I have battled my weight for the better half of my life. The problem is that I hate dieting and I LOVE food. Italian... French....Indian.... cakes....fruits....cheese....chocolate... *sigh* I love food.
And I actually eat really quite healthy. But the problem is that I occasionally eat just a little wee bit too much and over 3-6 months I'll put on extra ten or fifteen pounds. That is about when I will start to diet again in attempt to take that extra weight off and I always do quite well...for while.... but I'll never quite manage take off the full amount....I loose five of ten....or ten of fifteen and then maintain for while.... eventually I'll gain another ten or fifteen....take off five or ten... and so the cycle goes until over the course of a few years, I gain that extra 5 pounds 10 times and all of the sudden I've put on a whole wack load of wait ("wack" meaning big...not "wack"- the hip new (Im aging myself again, arent I?) expression for "good") and that 5 pounds has turned to 50!
But last year I discovered a little secret.... hidden deep in the rain forests of Brazil (not really)
With all the weight loss solutions that I have read about (and dare I say tried) this one actually works for me because although it may sound cliche- it actually isnt a diet at all...
And so....
The Simple Math Diet!
(I know I just said it is not a diet but just hang in there, k?)
No, you arent missing anything. No celebrities have done it, there is no gimmick or rare secret ingredients...
The simple math diet is a simple. (go figure) It is a mathematical calculation based on the science of how your body works and what it needs (in caloric intake) to maintain a certain weight.
FYI- Dont worry about the "math" portion.... I royally suck at math and even I get it!
Wanna know what it is?
Well! With just 3 easy payments of $9.99 you can find out!!! But if you call now, we will make the first payment for you!!!
jk
Here it is....
The first thing you need to know is that your body needs x (a certain- yet to be determined number) amount of calories a day, per pound, to maintain your body weight.
For the average woman that number is 15.
For some of us that number could be 13 or 14 and others (you little bitches that can eat anything you want and stay skinny) that number could be 16 or higher. But on average....we're talkin 15 calories per pound of body weight.
Okay... so this is how it works.
....if you weigh....
135 pounds you need to consume no more than 2,025 calories per day to maintain that weight- (Rough and dirty.)
135 x 15 = 2,025
Ready for the simple part?
If it takes roughly 2,000 calories to maintain 135 pounds-
than if I were to eat 2,000 calories a day, every single day, (given that I was getting some exercise and eating a balanced diet) eventually I would weigh 135 pounds!
It might take a year for someone who weighs 210 pounds to get to that weight, or a just a few months for someone who weighs 150... but so long as you are eating 2,000 calories a (every single day, 365 days a year), eventually, you will end up at 135 pounds.
Here is the catch... (you knew there was one coming didnt you?)
You cant eat the 2000 calories in one meal.
You need to eat 3 healthy meals plus 3 snacks a day.
You need to get some exercise, even if it is just a half hour walk.
You need to eat healthily and regularly (every two hours)
You need to keep track by writing down and calculating everything you eat....this is the toughest one for most people but there are tons of websites and little pocket sized books you can get with nutritional information and eventually it becomes really easy! Staying accountable is key.
Obviously there is a hell of a lot more to nutrition, dieting, and a healthy lifestyle and this "diet" is overly simplistic (you could calculate what percentage portion of your diet comes from fat, carbs, protein etc..) but I find just keeping track, counting calories and trying to resist the "fat" culture around me hard enough as it is. I try to eat protein with every meal, keep the fat down, the simple sugars and refined carbos to a minimum and a eat some fruits and veggies too! Take a complete multi-vitamin and I think I'll be ahead of the game- if not quite the all star player!
When you reach a healthy body weight you dont need to write it all down anymore but then it becomes key to monitor your weight and go back to writing down and counting calories if you gain even just two extra pounds.
And obviously, life stuff happens and you sometimes have occasion to eat more than your 2000 calories! So long as you keep track, you just have to subtract your excess calories from the calorie allotment in the next few days.
Lets say its your friends birthday and you ate 3500 calories instead of 2000... well then you'd eat 1500 calories for the next three days and make up the extra calories. When you stay accountable, you can make it work! Writing things down and counting calories is hard but sometimes it takes the guess work out of eating and gives you the confidence of knowing that you ARE loosing weight!
Here is an example of a moderately healthy (normal food) 2000 calorie day and the way I count down the calories I have eaten and what I have left:
Starting with 2000
3/4 cup whole grain cereal 120 / 1880 (left)
3/4 cup 1% milk 80 / 1800
tea with two sugar 30 1/8 c milk 20 / 50/1750
yogurt 80/1670
2 pieces multi grain bread 210 / 1460
1tbsp mayo 50 / 1410
2 slices of turkey 180 / 1230
lettuce tomato cucumber 30 / 1200
1 oz cheese 100 / 1100
1 cup milk 110 / 990
carrots and an apple 100 /890
8 oz V8 (veggie juice) 50/ 840
1 boneless skinless chicken breast 250/ 590
bread crumbs (shake n bake) 100/490
1/2 c baked sweet potato 100/ 390
3 cups raw spinach stewed with 1tbsp butter 150 /240
1 cup milk 110/130
100 calorie chocolate bar :) 100/ 30
= 1970 calorie day.
But wait, there's more! Tomorrow!
The above pic are of Abby taken this past week by the lady who has her on a free lease. More exciting news about Abby tomorrow!
Here I played with the 
(*sniff sniff sniff* This spot 
And that concludes the Chronicles of 
(8 yr old, red dun mare, very well broke, Lean With Me breeding, $3000)
(2yr old, green broke, Hollywood Dun It bred mare, $1300 
(8 yr old, finished cattle penning mare, red dun, $5500)
(3 yr old, broke gelding, my trainer has for sale, $5000 
(6 yr. old well broke, decently bred cow horse mare $3800)
(GORGEOUS!!! 2 yr old filly with 10 rides, by 
9 yr old dun mare, very well broke, 
