[Miss Scarlett]

Back in October 2008 I decided to do something about my weight. Went to a doctor here in Charlotte who specializes in weight loss without surgery. He did the usual physical with bloodwork adding a few additional tests, i.e. Vitamin D, and an extensive interview covering family history, personal history and food habits.

Based on all of that he put me on a low glycemic index eating plan maxing my calories out at 800/day. Over the summer we renegotiated this calorie level and I can go up to 1,000 every few days but he still wants me to remain at 800 as much as possible. I know it's low but when I stick to the plan I really do get adequate nutrition and am not hungry. Sometimes I have to make myself eat and it's an event when I actually eat everything on my plate. Because of that some folks don't believe I didn't have the surgery.

As a result I have lost over 130lbs (50 left to go) and, according to my doctor, have decreased my chances of developing Type II Diabetes by 40%. In addition he diagnosed and corrected the really bad Vitamin D deficiency that had been causing me tremendous pain.

His recommended exercise is walking and he gave me a pedometer (it hates me) with the dreaded command of 10,000 steps/day.

As far as my eating plan, here's the short version of what he gave me:

Calories:
*800 per day;
*Don't drink them - NO sodas, alcohol, juices, cream/sugar, energy/protein shakes;
*Weigh/measure everything; and
*Write down EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.

Meals:
*NEVER skip breakfast (ideal breakfast: protein, healthy fat, veggie or fruit, i.e. Fage 0% Greek yogurt plain with fruit and almonds avg. 305 cal. );
*Breakfast LARGER than dinner; and
*Breakfast - NO processed carbs (no cereal, waffles, toast, oatmeal)

Good Ingredients:
*Choose grilled/baked fish. chicken breast, pork tenderloin - serving is 3oz;
*Eat vegetables or fruit with each meal;
*Choose skim milk, fat free yogurt, fat free sour cream (calcium burns fat); and
*If it looks like God made it, it's probably a good choice.

Bad Ingredients:
*AVOID high fructose corn syrup;
*Avoid deep-fried foods (home stir-fry is OK);
*Cut out breads, potatoes, corn, rice, bananas; and
*Avoid salad dressings and mayonnaise.

General good choices:
*Trout, tuna, seabass, salmon, mackerel, clams, cod, crab, flounder, lobster, mussels, oysters. scallops, shrimp;
*Chicken, turkey breast, filet mignon, pork tenderloin;
*Yogurt, cottage cheese - fat free dairy;
*Almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts;
*Barley, chickpeas, beans, lentils, olives, coconut, soba noodles, salsa;
*Apples, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, lemon, lime, grapefruit, cherries, pears, pomegranate;
*Arugula, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, green beans, kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, collards, greens, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, endive, escarole, mushrooms, onions, peas, Swiss chard, spinach, yellow squash, tomatoes, turnips, water chestnuts, zucchini; and
*Green tea, white tea, black tea, water, black coffee - NO diet sodas or artificial sweeteners period.