
My attitude towards food began many years ago. Both of my parents were obese and healthy eating was not practiced in my house. They would hoard snacks in their bedroom (cookies, chips, pretzels, etc) and we were not allowed to have them. Of course we would sneak into their room and grab some whenever we could. At 13 I began babysitting and making my own money, which I would use for junk food from any vending machine I could find or the local market.

I gained 60 pounds that year and never looked back. When I moved out, I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and did not make healthy choices at all. Until recently my typical diet consisted of the following each day.
Breakfast if I ate it was a Dr Pepper and 2 Pop tarts. I did not eat lunch. I would snack throughout the day on pretzels and beef jerky and more Dr Pepper. I was starving by the time I got home and would eat a large plate of pasta/rice/potato and meat, and of course more Dr Pepper.

WOW my diet was awful. Just for giggles I put it in the food tracker just to see how bad it really was. No fruits, no vegetables, no water.
Calories 2800-3150
Carbs 475-540
Fat 71-81
Protein 76-86
Sodium 3825-4750
Fiber 9-10
Since my job is very physical (working with boxes of materials weighing 35-45 pounds and moving pallets weighing 1200-1500 pounds) I did not gain weight, but I didn't lose any weight either. At my physical with my doctor in March I weighed in at 208 pounds. The nurse said well at least you have lost 4 pounds since your last weigh in.

Really, that was 4 years ago. At 1 pound a year I would never be a healthy weight. My blood pressure was really, really high. 220/120 No surprise there if you looked at how I ate.
So I began changing 1 meal and snack at a time. I now eat breakfast. Usually a bowl of cereal and a banana or an omelet made from egg beaters with lots of vegetables and a little cheese.

I prep the vegetables on the weekends and put in small containers in the fridge so they are handy and quick to use. I like to sleep late so it needs to be quick and easy. For lunch I usually have a sandwich with low sodium lunch meat and cheese on whole wheat piled with lettuce and onion, string cheese, and grapes. For snack I have an apple and either a fiber 1 cookie or bar. For Dinner I usually have fish or chicken with a cup of vegetables on the side.

For a special treat I like to have some light ice cream for dessert.

Whatever I add to my diet has to be food I like or I won't keep eating it. The weight loss would be temporary and I would just go back to my old ways. I am still working on making healthy choices every day that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Here are my new numbers.
Calories 1450
Carbs 200
Fat 45
Protein 68
Sodium 1650 (trying to get below 1500)
Fiber 26
I feel like I am eating more than I ever did with my old diet. When you make unhealthy choices you don't get to eat much yet the numbers are way higher. I do not drink soda and have 8-10 servings of water a day. I am still working on adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet. At 48 years old I have lost 30 pounds in 5 months and dropped my blood pressure down to normal with diet and 1 prescription medication a day. My goal is to get off of the blood pressure medicine and I believe I can do it. At my current rate of 1 pound a week I will hit my weight loss goal by the end of June 2013.