On Dieting

Dieting is hard!
Especially when you live in a family that doesn't eat healthy, like mine.
The freezer is always filled with ice cream, there's always snacks around...
not to mention all the soda and lemonade they drink.

I do manage to limit the ice cream to once a week though,
and I don't drink soda at all and barely snack.
Although sometimes mom brings home a snack that really tempts me-
like the white cheddar cheese-its she brought home yesterday.
I tried so hard to stay away from them,
but eventually I caved and ate some.

Between yesterday and today, I feel like I trashed my diet.
yesterday I ate a fresco bean burrito from taco bell,
then for dinner mom took me to Ihop where I ate a crepe!
And this morning I ate the other crepe, since a meal has two.
Who could ever eat the amount of food restaurants give you in one sitting?

Today I thought I'd be better, planned on eating just a yogurt for dinner,
but then dad surprised me with a trip to Friendly's!
So, I had to order something- settled on a buffalo chicken sandwich.
I ate only half of it, the rest will be for tomorrow,
and I had coleslaw instead of fries,
but I still feel so guilty about it...
those things have so many calories,
I have no idea how restaurants squeeze so many into a simple sandwich!

I mean, I've lost ten pounds in the past month,
and definitely plan on losing more,
but if eating like this keeps up,
I'll start gaining again!

I have to avoid things like cheese-its altogether,
since those things make you crave more after you start eating them.
Instead of one little handful, I ended up having two!
Those things definitely have to be avoided.

Of course, I also did well by drinking lots of water,
and a big mug of tea!
Tea and water are great for diets,
because they help flush your system and help you lose weight-
and you don't have to worry about their calories, since they have none!
Milk is a good choice to drink too,
since the calcium helps speed up your metabolism.

There are also certain foods known as "negative calorie" foods.
They're called that because your body takes more calories to digest them
than the foods actually have in them.
Such foods are fruits and veggies like apples, beets, carrots, celery, lettuce, etc.
And they're really nutritious, too!
Dieters like me definitely need to eat more of those.

Another useful thing to do is to find stuff to do instead of eat.
Like if you have a big craving, and need a distraction.
My list includes painting, walking, and playing piano.
Exercise is a great choice for this,
since you burn calories instead of eating them!

Once you get into the pattern of dieting, it becomes much easier.
Your stomach will shrink, and you'll become full after the right amount,
as opposed to the large amounts of food it took to fill it before.
You'll stop craving so much-
though occasionally, like me,
you'll get a craving for something special, like cheese-its.
So watch out for those craving things!

Oh, and exercise is great too.
It speeds up your metabolism and burns calories off.
Definitely add that if you wanna diet, too!

Hey, in a month, with diet and exercise,
I've lost ten pounds!
It's pretty amazing, and I'm sure to lose more, I hope.
Dieting's definitely difficult,
but it sure pays off in the end!