Great to see you again!! Y'all don't forget to fan me on Facebook, and subscribe to my Examiner articles!

A few weeks ago, one of my Facebook friends asked me what exactly I was doing to lose nearly 30 pounds this spring. Specifically, she wanted to know what I ate.

I have been thinking and racking my brains for the past few weeks, and the best thing I can come up with is “whatever I want!” To be honest, I don’t make ‘special’ diet meals for myself. I have learned to eat less of the foods I normally make for the family, or make little changes to meals that the kids won’t notice, but makes the meal a lot more figure-friendly. And sometimes, I splurge. You only live once right?

For breakfast, I have found Thomas’ Bagel Thins, Bagel-fuls, Jimmy Dean D’Lite Breakfast sandwiches, and low-sugar bread to be my go-to staples. Also, the original Fiber One bran cereal mixed with yogurt is wonderful (really!). Other than that, if I want a cinnamon roll or other “treat” I’ll eat it.

The past few months have been extremely on-the-go and I feel like I have eaten more than my fair share of meals in the car. Chick-fil-A is my preferred fast food joint, especially since I can get a Chargrilled chicken sandwich plus a fruit cup for a total of 6 points! That is excellent for a fast food meal. If the kids rally and insist on McDonald’s, I get their Ultimate Chicken Grill without mayo for 7 points. At home, I fix the kids a simple meal (sandwiches, grilled cheese, quesadillas, chicken nuggets) and then I’ll heat up a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer meal. They list their point values on the back, and even though I do double check, I have only found it to be wrong once. Some of the Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine meals are good, too, I just haven’t bought any in a while. When I eat any frozen meal I try to “beef it up” with a side salad, even if I only have lettuce and tomatoes on hand! For dressing, I would suggest making your own (it’s really easy) or just drizzling a touch of vinegar on the salad for flavor. If you must buy dressing, usually the lite Italian dressings are a safe bet (I never eat the lite creamy dressings, they just taste off to me).

For dinner, I generally try to eat a lean protein (chicken, fish, lean meat or trimmed steak), vegetables, and a starch (either rice or potatoes usually). However nothing is off limits! I have made gumbo, King Ranch chicken casserole, pot roasts, spaghetti…just about anything under the sun.

Desserts are my weakness. I like to have a little something sweet after lunch and dinner! I have tried to go with fruit or yogurt or something equally healthy, but for my birthday I had cheesecake! And I baked a cake for my husband, and my middle daughter’s birthday is coming up soon…so more cake!

It is times like these that I am going to rely heavily on exercise to make it through the sea of cake!

My apologies for not having any more secrets to share. I will add, though, that most recipes are easily adaptable to a lower-fat diet, or it’s easy to add activity here and there if you want to splurge on a treat! One resource I love is the Hungry Girl site, I want some of her cookbooks. She has an email newsletter, which has great information as well.