Hi Jewels,

I noticed that your food list contains a lot of dairy and processed food. Mine did too at one time, but I found that I am sensitive to the protein in dairy "milk solids" (not the lactose) and in things like Atkins products, yogurt, cheese, instant pudding. They cause me inflammation & bloating. It was hard to give them up because they are so convenient, but I first committed to 2 weeks dairy free. The difference was significant. No more stomach bloating, burping & f~rting, itchy eyes & nose or stuffed up sinuses. Eliminating dairy (after grains) allowed me to lose the last 15 lbs that I always had a problem with. And a lot of my cravings to eat more dairy & carbs were caused by eating dairy (probably due to the casomorphins) and grains (gliomorphins). My cravings completely disappear when I avoid dairy & grains.

I do well with butter, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, salad, a few nuts, occasional bacon, and low-carb veggies that I usually buy frozen to avoid wastage since I don't eat much at a time. My maintenance diet is the same diet that I lost on and virtually identical to Westman's list that Janet posted.

I put 1 tsp of butter in my morning mug of coffee and cook up hard-boiled eggs, roasts, poultry & fish (enough for 4-12, divided & I freeze the leftovers) so there is always something to grab & eat if I don't feel like cooking or have a lot of time.

One quick & easy treat I love is chocolate mug or "lava" cake:
1 or 2 T butter, melted in microwave, stir in:
1 or 2T cocoa powder
dash salt
sweetener equivalent to 1 or 2T sugar (I use an erythritol/stevia mix & like less sweetness)
1 or 2 eggs (1 makes lava, 2 more cakey)
nuke for 30-60 minutes, depending on amounts, your microwave & desired texture

You can mix and match the 1T vs 2T in any combination, they all work. It just takes trial & error to find your favourite taste & texture and how long to nuke it