My No-Diet Diet

There's a forum thread over on Female Network with a questionnaire on diet routines. I thought I'd repost my answers here too and share how exactly I eat. I hope you can post your answers in your blogs too!

1. What kind of diet that you are doing?
- I try to get a balanced mix of carbs, protein, and fat at each meal.

2. What do you usually eat for diet?
- I pretty much eat whatever I like and whatever my mom cooks at home, but I don't overeat.
- I choose good carbs (vegetables, fruit, whole-grain) whenever possible.

3. What are the foods that you are avoiding to eat and why?
- I limit (but not ban outright) my intake of refined white flour and sugar. That's just bad stuff.
- I also ban all sugary drinks. I was at my chubbiest when I was glugging down iced tea and venti Frappuccinos with abandon.
- I also do not like processed or boxed snack food (Pop Tarts, Chips Ahoy, etc.), junk food, or "cheap" chocolates (Nestlé, Hershey's, M&M's, etc.). I used to eat a lot of them, and they were pretty much the cause of my weight gain. Also avoiding high fructose corn syrup and trans fats.
- Anything with artificial sweeteners. I do not want to eat anything "artificial".
- Mayonnaise and other mayonnaise-based dressings. I think it's gross now.

4. How many times do you eat in one day? 6 meals? or do you skip meals so that you will be able to attain your goal?
- I eat three square meals in one day, and I may snack once or twice if I'm hungry in the middle of the morning or the afternoon. I never snack after dinner (unless I'm out at a party or something).
- I don't skip meals because it slows down your metabolism and makes you gain more weight than before.

5. What made you decide to do the diet?
- I wanted to have a healthy lifestyle. I wanted to lose weight, and still enjoy eating what I like.

6. Were you able to accomplish your goal? How long it was accomplished?
- Heck yes! I started in 2006, and I'm still eating this way. (Although I do let loose when I'm on vacation abroad.) It all came gradually, though, especially once I started learning nutrition facts.

7. Do you feel any temptation to other foods that may affect your diet? And why?
- Of course, because I love food. Whether I give in to temptation or not, I deal with it on a case to case basis. I also allow myself the weekends and special occasions to have a bit of desserts, pizza, alcohol, chips, and other food that I like but wouldn't consume on a regular basis. Naturally, I have to eat those in moderation too. Just because it's a "cheat day" doesn't mean I'll go all out.

8.  How much do you spend for the diet? Do you really budget the food that you are going to eat?
- I guess the biggest luxuries that I buy for myself are whole-grain bread from French Baker/Lartizan, steel-cut oats, high-end chocolate, real maple syrup, and Larabars. Except for the bread, I have to buy them from the US. I still live with my parents, so I don't really spend for most of my food.

9. Do you have any suggestions to avoid spending too much money just for the diet? Can you give us tips to make tipid in terms of diet? For example, instead of buying wheat bread at expensive bakery you can suggest any substitute on it.
- Oops. I may be the worst person to be asked about that, because my definition of "tipid" is asking relatives in the US to buy them for me. While it's possible to eat a healthy diet without spending a lot all the time, I think you have to pay for quality sometimes.

10. How does diet affect your body? Do you feel any cravings?
- I have enough energy, I'm always "regular", and I also don't get bad acne like I used to! I'm happy with how my body looks right now. As my profile says, I went from L to XS this way.
- I still think my diet can be improved...I have a major sweet tooth. But for now, I'm pretty comfortable with my routine, and it's working well for me as it is.

Today's exercises
- 45 minute brisk walk/jog/sprint
- 2 x 50 straight crunches
- 2 x 50 double leg raises
- 3 x 20 side crunches (each side)
- 2 x 50 bicycle crunches
- 2 x 50 tuck and crunch

Saturday's meals
Breakfast: 2 pieces of whole wheat pan de sal with peanut butter, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Pasta with longganisa
Snack: Apple pie, coffee with low-fat milk
Dinner: Kare-kare (tripe, beef, vegetables, bagoong), brown rice

Sunday's meals
Brunch: Corned beef, fried egg, garlic fried rice, tsokolate, apple pie, coffee with low-fat milk
Snack: Apple pie, coffee with low-fat milk
Dinner: Tocino, brown rice, tomatoes
Dessert: Banana with Nutella