when youre out.
18. Other than water, you may drink the following beverages: regular or decaffeinated tea, green tea, herbal teas, regular or decaffeinated coffee, carbonated water, mineral water, sugar-free diet sodas, and sugar-free drink mixes.
19. Write down what you will eat each day - for better control over your food intake.
20. Drink eight to ten glasses of water a day. Water aids in weight loss by dulling your appetite and enhancing fat-burning processes in your body.
21. Drink green tea liberally; it can be helpful in burning fat.
22. Add in Parrillo supplements according to your goals. See the Parrillo Nutrition Manual for an explanation.
23. Dont skip meals. Skipping meals only makes you hungry later.
24. Slow down your eating and chew your food thoroughly. Both actions help you feel full faster and are a proven weight-control measure.
25. Do you overeat or over-snack with fattening foods in front of the television? If so, make it a rule in your house to always eat in the dining room while seated at the table.
26. Never let yourself get bored, stressed out, or depressed, if at all possible. These emotions can trigger cravings for sugary or high-fat foods.
27. If you dont have time to cut up vegetables, buy pre-cut veggies from the grocery store, or take advantage of the stores salad bar, which usually has plenty of freshly cut items.
28. Outwait your cravings for sugary or high-fat foods. Cravings generally last no longer than 10 minutes. If you feel the urge to splurge, find something else to do for 10 minutes, or until the craving passes.
29. Be assertive when people offer you food thats not on the program. Train yourself to say No, thank you.
30. Visualize what you will look like in a bathing suit, then believe it will happen. What you believe you can achieve.
31. Hang your bathing suit on a door handle, or somewhere visible - as reminder of what you will accomplish.
32. Clear your kitchen cabinets of binge food.
33. Use non-stick saucepans for cooking foods so that you dont have to add extra fat.
34. Keep plenty of cut-up crunchy raw vegetables around to snack on.
35. Never eat foods out of their original jars or containers; always eat them on a plate while you are sitting down at the dining table.
36. Tell your friends and family that youre on the Parrillo Nutrition Program and that you need their support.
37. Grocery-shop only from the list of foods allowed on the Parrillo Nutrition Program.
38. Never go grocery shopping when youre hungry, but always on a full stomach. That way, you wont be tempted to buy something that would sabotage your program. Eat a Parrillo bar before going grocery shopping.
39. When you lose some pounds, or achieve other important milestones while following the Parrillo Nutrition Program, reward yourself with a non-food treat or gift, something that makes you feel good about yourself and your appearance. Some ideas: a massage, new pair of exercise shoes, new sports gear or equipment, new exercise video, a weekend get-away, a shopping spree, a new outfit, makeover at a day spa, pedicure or manicure, salon haircut, tickets to a concert, jewelry, new CD or DVD, limousine ride to a concert or other event, new addition to something you collect, or an accessory or accent piece for your home.
40. If, after all of your planning and commitment, you do overindulge, try not to feel guilty. Guilt only weakens your resolve to maintain healthy habits.
41. Dont ever resort to crash dieting. This can result in a loss of muscle, decreased strength and power, low energy, moodiness or irritability, and compromised immunity. Lose no more than a pound or two of pure fat a week. Thats a safe rate of fat loss for everyone.
42. Incorporate both aerobic exercise and weight training into your weekly fitness program. Submaximal exercise, such as aerobics, uses fat as a fuel source, helping to burn off your fat stores. It also builds your aerobic power, so you can train longer and burn even more fat. Weight training burns fat as well, but in a different way - by creating metabolically active muscle tissue. Weight training also helps to preserve lean muscle.
43.

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I weighed in at 145.5 this morning Im quite comfortable where I am and how I look AND I am enjoying my cookies and/or brownies every day. Plus I just changed my job to a desk job (instead of Retail, which is what Ive been doing for the past 10 weeks or so). Im burning a WHOLE LOT less calories with my new job then I was with my old job. And my new job brings on pressures of eating out, so I need to start a few new habits with this new job.

