The Cereal Diet

Every time I go to the supermarket, I always head over to the cereal section because I love eating cereal in the morning. It's yummy, healthy, super easy to prepare (no preparation needed actually) and it keeps you full until lunch time! :-)

I've been noticing those diet cereals for a long time now, and I've been wanting to try it out since it seems like an easy diet to do.

Kellogg's Special K and Nestle Fitnesse

The diet is fairly simple to follow, the 14 day program is as follows:

• Breakfast: Cereal + Skim/Non-fat Milk, Coffee/Tea, Fruits
• Lunch: Eat as normal
• Dinner: Cereal + Skim Milk, Fruits/Veggies (or switch Lunch and Dinner)
• Eat fruits and veggies for snacks in between meals

What I like about this diet is that I can eat and enjoy one normal meal. This makes me feel less deprived and makes me look forward to lunches everyday!

I decided to switch between Kellogg's and Nestle because I don't want to get tired of the cereal's taste. Here I've discovered that Kellogg's tastes better. It does have more calories than the Nestle ones though - nothing in this world is free. Ha! Recently, I also discovered that I don't really need to stick to those diet cereals, any cereal will do for this diet! Try to get those "grown-up" fiber-rich cereals though - none of those fruity sugar-coated ones!

Now, I'm at day 8 and 4 lbs lighter! Not really hoping to lose much weight at this point but I'm sticking with the diet until day 14. Will keep you updated when I finally end my diet! Fingers crossed on losing more weight!

Hubby and I agreed that I deserve a cheat week (no-diet week not binge week!) after the diet and then try doing the 14 day thing again. I'm still thinking about this because I don't know if it'll work the second time around. I hope it still does though!

If you are thinking about starting this diet or any diet, I suggest the following:

1. Inform EVERYONE you eat with about your diet before you start it and get everyone to agree to help you. The worst part about dieting is the people who keep telling you to cheat "just this one time", because let's admit it, it's never going to be just that one time. Hubby has been very supportive of this diet and has been the one to stop me from grabbing chips and unhealthy food when I'm not supposed to. :-)
2. Stock on lots of fruits and veggies before you start your diet. Stock to share! Having other people eat the same food as you decreases temptation to sample what they're eating. At the same time, you're also helping them to eat healthier!
3. Avoid processed/pre-mixed food. Don't use 3-in-1 mixes for your coffee (they're around 100 calories compared to the measly 20 calories from instant coffee and a teaspoon of sugar). Natural yogurts are healthy, flavored are not. Check the labels, you'll see that even though some products are branded "healthy", they're actually full of sodium or sugar. It's healthier to buy unflavored yogurt and add in the fruits yourself than buying the flavored ones. On second thought, eating fruits alone will make you more full with less calories! 
4. Track what you eat. Write down what you eat or track it online with sites like Calorie Counter. Calorie counting sites are wonderful because they do the math for you and even provide insights about how healthy you are eating. I've discovered that my sodium intake is WAY more than I need through this tool, and now I'm cutting back on my salt (Chips and instant noodles! Noooo!). I've also discovered that I don't eat as much fiber and vitamin A as I'm supposed to.
5. Be mentally prepared. Dieting is a battle between will-power and fake hunger pangs. The first few days into the diet, I always felt hungry after just 2-3 hours post-meal. If you haven't prepared yourself, you'll soon be giving up to your hunger pangs.

I hope this post helps you jump start your diet. Happy dieting peeps and see you in a few days! :)