My average daily routine and tips!

A few friends have asked me for my routine of eating and some tips to lose weight, here's what I've found works for me:

i usually get up and go get a coffee. a venti iced americano from starbucks is only 25 cal. its not much on taste but it helps get things going and coffee clears out your bowels lol

coffee is also a natural appetite suppressant so it usually keeps me good until lunch time. If i need breakfast i usually eat an apple and have a coffee.

for lunch i have a salad from trader joes thats usually around 400cal or a veggie burrito bowl from chipotle around 475cal.

its usually best to eat bad carbs during the day so you can burn it off as the day goes along. if you eat it at night it usually just sits.

for dinner i have a cup of beef or chicken cooked however i like it. usually baked in the oven with lemon juice and seasoning. then i eat some veggies with it like asparagus or broccoli. that usually rounds out to be around 500cal.
if i feel indulgent like i have been lately, i go for the pizza route. i get a boboli small pizza shell, use half a packet of boboli sauce, 100 cal worth of romano cheese shredded, 8 pieces of lite salami and bake it in the oven for 8 minutes. it creates 4 big pieces of yumminess at 600cal! its a lot of carbs for dinner but it has helped me on days where I've had little time to cook and needed a quick meal!

for dessert i have a couple pieces of dark chocolate from trader joes that can be anywhere from 100-170 cal. its good to have a little bit of indulgence for me to stay on my diet.

on average i eat between 1300-1600cal a day depending on how active i am.

i try and snack on things like rice cakes or granny smith apples or strawberries. strawberries are only 35cal for 6-8 of them! delicious and low cal!!

to keep myself on track i use an android app on my phone called noom. it helps record calories based on whether they're good for you or not, it records exercise and reminds you when you need to exercise! its a great app and its free. if you have iPhone there is probably a great app on there as well. thats assuming if you have a smart phone. its helped me tremendously to record my daily calorie intake. i used to write it in notebooks but that has proven to be harder to remember to do.

i also weigh every couple of days to stay on track. if i have a day where i over indulge, which has happened, i don't freak out. i spend the next few days staying true to my daily calorie intake and eating better and it usually corrects itself.

its often common sense and making the conscious decision to choose everything you eat. apple and cheese is better than a bagel. choose low cal stuff over full fat. dont deprive yourself of everything, or you will cheat and give up.

there are low cal ways to have a burger. make it with ground beef at super lean percentage. low cal cheese, microwave bacon at 60cal a slice, reduced sugar ketchup that tastes awesome and is 5cal a serving, no buns, and produce. its a healthy way to indulge in something you love but without feeling guilty. its all about thinking of ways to cut down the calories of things you love to make them better.

if you feel discouraged, or reach a plateau, either exercise or eat a little less that day.

you can't go wrong with protein and veggies! just assume everything other than non starchy veggies and low sugar fruits and lean meat is bad for you. not really bad, but the more you choose healthier foods over others, the better you feel, the more you can eat and the faster you will lose weight!
starchy veggies are: potatoes, corn, peas, carrots. high sugar fruits are ones like pomegranates.. and just be sure to cut most of the fat that you can off the meat and cook it on a grill or in the oven. some way that doesn't require grease, oil or butter.