RR, I know several people who lost weight on Weight Watchers but I'm not one of them. I also stayed the same on the first two weeks of that South Beach atrocity that Amanda wanted me to try with her. As someone who lost a LOT of weight and has managed to keep it off so far, the only way I found to lose weight and keep it off was to eat anything I want. I just eat half of it. Since our American portions are so over-sized, it got me into the habit of just eating less. At Christmas I baked cookies with the grandkids. I ate them too, but just one that day they were freshly baked with a cup of tea and I kept a couple for snacks the next couple of days. I still eat anything I want, including pancakes or bread or dessert, but I only eat half. I have one of those contentious personalities that require me to always want what I'm told I CANNOT have. If I can have anything I want, I can practice enough restraint to just eat enough to satisfy me. I also have to point out that we take in a lot of calories in drinks. Wine has about 100 calories per 5 ounce glass, that's not very much wine. Beer is about the same and a 3 ounce margarita has 170. Have one glass of wine every day and you'll gain a pound a month without doing anything else differently. Fortunately I like vegetables and I love beans, so I eat a lot of those. I eat whole grain bread and pasta occasionally. I don't care much for fruit, so I'll eat apples, pears, occasionally oranges and tangerines, sometimes grapes, but I can't count on those as an afternoon snack, it's more likely hummus and celery for dipping. Eating out adds a LOT of calories, but I'm sure you knew that! Here's one of my favorite recipes, from Cooking Light (who has a great website with lots of recipes, BTW). The same brine works well for chicken too: APPLE CIDER BRINED PORK ROAST 3 cups apple cider 3 cups water 1 bay leaf ¼ cup salt 1 tbls black peppercorns 1 tbls coriander seeds 1 2 lb. Pork loin, trimmed 2 cups cider 1 ½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary 1 ½ tsp chopped fresh sage 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper Combine the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Remove from heat, cool, and pour into a Ziploc bag or container big enough to hold the pork loin. Add pork, seal and let marinate 8 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350, bring 2 cups cider to a boil over medium high heat. Boil until cider is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 15 minutes. Set aside. Remove pork from bag or container and discard brine. Place pork on broiler pan or baking dish and lightly coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining herbs and bake about 1 hour, until pork is done, basting twice with the reduced cider in the last 20 minutes of baking. Remove from oven, baste with remaining cider reduction. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serves 8 200 calories per 4 oz. Serving, 6 grams fat Good luck, I want to lose a couple of pounds in the next 6 weeks too, I'll have to wear shorts in Texas.... Annie

Ok, I'm going to try to answer your questions for me: How do you create balanced meals? I usually make sure I have a good source of protein, try to only have 1 carb, and usually some vegetables. If it's a one-dish meal, I try to be cognizant of ratios. You won't find me eating a bowl of fried rice with one ounce of chicken in it. I don't put noodles in the soup if I'm going to want crackers with it. I think eggs and bacon are a better breakfast than cereal. I think I eat a lot more fat and fewer carbs than most people. I also give myself permission to do whatever meets my nutritional needs. Sometimes I eat tuna out of the can because what I really want is to get the lean protein out of the way so I can eat some cheese pizza. Sometimes I dump shrimp and peas into my pasta water and call it a meal. Sometimes I eat an entire bag of beef jerky in the middle of the day. I think it's important to name and rank your priorities out loud, and being a foodie is on the list, but not #1. Do you follow a weekly rotation of menus? Definitely not. I'd get bored. I might plan on cooking three nights and buy three proteins, or have a vague idea that I'd like to do something with tomatoes and ground beef, but I don't think I ever know exactly what I'm cooking before that day. Do you designate some items as must haves on a weekly or daily basis? Nope. But if I realize I haven't eaten vegetables in two days, I take myself firmly in hand :-D Do you have rules for children and adults on what to eat, when to eat etc? I try to have a bare minimum of 20 grams of protein in a meal. Usually much more than that. For me, that usually translates to meat. I use beans, but not as the main protein. It's probably no more than one or two meals a week that don't have a hefty amount of protein. I try not to eat just carbs or just dessert when I'm genuinely hungry- I have a real meal first, then I'm satisfied with a reasonable portion. I have to have some sort of chocolate in the house, even if it's semisweet chocolate chips, because I'll end up eating more of something I don't really want otherwise. If I'm having a randomly starving day, I'll often eat pickles, artichokes, baby corns, or hearts of palm. Something that distracts my mouth long enough for my stomach to realize it's full. Do you actively plan meals to maximize nutrient value for vitamins, minerals etc? (Like Tomato for lycopene or X for Vitamin A or Y for iron etc.) Nope. I am so over those lists of superfoods. Ever notice that every single one is different? Fresh produce is good for you. Variety and different colors are good for you. That's the end of it, for me. What else? I keep a mental list of things that make me feel spoiled, but are good for me. Seafood is a big one. Ahi tuna, especially. I find it really important to buy quality produce. If it ends up disappointing despite my best efforts, I throw it away. There are starving people, but shoveling unwanted calories down my gullet doesn't do them any good, and I will just end up overeating something else to undo the disappointment. Ever notice how many poor people have weight problems? When we aren't getting quality, we tend to make up for it in quantity and/or sugar and fat. It would be helpful if you told us about any challenges or specific questions you're having. Are you planning to cook, but getting short on time or energy and going out for takeout? Having trouble with portion control? Dealing with a picky kid, or finding that everyone in the family likes different things? If you look back over the past couple of weeks, were there any times when you felt particularly unhappy with how a meal played out?

