Someone I know has been doing low carb and wrote me for advice.  Most of what I tell people to do is on Skinny-Rules, if you scroll back to September, 2012 and just keep reading.  This person who wrote me said that they need recipes and ideas.

 Ten Nutshell Rules on How to Get Skinny and Stay Skinny!

1.  LOW CARB:  Get a few basic decent easy low carb recipes.  I have written about them.  Cauliflower-based pizza, chicken burrito in a low carb tortilla, greek yogurt (Dannon Lite and Fit), protein bars like Nature Valley PROTEIN Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter (at Target and Amazon.com), Power Crunch (online, Trader Joes, Smart and Final), cheese, eggs (omelette), chicken or turkey sausage, bacon, turkey patties to grill, turkey meatloaf (on blog too), different variety of salad with meat, cheese, sunflower seeds, veggies.  Finding restaurants that have good protein-style salads, good meat and veggies (no pasta or rice).  I made my own Chicken Masala with Splenda instead of sugar.

2.  There are a ton of low carb cookbooks on Amazon.  Get one.   Here is one.  http://www.amazon.com/500-Low-Carb-Recipes-Snacks-Dessert/dp/1931412065/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363127323&sr=8-2&keywords=low+carb+cookbook.  You can Google recipes too.  And for God’s sake, go back and read my blog entries.  I write it all.  Recipes, ideas, how-tos, inspiration.  It is all there.  I worked hard on this to help others.  I don’t get anything for it.

3.  Plan like when you have a baby and are leaving the house or when you are in school and prepping for class.  PLAN!  Plan and prep what you need every week (shop) and prepare the night before or get up extra early and plan what you will bring with you to eat every 3-4 hours or plan where you will go to get what you need.  Even Chick Fil A has a healthy chargrilled chicken salad.  I always carry sunflower seeds or a protein bar in my purse for emergencies where I need food.  Don’t let yourself starve and mess up your metabolism and don’t put yourself in the position to have to succumb to bad food.

4.  Always drink fluids.

5.  If all you have in front of you to eat  is high carb food, try to work with it.  Get a burger, either protein style it in a lettuce wrap or just throw out the bun.  If you have pasta with meat in it, eat the meat and not the pasta.  Fill up on salad if it is there.  Try to find out what meals you will be around and prep if you can, bring something to eat if you have to do it.  You don’t have to eat crap, wherever you go!

6.  Don’t have more than 4-6 ounces of meat at each of your daily 6 protein servings.  Get a scale and weigh food for a while to get a handle on what that amount looks like so you can just look at meat and guess the ounces on it.

7.  Twice a day, have salad and veggies with a meal.  Small portion sizes.

8.  No alcohol on a diet.  Messes up your fat burning and gives you extra carbs.

9.  Don’t let your friends/family sabotage you.  This is your diet and tell them to knock it off.  It is just like having someone try to get you to take heroin when you are in recovery.  It is called “enabling” and “sabotage”.  This is not friendship or love.  This is them trying to suck  you back into their dysfunctional hole.  Don’t go there.  You worked too hard to get out.

10.  Exercise and no excuses.  People keep asking me to do things and I only do things when they don’t interfere with getting in my exercise or it is a special occasion.  I have to be disciplined to stay skinny.