The "Bob" Diet

In July 2005 (the month I was asked to leave) I weighed over 240 lbs (probably close to or over 245). This morning I weighed myself and I'm at 217.4 lbs. With the stress I experienced over being asked to leave, I didn't eat much for a couple of months. In September I noticed that I was below 230 lbs. So I determined to keep it up. Here are my principles for the "Bob" diet.

1. I don't eat in the morning until I'm hungry. I'm up at 5:00 AM every morning. I have a sip (yes just a sip) of juice. Just enough to rinse out the morning breath. I put on coffee (about 2 mugs' worth). I used to put 2 or 3 spoons of sugar in as well as creamer. I have weaned myself off the sugar. I switched to light cream instead of creamer (Tom Shuff told me that Dunkin Donuts uses light cream and that's why everyone loves their coffee - including me). However, here in Florida you can't buy light cream in the quart size so I'm using half & half. So I have coffee in the morning and nothing until I'm hungry. I take some 7 grain cereal (or something nutritious) with me to the office. I usually wait until after I do my daily Bible reading and Greek vocabulary stuff to eat. By then I am hungry (usually around 9:00 AM).
2. I try to have a nutritious snack sometime after breakfast. I usually get hungry again a couple hours after breakfast. Fruit or 7 grain bars.
3. I eat lunch when I'm hungry - not until then. Usually around 12:30 or 1:00 PM. I take lunch to the office. Sometimes leftovers, sometimes a sandwich, or whatever I might find in the kitchen.
4. I again have a nutritious snack a couple hours after lunch because usually I'm at least a little hungry then.
5. I can't control dinner time (not complaining, because our schedules are hectic and who knows when it will all come together), but I'm usually blazingly hungry by the time it comes around.
6. I will eat dessert later on in the evening. Usually I'm hungry again by 9:00 PM or so.
7. I try to not eat sweets during the day. By eating fruit or a 7 grain bar I control my sugar intake and my sugar highs. I think this has helped regulate my hunger.
8. I want to eventually make sure that I don't eat anything after 9:00 PM each night.
9. I also drink more water now. But I need to drink even more.
10. I also limit my portions during the three main meals and try not to eat seconds (I saw a sign at a gym one time that read, "It's not the minutes you spend at the table, it's the seconds.").
11. I weigh myself almost every morning. I know that other diet plans say to weigh yourself only a couple times a week but I've found more motivation to keep up with my plans by weighing myself every morning (before breakfast).
12. I've started walking every morning after I put the coffee on. I'm hoping to eventually start riding my bike and maybe even get a Total Gym.

So that's the "Bob" diet. Simple rules, simple plan. I haven't lost loads of weight but I have lost over 25 lbs and kept it off. I hope that the beginning of next year finds me under 200 lbs. I mention my diet because I was reading a planning guru's blog and he talked about his diet. I think I've done a better job than he in losing weight. At least I'm headed in the right direction.