Here's what the American Heart Association says about fiber: Dietary Fiber Dietary fiber is the term for several materials that make up the parts of plants your body can't digest. Fiber is classified as soluble or insoluble. When eaten regularly as part of a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol, soluble fiber has been associated with increased diet quality and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. Soluble or viscous fibers modestly reduce LDL ("bad") cholesterol beyond levels achieved by a diet low in saturated and trans fats and cholesterol alone. Oats have the highest proportion of soluble fiber of any grain. Foods high in soluble fiber include oat bran, oatmeal, beans, peas, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, strawberries and apple pulp. Insoluble fiber has been associated with decreased cardiovascular risk and slower progression of cardiovascular disease in high-risk individuals. Dietary fiber can make you feel full, so you may eat fewer calories. Foods high in insoluble fiber include whole-wheat breads, wheat cereals, wheat bran, rye, rice, barley, most other grains, cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and apple skin. Many commercial oat bran and wheat bran products (muffins, chips, waffles) contain very little bran. They also may be high in sodium, total fat and saturated fat. Read labels carefully. That's why I wouldn't stress as much about "no carbs" as I would look at an overall plan that includes low in saturated fat, trans fats, and cholesterol and higher in fiber. Those "no carb" diets are fads and people only lower their cholesterol because they loose weight fast, but I doubt most keep it off. And the diet allows a lot of saturated fat and salt, which is why I wouldn't follow it to a "T" although I would get some ideas from it beause people eat WAY too many empty carbs. But bear in mind that any refined flour products are going to be high carb, but the biggest thing that zooms up your "carb" ratings on things is SUGAR, another no no that is hard to avoid if you are fighting heart disease. We are bombarded daily by foods that contain the lethal mix of trans fats or saturated fat, high sugar and high salt. I ate two chocolate ones for breakfast this morning, lol! If your hubby is like my dad, it's not the good meals that you put on the table that are probably doing him in. Sounds like he wants a quick fix. Better to make gradual healthy changes to the way you cook to include more low carb, high fiber vegetables and healthy snacks. This is a constant battle I know. And I also know that you have to negotiate this with hubby too! Good luck, I know you have LOTS of company in your struggle here on the board! This kind of low balanced carb, high fiber diet is good for fighting diabetes too. And a lot of other chronic diseases. It's too bad that your husband isn't getting good diet advice from his physician, who should be paying attention to this too and not JUST prescribing pills. But I know that's the way most doctors do it. LOTS of really great stuff on the American Heart Association's Web site. Search "low carb" and you'll find some cautions. Low carb is fine if you include fiber and whole grains which have lots of B vitamins which are also good for the heart and blood. Here is a link that might be useful: American Heart Association Food and Nutrition

SLC, sorry I didn't get get your message until tonight. Here's a couple of cajun shrimp dishes. Sounds like you're adding some great stuff to your repertoire. I really don't mind cooking as long as I don't have to deal with leftovers, so it is actually fun planning and cooking for company once in a while. Shrimp is my favorite seafood and I love creole-cajun dishes. CAJUN STYLE BROILED SHRIMP Serves 2 as an appetizer 5-6 uncooked shrimp ¼ cup butter, melted (½ stick) 1 Tbsp. Louisiana hot sauce (Franks Red Hot or Crystal are good) 2 cloves garlic, pressed ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp coarsely ground or cracked black pepper ½ tsp finely chopped fresh parsley Pinch dried rosemary Lemon wedges Prepare the oven to 400 degrees F. Shell and de-vein the shrimp. In a small baking dish, combine the melted butter with the hot sauce, garlic, salt, cracked pepper, parsley, and rosemary. Stir. Arrange the shrimp side by side in the baking dish and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Immediately broil the shrimp for 2-4 minutes or until the shrimp are done, but not chewy. Squeeze some lemon juice over the shrimp. Serve the shrimp sizzling hot in the baking dish This is from Ruths Chris Steak House and in keeping with their New Orleans flavor of many of their dishes. CREAMY CAJUN SHRIMP LINGUINE From Cooking Light Magazine Serves 4 1 cup water 1 can (14 oz) fat-free, less sodium, chicken broth 6 oz. uncooked linguine 1 pound med. Shrimp, peeled & de-veined 1 ½ Tbsp. butter 1 large red bell pepper, ½" slices ¼ tsp. salt ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 8-oz pkg. pre-sliced mushrooms 2 tsp. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning 2/3 cup half-&-half Combine 1 cup water & broth in Dutch oven; bring to boil. Break pasta in half, add to pan. Boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes. Add shrimp to pan. Cover and simmer 3 more minutes or until shrimp are done; drain. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sliced red pepper; saute 4 minutes or until moisture evaporates. Add flour, seasoning and salt to pan; saute 30 seconds. Stir in half-&-half; cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add pasta mixture and parsley to pan. Toss. I like this with steamed broccoli, fresh French bread, and glass of red wine.