changes

I visited a pain doctor. Finally... something is going to happen and I won't be able to avoid doing changes in my life...

About changes... I found this at Pinterest.

Rather stupid... "biscuits and gravy"? Too limited, specific, not going to work. Exceeding calorie limit? Too difficult. You need to count, which means you won't.

Here's my version:

Promise yourself not to eat anything with sugar in this December. Keep the promise even after December is over.
Using anything to replace sugar is cheating. No sweeteners, artificial nor natural.

This means no soda, not even diet soda (or energy drinks), no cordials (not even sugar free), not even fruit juices, because even though those are not sweetened, they are almost pure sugar anyway :-D And don't eat dried fruits.
No ice cream or frozen yoghurt, no pies, no cookies, no cakes, no sweetened cereals, no candy or chocolate...

Start reading the small print of food you eat. There's surprisingly much sugar and sweeteners added to food we eat. There's sugar in things like cold cuts and readymade meals, which you might have not been aware of. There's sugar in bread.
Yes, it will take a lot of reading to catch all the sugar before it enters your body, but this is probably the best thing you can do for your health.
(I am oversensitive to sugar - like most human beings. Sugar is a bit like drug. Eating a lot of sugar - and most Westerners do - changes your brain. I need to stop eating sugar, but... I'm addicted to the damned thing. So - stop eating sugar for your HEALTH, not your weight. It will influence the weight too, but you will feel so much better in January, if you manage to keep unsweetened December. Also, you won't be yearning the sweets in January either, because you have detoxed yourself. Don't fall again!)

I know, it's hard with December holidays coming, but it's best to do right now, so that you get a good challenge and can look into your reasons to eat sugary stuff. Keep a diary and write down when you want to eat sugar, why and what you feel about it. Do something to fulfill the need a healthier way.

Your body needs sugar, though, just not added, refined sugar.
Eat your fruits. At least one fresh fruit every day.
Replace candy by making yourself a fruit sallad by chopping 4-5 different varieties of fresh fruits into candy-size pieces. Don't add any cream or sauce or jello. Eat the fruit pieces as if they were candy. Your brain will buy the "trick" and be satisfied.
Replace juice by eating a fruit as it is and drinking pure water.

Make yourself a cup of cocoa with just milk and dutch method cocoa. It is sweet enough. You might just need to get adjusted to it, but it is sweet enough. Do NOT use "drinking chocolate" or such hot chocolate powders. Use unsweetened pure cocoa, and blend it first with a little boiling water, then add the warm milk.

If you need an "energy drink" after work-out, milk is the best thing for that. It has all the necessary minerals and protein, even a little natural sugar.

And find other ways to "reward" and "pamper" yourself than food and sweets.

In January you will stop eating bread, savory baked goods, like quiches, and pasta. Bread is rolls and buns, biscuits and flatbread like tortillas, which means you won't be eating tacos, enchiladas or burritos either. Pancakes are included, pita bread, crackers, sandwiches, hamburgers and hot dogs (served with bread. You may still eat them without bread.)

Replace pasta with rice, potatoes and other such things, like polenta and grits.

In February you will stop eating anything fried. Deep-fried, pan-fried, doesn't matter.
Including french fries and chips.

Replace frying with boiling, roasting, baking, steaming and other ways of preparing food. There's still a lot of good things you can eat.

Replace chips with nuts and fresh vegetables and fruits.

In March you will stop eating sauces. That includes dips, mayonnaise and ketchup, salad dressing, pasta sauces, baked beans. (Yes, those are smothered with sauce.) No gravy.
Dishes like lasagne and moussaka, made by adding sauce, are included.

Replace the sauce with vegetables... if you want the sauce sense, chop the veggies into salsa. Do not add oil or sugar to your salsa!
Eat soups and stews.
And add a little lemon juice and some good quality oil to your salad. Some. Like a teaspoon. Not more. So, even if it in all practical reasons is a sauce (vinaigrette), it's not.

In April you will stop drinking alcohol.
Replace it with water. You can mix the water with some fruit juice, if you think pure water is boring. There are other things to add some interest to water, but don't start drinking non-alcoholic drinks, which are mostly sugar, or pure juice, which is also mostly sugar.

You may eat butter, whole milk, sour cream, sweet cream, crème fraîche, any kind of cheese, full fat yoghurt (even frozen, but as it is - it is surprisingly good alternative to frozen yoghurt, especially if you mix it with chopped fruits...)
You may eat pop-corn, even oil popped popcorn. Even with butter. But not "butter flavored" crap.

Do not switch to light or low-fat alternatives. Do not cheat by using artificial sweetener instead of sugar. Don't use any artificial, fake stuff loaded with chemicals, like "I can't believe it's not butter, bacon, meat or what ever". Use real meat, butter, bacon or what ever.

Yes, you may eat bacon, just bake it in oven or in a waffle iron. Don't fry it on a pan.
You may eat red meat, salami, sausages, roasted chicken...

You may use as much spices and herbs as you wish. Reduce salt as much as you can, though.

Prepare yourself by keeping your bloodsugar leveled. Eat something every 3-4 hours.
Eat a good breakfast. It's better you get up from bed 15 minutes earlier to have time to eat breakfast, than you sleep those 15 minutes and skip breakfast.
Don't eat after 7 P.M. Even if you work late. It's better to go to bed with empty stomach than eat anything. You can drink a glass of milk to cut the worst hunger, if you are so hungry you can't sleep, but if you ate a good breakfast and something every 3-4 hours, you won't be that hungry, even after a busy day at work.
Have a bag of nuts in your pocket at all time, so that you can eat a handful, if you can't eat anything else. Or an apple. Or a handful of nuts AND an apple. (or some other fruit, if you are not into apples. Bananas are good.)
Create a list of good snack and prepare small grab bags you store in the fridge for those busy days. Do not skip meals!
Clean your home from the things you may not eat. Fill your home with food you may eat.

Damn it: eating your way there

And look at Keely Shaye Smith, mrs. Pierce Brosnan. 

You don't need to be skinny to wear bikini. You have to have self confidence.

So - there are two more things you really SHOULD do to get truly bikini ready for summer:

- Exercise. Every day. If nothing but a walk outside for fifteen minutes, good. Not to get fit, but to feel good about yourself.
- Do something to boost your self-confidence.
- Do something every week you are afraid to do.

So - to recap:

December: sugar
January: bread, baked goods and pasta
February: fried foods
March: sauces
April: alcohol