-a new one--if you're ordering pizza or something, order a kind you know you won't like.  for instance, i hate the taste of cooked green peppers, and when they're on pizza they permeate the whole slice, even if you take them off. yucky.  anyway, don't order your favorite thing; you'll eat it!

-give yourself one day "off" per week. this does not mean eat whatever you want, ok?!? it means, if for instance you're usually at 500, give yourself an 800 day.  or try the 200-400-600 pattern. (some go 2-4-6-4-2, but i just start over: 2-4-6-2...some people go up to 8: 2-4-6-8-6-4-2 or 2-4-6-8-2...however, don't jump straight from a one or two hundred calorie day up to an 800, it'll make you sick. i found this out in an unhappy way! :(  *see bottom of page for more about the 2-4-6 diet*

-do not take laxatives or diuretics...they only make you lose water weight which is meaningless.  and with laxatives, it may feel like you're losing a lot, but the nutrients (yes, including calories) have already been absorbed into your system.

-clean or organize  --cleaning my room makes me feel so good, and you win points with parents. organize your backback/binder, it'll help you stay organized for school and give you something to do. reorganizing, too, such as moving your bed and dresser to a different place, can be really nice. buy yourself a rug for your "new" room as a reward for being good for a month.

-hot water makes you feel full and oh-so-cozy--try it with a little bit of honey.  also most tea has no calories.

-go veggie!  meat is bad for you anyway, full of yucky fat and calories.  plus it gives you an excuse if you're at a friend's for dinner.  if you can, even go vegan, it's reallllyyy healthy and you can rarely eat out.

-cut up your food into very small bites. concentrate on spending time making it into perfect squares.

-take a tiny bite, then a sip of water.  you'll get full faster, eat slower, and it still looks to family/whoever like you're eating.  if they point out your full-ish plate at the end of the meal, look at them funny and say you got seconds, didn't they notice?

-put down your fork in between each bite.  takes longer to eat.

-if you just open the fridge when you're bored (like me) stop.  think of anything else; give your dogs a treat, pet your cat, feed your salamander, go outside and pick a flower, kiss your mother...put a sign on your fridge that only you understand that reminds you not to snack when you're bored.  same goes for if you eat when you're depressed.

-the freezer is your friend! not kidding, freeze everything. i freeze yoplait light or whips yogurt and have it as a meal--it takes me like 20 minutes to eat it and only ends up being 100 cals (light, whips are more than that 140 i think). make yummy ice cubes with a juice/water mix and then eat them.  or freeze gatorade or diet sprite ...or whatever floats your boat.

-never eat alone. you'll eat more when you're alone, also they're wasted calories! you want people to think you're eating, even though you may think it's fun to revel in the fact people are noticing.

-don't be afraid to throw food away.  only eat the parts you like, then waste the rest. yes, i know, what about all the starving children? if it really upsets you, give it to the dog or leave it on the porch and something will eat it.  make sure you don't do this in a way your parents will notice, though.  "oh...i just thought the ants might want some ravioli." lol. that won't go over well.

-ephedra kills you. don't take it.  maybe if we weren't already at such high risk for heart disease as anas, it would be a different story, but we already tend to have irregular heartbeats, etc. don't do it, if not for yourself, think about your parents/siblings/kids, whoever. if you must use diet pills, see the section on them below.

 -egg whites!!!!  oh man, i discovered them tonight.  i guess i'm slow. scramble them with a little spice or something and add mucho yumminess and very few cals.  a regular large egg white contains only 15 calories!  and spices usually are about 5/teaspoon.  anyway, just wanted to share. ;)

-diet soda.  that's all i have to say about that one.

[27 mar 04] these are the pills that i have heard work well to raise energy levels and metabolism so you can more efficiently burn calories. i plan to try powerthin first *no, i have never used any before :o* because the review i read was quite good.

powerthin

dexatrim results

zantrax-3

betatrim

t-lites

hydroxycut

most of these can be found at wal-mart or a nutrition-type store like gnc.

[30 mar 04]

bit of an embarassing moment at wal-mart today, lol.  tried to buy a bottle or hydroxycut for 14.99, and the lady asked for my bday. i lied and said sometime in '86, but i was still too young!  god, i thought you only had to be 17.  eek. anyway, went to rite-aid and decided on dexatrim results instead because the bottle looked less...threatening, lol. the lady at checkout barely looked at what i was buying, but it was 19.99.  so i took one at lunchtime, after my 7 mini rice cakes, and one at dinner, after my egg & toast and salad.  and actually they seem to work quite well, either that or i'm just doing well today.  who knows, but i had zero cravings. and i'm 123.5 tonight :):):) no negative side affects, weird heartbeats or shortness of breath, etc. i'll update if there's anything else later!

[25 apr 04]

the dexatrim is working well, thus far...at least, it's not making me gain weight, lol. if nothing else it makes me hyper, and fidgeting burns cals, lol.

metabolism stuff...

i think the most effective way i've encountered to tip the scales on my metabolism was the 2-4-6 "diet".  i'll explain it in detail here, since i was pretty unclear about it above.

   option 1
day 1: 200 cals
day 2: 400 cals
day 3: 600 cals
day 4: 200 cals
 (start over)

   option 2
day 1: 200 cals
day 2: 400 cals
day 3: 600 cals
day 4: 400 cals
day 5: 200 cals
 (work your way back down)

anyway, this works because your metobolism doesn't go into starvation mode. this is good because when your body does think it's starving, it tries to conserve all your fat :o very bad, don't you think?