The 10 Easy Things I'm Doing to Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous

So, I mentioned that I lost 10 lbs. since January 2. Being in my early-ish forties, I find the weight piles on faster when I'm not careful and can be downright stubborn to get rid of once its found a cozy parking spot. But I've found a recipe for shrinking safely and since I've had a few questions as to HOW I'm doing it, I thought I'd quickly summarize the 10 easy things I've been doing and not doing to shake off a bit of my holiday boom-boom.

These things are SO SIMPLE. And everyone's body chemistry is surely a bit different, so who knows if this would work for everyone.  But I will say that regardless of the weight lost, I'm thinking this is probably a fairly healthy way to live.  And more importantly that in addition to being thinner, I also just FEEL better - much happier and more energetic all day long.

1. I eat soup for lunch. The one major change I've made in the past 5 weeks is just that simple. I eat one pretty generous bowl (like 12 -14 ounces) of soup every day, even Saturday and Sunday, for lunch. Whatever soup I want, even a creamy soup.  One catch here is that I don't used canned soups -- I make my own soup. Sometimes I make a huge pot of soup from scratch, and many times it's been as simple as taking leftovers from the previous night's dinner and adding some sort of stock or broth to make it into soup. I call this, SOUP-IZIN'.  And I will soup-ize ANYTHING.  On weekends we eat out quite a bit, but even if we're in a restaurant at lunch time, I only allow myself to have soup. Those days, I do allow myself to have a bit of bread, too. By a little, I mean a slice or two. With butter.

2. I eat only nuts at snack time. I snack twice a day - once between breakfast and lunch, and one between lunch and dinner. Any kind of nuts I want - walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, whatever... except not honey-roasted or anything with sugar.  I have pretty much every kind I like on hand, and I just grab a handful or two around 10 AM and again around 3 PM.  Whenever I feel munchy.   The crunch and the protein are very satisfying on all levels.

3. I drink big cup of green tea in the afternoon. In addition to being packed with healthy antioxidants, green tea is also thought to speed metabolism. And it's hot and pretty yummy. For awhile I sweetened it with agave nectar, but I've stopped because I found that by steeping an herbal mint tea along with my green tea bag, I can make a brew that I enjoy with no sweetener at all. This is also getting a little hydration on board, which has always been a struggle for me, as I am not a huge drinker throughout the day.

4. I eat almost NO refined sugar.  I've not been much of a sugar junkie at any time in my life, really, but now I'm even less inclined to waste calories on sweet stuff.  Let's face it, it's just not good for you. And if you talk to just about anyone who has eliminated sugar from their diet you'll hear that it doesn't take long to "get off of it," and once you've done that, you lose the craving for it. So really no cookies or cakes or candies or ice cream. But I do keep a supply of sugar-free chocolates on hand, because sometimes, I HAVE to have chocolate. It's better to just admit that and be prepared for when the irresistible urge hits me. Do I occasionally share a dessert with Al when we're out on a date? You bet I do. Makes me so happy to clink spoons and dive into a special treat with my lovey. But that's about the only time I indulge in sweets.

5. I have reduced my over-all carb in-take. Nothing too restrictive, it's just that since nuts are my go-to snack these days, I'm not getting the extra carbs I used to eat in, say, CHEEZ-ITS. And except for brown rice or whole wheat pasta (whose carbs come with extra fiber and thus don't stick on me as easily), we don't eat a ton of starchy sides around here, anyway. I do eat potatoes and corn.

6. I have a non-fat fruit smoothie for breakfast. Almost every day. I make these with about 1/3 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup frozen fruit (I buy, wash, cut and freeze the fruit myself), 1/3 cup apple juice, plus a little dash of extract and a teaspoon of agave nectar if it's needed to keep things sweet and tasty. My favorite smoothie flavor right now is the apple juice, yogurt, some frozen strawberries, two teaspoons of strawberry Poulaner All-Fruit and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Tastes EXACTLY like a good old strawberry milkshake and is GOOD for me. Daily yogurt is also giving me extra calcium and keeping my digestive tract very happy. The probiotics in the yogurt are also thought, as you know, to boost our immune systems. I'll take that.

7. I eat a normal dinner - whatever I'm serving the family. We usually have some rice or whole grain pasta (half-cup servings), a meat dish and one or two veggie sides. At least one night a week we have fish. Most of our dinners are all home-made, from-scratch foods. And at dinner, I cook with the good stuff: full-fat everything, butter, cheese, cream, extra-virgin olive oil, the works, no guilt, no compromise.

8. I don't eat anything after dinner.

9. I allow myself small amounts of wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages, but only on the weekends.

10. I am still extremely careful about making sure I get enough sleep. Nothing makes me lose my resolve and gobble up simple carbs and garbage like being sleepy or grumpy or blue, and nothing makes me sleepy, grumpy and blue like missing out on my 8 full nightly hours of Zzzz.

Pretty simple stuff, right? I'm so happy to be feeling energetic and perky, I'm certainly not hungry, and my clothes are fitting me so much better lately.

What are some of your go-to ways to lose a few pounds and feel great?

Y'all can subscribe to FriedOkra's feed here.