It doesn't matter what diet you have been on to lose weight, what really matters is what you eat after you have lost all your weight.

We can't go back to our old way of eating.  That way is what got us into trouble in the first place.  

We lose weight for a reason.  We have to remember what that reason was after we lose our weight.

Losing weight and to keep it off means we have to make a life style change in our eating habits.  If you didn't intend to change your eating habits before you lost weight, you wasted your time and money.  You HAVE TO change your life style eating habits to maintain the weight you attained.  You have to be logical about it.

Keeping a food journal allows you to monitor your weight, along with what you ate to maintain or lose your weight.

After you attain your goal weight, you HAVE TO monitor what you eat.  Carbohydrates are USUALLY the culprits.

Monitor the carbohydrates you consume and compare those with your weight gain, lose or maintinance, and you'll find the SECRET to weight gain, loss and maintenance. 

Monitor those beastly items and you'll be able to maintain all that weight you've lost.

If you have problems dieting, you need to get a partner or a coach to help you along.  You were motivated once, find that motivation again and get someone to help you to attain your goal.

St.Paddy's day is a day that you an enjoy fully while on the Ideal Protein diet.  Corned Beef and Cabbage is a dish you can enjoy without any worries.  If it's a true Irish dish, all that will be in the pot is Corned Beef and Cabbage.  If it has potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, etc. then it's a New England Dinner and not Corned Beef and Cabbage.  A true Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage is just that.  You smear mustard and/or horshradish on the Corned Beef, and enjoy every bite.  If there are other vegetables in the pot, then it's not a true Irish dish.  That's okay, just don't eat the other veggies. 

True Corned Beef and Cabbage is a very allowable meal on the Ideal Protein diet.  Mustard and horshradish are allowable condiments.  No sugars and very little carbs.  One of the few meals you can enjoy on the program and cook it as you would every other year.  You may want to include it into you monthly meal planning since it's totally allowable as it on the protocol.

On any diet we must think outside the box or we're going to get bored.  I can speak specifically about Ideal Protein's protocol, but hopefully I'll be able to give you ideas if you're not following Ideal Protein's protocol.

Any lean meat is good.  If you like tacos, but can't have tortillas, then make tacos using lettuce leaves instead of a tortillas.  I grew up with the philosophy, if nothing else, wrap it in a tortilla.  Now days, I use the philosophy, if nothing else, wrap it in a lettuce leaf.  Now, I prefer using lettuce leaves when making tacos instead of flour tortillas. (On my splurge or indulgence days, I still love my corn tortillas for tacos.)

If you love potatoes, steam then mash cauliflower to replace potatoes.  The visual appearance of a potato looking vegetable with satisfying to your mind.

If you love spaghetti.  Shred zucchini length-wise.  Stir-fry a little bit to cook.  Then serve in lieu of spaghetti.

 You don't always have to have lettuce in a salad.  Spinach is just as good, if not better.  Chop your vegetables in different ways.  Shred the radish instead of slicing.  It will give a different appearance and a different taste to the salad.  Shred the cucumbers instead of slicing.  Cook the cauliflower and broccoli and add to the raw vegetables.

Put your salad in a zip-lock bag.  Pour your allowable salad dressing or vinaigrette over the vegetables.  Close the bag. Toss and turn to coat the vegetables to your satisfaction.  When all veggies are covered to your satisfaction, put in frig until you're ready to use it.  I like to pre-make my salads like this.  I do this the night before so in the morning I just need to grab my salad on my way to work.  Or I have it ready for dinner and my salad it already coated they way I like it.

 There a a multitude of ways to think outside of the box.  We will be posting more ways in the future, so keep checking back.  If you have any ideas, please let us know and we'll gladly post them.  The more we help each other, the more we'll all be successful losing weight or keeping the weight off and staying healthy.

Garlic, one of my favorite flavors...and I'm not Italian.  My taste buds are 100% Italian though.

Garlic has so many health benefits.  There are only four calories per fresh clove.  A clove has 13 mg of potassium and one gram of carbohydrate.  Garlic fights infections, contains cancer-preventive chemicals, thins the blood, reduces blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and stimulates the immune system. 

Garlic was the main ingredient in 22 prescriptions of 1500 B.C. Egypt for headaches, sore throats and physical weakness.  Ancient Greeks, Romans, Indians, Chinese and Japanese used garlic for everything from lowering blood pressure to preventing heart disease and rheumatism.  Garlic has been used to treat asthma, hemorrhoids, ulcers and tumors.  Dr. Albert Schweitzer used it in Africa against typhus and cholera.

With the wonderous and colorful history of garlic it's not a wonder it's still a popular spice today.  Many forget about using garlic to spice up and flavor our food.  I prefer fresh, but you can buy minced garlic in jars so that you don't have to mince it yourself.  If the after smell on your hands is the reason you don't mince your own, wash your hands with lemon juice or vinegar and the smell will go away.

Shalamar Sibley, MD at the University of Minnesota has done several studies on vitamin D deficiency with weight issues and obese individuals.  She has stated that vitamin D deficiency is associated with obesity, but that it itsn't clear whether inadequate vitamin D causes obesity or the other way around.

Her study has indicated that taking vitamin D with a reduced caloric diet will lead to better weight loss.

We gain weight in the winter months due to the decreased level of vitamin D.  That is mainly due to the lack of sunlight.  Days are shorter and we spend more time inside where we don't get as much sunlight as we do in the spring and summer months.  Our bodies get vitamin D from sunlight along with food.

Low levels of vitamin D affect our brain's production of the hormone leptin.  Leptin plays a vital role in controlling appetite and metabolism.  With low levels of vitamin D in our bodies the leptin levels also decrease, thus causing an increase in our appetite and a change in our metabolism.

Before we start giving ourselves vitamin D therapy, we need to see our health care provider.  We see vitamin D on all the milk cartons, thus we think that it's a necessary vitamin to have.  It is, but if we start taking large doses of vitamin D without having our blood tested and our health care provider determining the amount of vitamin D we need to be taking, we are running the chance of vitamin D toxicity.

Dr. Sibley has stated that if we have too much vitamin D, into the toxic level, that the damage is irreversible.  We certainly don't want that.

There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration when we increase the amount of vitamin D we take.  The amount of calcium and magnesium we take is important.  The amount and types of fats with consume are also important.  Our diet and consumption of vitamin D in various foods we eat are also important.  With all of these things being important factors into the amount of vitamin D we consume and how much more we should add to our bodies is the prime reason we need to let our health care providers test our blood and tell us whether we even need any additional vitamin D or not.  If we need more vitamin D, then our health care providers can tell us the amount he or she wants us to have.

The test to determine whether you have a vitamin D deficiency is simple.  Dr. Sebley's study has indicated that if you don't have a deficiency and take more vitamin D than you need, that it won't help you lose more weight.  Don't put your health in danger by taking more vitamin D than you need.  Make an appointment with your health care provider, have blood work done and follower his or her advise if you feel you have a vitamin D deficiency.