First off let me tell you about me and scales! I know how you feel about the weight going up and down. I think scales are not the best way to see how you are doing other than as a trend (over time).

As it sounds like you already know – you weight fluxuates by 5 or more pounds a day. Depending on the amount and how long it takes to move through your body – it may seem like you can put on a couple of pounds a day!

Before I make suggestions that seem to work for me I want to mention that you are doing great! What do I mean? You have identified some things that have made a positive difference in your past and are trying to incorporate some now! Many people just give up after a long time but you are still trying to figure out what will work for you!

What it sounds like you are doing right is to be doing aerobic exercise every other day! The helps speed up your metabolism and keep the metabolic effect (keeps your body burning fat at a faster rate as well as other benefits).

Although you are not counting calories you are still trying to “eyeball” the foods you are eating and not overindulge more often than not, it sounds like from your description – again great!!!

Now here is the good news and then I’ll give you my suggestions.

You stated you have gained 15 pounds in the last 5 years. If the weight came on fairly steadily and your habits (diet and exercise) have been fairly consistent then you are gaining about 1/4 pound a month!

One pound is equal to 3500 excess calories so you have only to eat 875 less calories a month or 29 calories a day to maintain your weight at its current level.

So my suggestion is to keep on doing what you are doing as far as diet and exercise but considering modifying your diet in small ways to the way you already eat!

For instance if you like full calories soft drinks and currently drink 4 a day… consider trying lots of diet sodas and substituting 2 of the 4 drinks a day with a diet of your choice. This is important to leave some of your favorite drinks in your diet but to modify a little (so you can really make the change long-term).

If you drink 2 less full calorie soda’s a day, you will cut out 300 calories a day! Looking at how much you can lose with just that change – 300 – 29 = 271 calories a day deficit. That means about 1900 calories a week or almost 3800 calories every two weeks! That’s 1 pound lost every 2 weeks or 2 pounds a month!

Do you see how I am trying to look at a minimal – less painful change that will have a positive effect? That is my initial suggestion.

You mentioned low-salt? I am finding that going on a low-sodium diet has had the affect of making dieting easy! Why? Because I am eating a limited amount of processed foods (they are almost all high in salt) and trying to make up some of the bulk by eating fruits and veggies! I will give you what I eat now so you can see what I mean.

Breakfast:
orange juice (small)
egg sandwich with non-hydrogenised oil margarine
coffee

Lunch:
roast beef sandwich (swiss, 2 – 3 oz of meat, light mayo)
apple

Dinner:
beef or turkey burger
salad or veggies
banana

My wife has found low calorie – low salt torpedo rolls at Smart and Final (store) that I make all of my meals with so I can feel like I am eating like a king by I’m getting only half of the calories.

So my advice to you is to slightly modify the foods you already like… if you go to unprocessed or lightly processed foods (low-sodium) you will find you will not have to count calories.

The bad news is you will still have to try and control portions because if you eat even low-caloric foods in great amounts (I’ve done this before) – you will find your hunger increases… so as the old wise persons used to say – moderation is the key to success!

The best of luck to you Monica and I’ll post what is working for me and what is not from time to time. Don’t sweat the little stuff (read scale) but pay attention to the factors that will help you.