Mr. Orange Tree Lane Interview
Lost 38 Pounds, From 255 lbs. down to 217 lbs. without a diet

My husband just wanted a new wardrobe, I know it. No really, he needed to drop some weight for his health, doctor’s orders, and this is how he did it easily and naturally eating a lot of good food.

Mrs.: So you’ve lost 38 lbs. since last year. You always looked great to me, but your face and your waist are noticeably different, so how did you do it?

Mr.: Well you pointed out one day that at our age the average person puts on 2 lbs. a year, and I didn’t want to weight 275 in 10 years. Plus with with the doctor said about my blood lipids being way too high, I just decided to do it.  I was tired of not liking how much I weighed.

Mrs.: I know you never went on a formal diet, so how did you lose all of that weight?

Mr.: I decided I wanted to lose 2 lbs. a year instead of gain it, so I knew I didn’t have to change everything, but something small.  Again, I remember you said one day that you don’t have to have bread at every meal.  I always did, so I decided to cut it way back to special occasions, not every day. That was probably the biggest thing I did that made the most difference.  I also cut out sweets and made them something special like the bread.
Since you cook a lot of food now that is vegetarian, I eat a lot more vegetables and a lot less meat protein than I used to. I’m used to it now and I like it better. I feel better, and I know it helped me lose some of the weight.

At work I started being really careful because I work such long shifts that it is tempting to eat the junk everyone brings in, especially when I’m tired or bored. I brought mixed nuts and ate a handful every single hour so that when I saw the donuts and junk I was not really hungry. Pretty soon I lost my appetite for it and I was happy with the carrots and celery or fruit that I brought from home to snack on. For dinner I also passed up all the meat covered in gravy and ate salad with tuna or chicken almost every day.

Mrs.: How did you deal with temptation? Were there certain things you said to yourself in your mind to help you stay strong?

Mr.: Not really because I was very motivated to lose the weight and none of it seemed worth being fat anymore.  Again, you did say to me one day that you won’t die just because you feel hunger pangs.  I thought about that when I had some but knew I didn’t need any more food, and they eventually went away.

Mrs.: Wow, I didn’t know I was your weight loss coach. I said a lot of good things. (haha)  What were the benefits of all of this self control and weight loss?

Mr.: I had indigestion all the time and that went away, and also my lower back pain.  I also didn’t get sick like I usually do, not even once.
    Yeah, I never went on a diet. I just made changes that I will keep forever, and stopped eating out as much as possible so I could eat all the things that you make.

Mrs.: And you look adorable. Of course you always did, but now I can just see more of you because you’re not covered up. (How’s that for diplomatic?)
SUMMARY:

1- Made bread and sugary things special treats, not a daily part of the menu.
2- Switched to more vegetarian and vegetable rich Orange Tree Lane entrees
3- Work:  ate mixed nuts every hour
          brought healthy snacks
          chose salad with lean meat instead of higher fat entrees
4- Healthy Thoughts: “You don’t need bread with every meal.”, “Feeling hunger pangs won’t kill you if you know you’ve had enough.”
5- Brought Orange Tree Lane leftovers to work and ate out as little as possible.

And that is how the most adorable man alive lost 38 lbs. without going on a diet.