We’re currently on Jenny Craig, so some of the references are from what we’ve learned there. Also, for Christmas we got the “So Easy” cookbook by Elle Kreiger. Love that it gives you all the calorie details with each recipe and she’s into cooking food that has flavor!

Water, Water and more Water!

Start getting your fill on water (no, coffee or diet sodas don’t count). We’ve been told at least 5-8oz glasses and 8 is better. Find you a fun/colorful water bottle that you don’t mind taking with you everywhere. Keep one in the office, one in your car and one at home. If you don’t like the “flavor” of your water, filter your water, add a few slices of lemon, limes or oranges to flavor it and Crystal Light sells individual serving packets in all sorts of flavors.

Portion Control

Our understanding on what makes a “normal” serving is way out of wack. Here are some visual guidelines:

• 1 tsp = tip of thumb
• 1 tbsp = whole thumb
• 1/4 cup = golf ball, large egg
• 1/2 cup = 1/2 orange, small fist
• 1 cup = baseball, light bulb
• 1 oz meat/cheese = tube of lipstick
• 1 oz snack food = rounded handful
• 2 oz meat/cheese = 3 fingers
• 3 oz meat/cheese = deck of cards, computer mouse (woman’s portion)
• 4 oz meat/cheese = palm of man’s hand (man’s portion)
• 1 low-fat muffin or piece of fruit = tennis ball

Calories In/Calories Out

Modify your portions and strive for 1200 calories per day. (Here’s what it looks like)

• Breakfast – 1 oz lean meat (one small egg, 1 turkey sausage), 2 starches (1 pancake, english muffin, 1 slice bread, low-sugar cereals), 1 fat (1 tsp margarine), 1 milk (1 cup non-fat milk, 1 container fat-free, light yogurt)
• Morning Snack – 90-110 calories (cheese stick, small piece of fruit like a clementine or apple)
• Lunch – 2 oz lean meat, 2 starches, 1 vegetable, 1 fat (soup & salad; lean cuisine will do, too)
• Afternoon Snack – 90-110 calories
• Dinner – 4 oz lean meat, 2 starches, 1 vegetable, 1 fat

Starches = beans, lentils, bread, cereal, pancake, popcorn, rice or pasta, low-fat snack foods, starchy veggies like corn, peas, potatoes, yams), tortilla

Free Foods = sugar-free gum, non-starchy veggies (you’ll find me munching on carrots, pickled okra, cherry tomatoes …also spinach is great fresh or steamed with a little butter and lemon).

Note: When cutting back on calories, it’s important that you take a daily multivitamin.

Cut Back on Drinking

A 5 oz glass of red wine equates to two of your “fat” servings. Alcohol eats up a lot of calories quick! So save it for one glass on the weekend or special occasions. Instead of that glass of wine, try a wine spritzer (it’s half the calories) or look into non-alcoholic beverages.

Exercise

We know, that’s the big “duh!” But your results will be so much greater if you will exercise. You know this. We all know this. It’s doing it that’s the tough part. Start with twenty minutes of exercise a day to start the calorie burning process. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Walk to the lunch place instead of driving if you can. Find a buddy to walk and talk with or exercise with. Pay for a personal trainer to get you on a program and if you can afford it, use them once-a-week. Being accountable to someone (other than yourself) is a huge motivator.

Whatever you do, good luck. A word from the wise (and years of fighting weight gain) … a husband who loves you, will love you no matter those few extra pounds. BUT when “us women” feel good about ourselves and how we look, then often, it’s our husbands who benefit from that confidence!

StrictlyWeddings.com Spa Partners:

Treat yourself to a spa treatment at one of our partners with each milestone you make (first 10 pounds, 1/2 way mark, reaching your goal)!

Dallas – Exhale Dallas, The Spa at the Crescent, The Spa at Willow Bend

Chicago – Ruby Room, Exhale Chicago, Peninsula Spa by ESPA