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Everyone has seen the food pyramid before.  Many studies have come out both in favor of and against it.  Many people have made money by claiming it is ineffective for one reason or another and touting their diet as the way to lose weight.  These diets have ranged from eliminating certain groups entirely (e.g. Atkins and the elimination of carbohydrates) while others have recommended not eating certain groups in conjunction with others.
Let me be the first to say that I do not hold myself out as an expert in nutrition.  However, there are a few basic things that I know for certain.  Ill list those in a second.  Additionally, Ill share with you probably the best advice Ive ever gotten on nutrition (from my nutritionist) at the end.
First, if you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.  
Its as simple as that.  Our bodies are designed to store fat because our systems are still adapted to a time when there were periods of abundance of food followed by periods of extreme shortages.  As such, when you go into a period of abundance of calories, the body wants to store as many of those as possible so it can use them at a later time.  The only problem is that we dont have a problem on the shortage end and all too often find ourselves on the abundance end of the equation.  FYI: one pound of body fat is equal to about 3500 calories, so in order to burn a pound of pure fat per week, youd need to be in a caloric deficit of about 500 calories per day. 
Second, fad diets and other extreme forms of dieting dont work and generally just arent healthy.  
These types of diets are typically too different from any normal eating pattern to be sustainable.  A person may lose five or ten pounds on some magical diet, but will often put this (and typically more) weight back on as soon as they go off the diet.  They will lose the weight quickly typically because of my first point (i.e. they have created a caloric deficit), but often times the caloric deficit is too large and the body will end up burning muscle along with the fat in order to meet the bodys demands.  Lean muscle is the #1 contributor to your resting metabolic rate (i.e. how many calories you burn at rest) so the more lean muscle you lose, the fewer calories you burn at rest.  The body will eventually adjust to this new extreme deficit created and when the person goes back to their old habits (which inevitably always happens), they will put on the weight very quickly because their body is actually burning fewer calories at rest than they were before they started dieting.
Additionally, many of these fad diets simply arent healthy.  Ill admit Atkins was a genius.  If I would have thought of the idea of making money by convincing people that it was a great way to lose weight by cutting out things like healthy whole grains and fruit in favor of a burger with bacon (no bun, thanks), I wouldnt be taking the bar exam in three weeks.  Id be retired.  Absolutely brilliant.  People lost weight on this, but most of the initial weight loss was water weight due to the additional needs of the body to process the extra protein.  Again, true fat loss is simple math.  You cant cheat on this test.
The Best Advice
Ive read so many articles on nutrition and done enough research that Im probably a quasi-expert.  In fact, 90% of the things that came out my nutritionists mouth on Monday, I already knew.  Things like the positive effects of whole grains vs. processed grains on blood sugar and the balancing effect of protein on blood sugar levels (i.e. consuming a protein in conjunction with a simple carbohydrate will balance the blood sugar spike) were all very familiar to me.  
However, the best advice Ive ever received was so simple that Im amazed Ive never seen it before.  So, heres the advice: For every meal, visualize your plate as being divided into two halves, with one of those halves being halved again (i.e. you have a 1/2 portion, plus two 1/4 portions).  Proteins and grains make up the two 1/4 portions and colors (i.e. vegetables/fruits, including good fats such as avocado, olive oil, etc.) make up the 1/2.  Every meal should be aimed at achieving this balance.  
So why is this such good advice?  Its simple really: its all about the effect on your blood sugar levels (which, in turn, effect your energy levels and the storage of fat in your body).  Protein is needed by the body for a number of things and also serves to balance the spikes in blood sugar that simple carbohydrates (fruits, starches, etc.) cause.  Your body needs carbohydrates in order to restore the glycogen levels in your muscles.  Veggies/Fruitswe all know that one can probably never eat enough of these.  The healthy fats help your body absorb the nutrients you just took in and, without an adequate fat intake, your body actually holds on to fat more (i.e. ironically, by not taking in an adequate amount of fat, you might actually be doing your gut more harm than good). 
So simple and so effective.  In addition to upping my calorie intake based on my recent RMR test, Ive also been structuring my meals in this manner.  I can tell you that my energy levels have been great ever since.  I no longer feel lethargic in the afternoon and no longer have a problem concentrating while Im studying.  Overall, I feel great!
Final Tips
(1) Structure your meals as described above.  Most importantly though, use foods that YOU like to eat and try to find new foods that you like.  A diet is sustainable if you like what youre eating and it doesnt feel like a diet!  
(2) Eat often (at least every 3-4 hours).  I eat every 2.5-3 hours at least and typically take in about four to five hundred calories each time.  Your caloric levels may vary based on your activity level and RMR, but the time frame holds true.  This is the best way to ensure that your glucose levels remain high throughout the day. 
(3) Use common sense.  Whole foods are better than packaged foods and if you can get it via a drive-thru, theres probably a better choice to be made. 
(4) Swim, bike, run.

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