In late May, I blogged about how getting on the scale was a huge mistake. I hereby eat those words. I've been regularly weighing myself since, and I've lost almost 15 pounds since that day. (I'm at 14 lost since then.) I ran into my next-door neighbor earlier, who noticed immediately and commented on it (I hadn't seen her in a while since they had been away for much of July). I can totally fit into all of my old clothes, even the smallest pants and jeans. The few pairs of pants that didn't fit back then do fit now. I haven't been this slim since 2003.

My goal these days is to maybe lose a few more pounds. If I don't, so be it.... my original goal was to get back into my skinniest jeans, and I reached that goal a few weeks ago. Now I'm just exercising to get into better shape, not to lose weight. I've been walking a lot lately (4-5 times a week for an hour or so per outing) and feeling pretty great. It took me a year to get to this point, but I feel better for not having caved in and done all kinds of fad diets. I have changed my eating habits long-term, which is what I had hoped to do.

Within the past few months, Mike and I have been eating a lot more organic foods and staying away from anything processed (in other words, shopping the perimeter of the store -- not the inside aisles). We've gotten into the habit of going to Whole Foods as much as possible and we love it. I get excited when we go there (it's about 20 minutes away from our house).

Perhaps the biggest change we made was one that was suggested to Mike by a friend of his: eating for our blood types. Without going into too much detail (you can read a lot about it at the link I just included), we've both been following the diet for a while now (me since early June, Mike since early May). We've both noticed huge differences in our overall health and energy levels, and we've both lost weight on the diet (I attribute the last 14 pounds that came off to that diet, although I didn't go on it to lose weight -- I went on it to help my overall health).

I lost that weight without counting calories... the only thing I pay attention to is what is on my beneficial list, what is on my neutral list, and what is on my avoid list. (Obviously, I don't eat crazy huge portions, but I don't walk around hungry ever.) I have cut out virtually of my "avoid" items (although there are a few things that I am finishing up that I had in the house -- wasn't going to throw away good food). I still have to decide how much meat I want to reintroduce into my diet (I've been primarily vegetarian for about 15 years now).

I cannot recommend this way of eating highly enough. As I said, both Mike and I have noticed huge improvements in how we feel (not that either of us felt bad when we started, but I have way more energy, I sleep better, my allergies have gotten MUCH better, etc.), and his brother and some friends of his also have noticed huge improvements as well. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it work for others and experienced it myself. If you are looking to lose weight and/or deal with health problems, this might be a really, really smart thing to try. I intend to keep eating like this for the rest of my life! This isn't a fad diet and you won't feel deprived of good things (even though a number of foods I liked were on the list of things I had to "avoid," the only thing I find myself missing actively is peanut butter). Consider it a lifestyle and health-style change!

If you try it, let me know how you like it and how it has worked for you. It's one of the best decisions I've made in a long time.