Jevster, mostly I have questions for you. Did you decide to lose 20 lbs because you are 20 overweight? (Cuz I'm thinking if you're only 20 over, you are doing way better than par and don't kick yourself.) Besides being overweight, do you have any other signs of metabolic syndrome? (heart problems, screwed up memory, insulin resistance or diabetes...)
The Holiday Season is not a good time to be stoic -- tell yourself you will eat absolutely everything you want, but 1/2 a portion, and not between meals. I have found with dieting, less restrictions is more realistic -- I tend to emotionally freak out and crave all the foods on my no-no list. My response is to allow myself everything, but surround it with rules, like I can eat bread but only on shabbat.
Since most Americans ARE inflicted with metabolic syndrome, I'm going to make a few comments assuming you do too. Metabolic Syndrome is the long term results of poisoning, and the #1 culprit is Fructose (most often in the form of high fructose corn syrup). Other chemicals screw up your digestive norms as well, especially artificial sweetners. What you need to do is detox, and commit yourself to stop eating these poisons. You are, by necessity, going to start cooking things from scratch so look for cookbooks that fit your bill. When you go shopping, CHECK LABELS -- if there is any ingredient that a second grader can't read, DON'T BUY IT. Anything in the store that your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food, DON'T EAT. Sucrose (table sugar) is a compound molecule -- it is half glucose (good sugar) and the other half is fructose (poison in large doses). I allow myself things with sugar, but only on shabbat or holidays. Do you see how I work to acknowledge the spoiled little girl with the sweettooth? I simply set different boundaries so that SHE can be satisfied, but not so satisfied that I continue to poison myself.
The last point that I'll make is this: don't diet a low cal diet. Every time we diet, we gain it all back PLUS. Dieting is the most effective way to screw yourself and become overweight permanently and seriously. Instead make healthy changes to your diet. It usually doesn't work to do it all at once. It took me years before I was finally ready to say "no bread unless I bake it myself" -- I really have a thing for bread! So pick one thing to knock off or include at a time, but once you cross that line, don't go back. You are changing your living habits for life.
If you are more damaged than 20 lbs overweight, I have other things to say, but I'll wait for your response.
This is what I'm eating at this exact moment, and its scrumptuous and healthy:
Mexican Squash (maybe a half dozen) chopped
Two Tomatoes chopped
Onion, a half chopped, or if you like a lighter flavor, the white ends of green onions, sliced.
1/3 C sour cream
Saute the onion in a TBSP of Olive Oil until carmelized
Add squash and tomatoes and 1/4 C water -- simmer until the doneness you prefer
Drain
Stir in sour cream
Eat and enjoy!
