I am not on a diet. I have a plan to lose weight and it works. And it mean I get to enjoy food!

Please note: I work with doctors and personal trainers! This is based in science but, if you’re serious about a lifestyle change, I recommend you work with professionals to find a safe, healthy and effective way to make your body work for you.

• 1,800 calories a day - Never under, never over. This is barely more than my BMR (how many calories my body burns every day simply by existing) so every time I do anything—from going to the gym to washing dishes—I net negative calories for the day. (Your BMR will be lower since you’re not six feet tall. Click the link to calculate your own.)
   
• don’t eat anything you can’t identify - check out those ingredients yo. If you don’t know what something is, why are you putting it into your body? Eat clean!

• count your calories - No whining. It sucks but so does being fat. Whenever I stop counting I stop losing weight; if I don’t count every day I don’t lose as much weight. Get on myfitnesspal.com and get to it. (Or whatever other site you want. Just do it.)

• measure food amounts - Especially at the beginning! Grab some spoons, cups and a $5 scale and pay a lot of attention. You’ll be better at guessing portion size after that but at least when you start this is super important!

• eat every 2-4hrs - My metabolism never stops working! I burn through food pretty quickly (in large part because of this) and as a bonus I get to eat all day.

• small meals and lots of snacks - My meals are always under 400kcal and I sprinkle 200kcal snacks throughout the day. Your body can only handle so much at once! (I eat about six times a day.)

• good carbs, fats and protein at every meal - Your body needs to burn all three before it will effectively start burning body fat

• breakfast within the first hour of eating - Start your day off right! You’ll have more energy because breakfast is the only meal your body can keep burning through all day long. AND it means your body starts burning fat first thing after you wake up!

• less than 1tsp of salt a day (2,500mg) - I do this for my heart and the added kicker is that I never fluctuate water weight anymore! Including on my period!!

• vegetarian - Eight years and counting! Nothing to do with weight loss (in my case) but dietary none the less. It also means I don’t get any of my fats from animal products which isn’t critical (in my experience) but is a bonus to weight loss.

• don’t smoke, don’t drink - This is mostly a personal choice (and not something I’ll do for the rest of my life, I’m sure) because smoke is shit for your body and alcohol is loaded with empty calories. And also shit for your body.
   
• Supplements I work with several doctors to make sure I’m losing weight safely and efficiently. I even got a blood test once I started losing weight to tell me what else my body needed! This will help your body perform better (especially if you’re vegetarian / vegan.) I take: omega-3 since I don’t get it from meat or fish, calcium since the only dairy I eat is greek yogurt, glucosamine since I’ve had joint problems in the past, B12 because I’m a damn vegetarian, and women’s once a day to cover anything I might be lacking.

• 30min (-ish) cardio every day - Do what you love! Generally I plug into the elliptical for 30-45min for like 4days/week and run 1-2 miles the other days.
   
• walking the dog an hour every day -  good for her, good for me. And lots of Vitamin D for both of us!

• weight lifting every other day - Wouldn’t it suck to get skinny but still have jello arms and a loose tummy? Tone now, thank me later. (Plus, your body burns 3x as many calories to sustain a pound of muscle than it does a pound of fat!)

• eat when I’m hungry

• drink water water water

• no starving (“fasting”)

• don’t feel bad about eating anything ever