I still love a good steak but don't eat them much mostly because I need to keep my cat indoors and the BBQ is of course outside. About half of my dinners are a small salad that I buy at Safeway. Yes, it's prepackaged but I make my own dressing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Other days I'll bake a couple of chicken thighs, add a veggie such as cauliflower. I also have a glass or two of red wine. But that's for dinner.

For breakfast I always have two eggs, either scrambled or hard boiled. I then have a piece of fruit like an orange, and a cup of coffee. Later in the day I eat an avocado... Trader Joe's has this bag they sell of avos that are small; perfect for one person. Very healthy and delicious. For a treat I have a toasted English Muffin with butter.

I also try to drink a lot of water. I much prefer soda water than tap but I drink that too. Safeway sells a 2 liter (just over a half gallon) of this water for about $1, also a bargain and it tastes great.

For a snack I like to have 4 or 5 Triscuits, or maybe a little bag of nuts from Trader Joes. They have the nut mixes prepackaged so I don't overdo it. It's just the right amount and very handy to pack in my purse too.

I sometimes splurge a little. Last night I had Japanese tonkatsu with rice and some sort of egg noodles on the side. Delicious! And when I have company over for dinner I often make my spaghetti sauce, or lasagne, cannelloni, that sort of thing. I'm now getting into savory French crepes which is fun too.

I do love to eat but I am also pretty careful of my diet especially since my fasting blood sugar is in the pre-diabetic range and has been for about 15 years. Definitely eat more protein than carbs but I think we need carbs too. I just try not to overdo it. I also track my weight very carefully: I measure it with a digital scale every morning and plot it in a spreadsheet. I know this morning I weighted in at 162.6 pounds with a 10-day moving average of 163.6 pounds (I lost a couple of pounds this week), and a BMI of 24.5. I'd love to get my BMI down to 24.0 but that would mean losing another 3 pounds and I'm afraid that with my being on HRT that's not healthy for me.

Dear MichelleLea and Emma,

You are so wise to think of your eating habits BEFORE you develop a weight issue.  You also do not want to retain water due to excess salt or burn out or fatigue your adrenal glands.

As for me, I eat a lot of prepackaged salads (to help me with portion control) and enjoy broiled chicken and salmon with it.  

My weakness is eating out, especially with friends, so I try to make good choices.

Reminds me of when I was living in a private men's college dormitory, and I reminded them that they will not be so active as they get older, and can count on burning it off.  Mentioned it especially to the football linebacker, who I reminded that he could not count on a NFL career (average football player has a 3 year career) and needed to plan on a regular job that he is getting his education for, which is unlikely to demand the physical exertion on the football field.  It makes me laugh how I was on a first name basis with the pizza delivery guys and gals, and how some parents were so concerned with their sons' eating habits, they were dropping off salads, and other healthy eats.

Trying to lose weight slow and steady as you girls are doing!

Your friend,

Monica

Who said: We are what we eat?

I think it was Adele Davis. I read her book a long time ago. Her nutritional advice has been greatly superceded since then.