" after having gotten the nutrition in, rather than "just because it's there" and having it replace the good stuff they should be having.

They still struggle with the protein...it can seem like a LOT to have to eat in a day...but I cut them a little slack on that as long as they make sure to have some form of protein with each meal. We'll start to get more strict later. To start, I only implemented 1 little change each week.

Not sure that helps anyway, but it seems to be working for them :-) Just a thought!