The buzzword for losing weight is a diet.

Talk to anyone that is overweight and they have usually been on more than one diet. This week I saw a friend who was on a diet a few months ago, and I asked her how it was going.

She said, "It worked as long as I was on it, but with my busy and varied schedule, I could not stick to it."

Sooner or later, if you are going to keep the weight off, you will have to come to terms with daily life and look for solutions that will work for you and not rely on diets. I am still in this process myself. Each time I succeed it puts a plus in my confidence column.

Here are a few of the challenges and solutions I have worked on to keep me in the losing game.

Family birthday parties: When my extended family gets together for a birthday party there's cake and ice cream. Neither is on my food plan.

I often take a yogurt and put it over a piece of fruit. My newest discovery is a cottage cheese sundae. This fall I have made some wonderful fruit sauces with the fresh fruit I bought at the farmers market.

My favorite is a sauce made from a blend of plums and raspberries. I put ½ cup of no-fat cottage cheese in a plastic container with a lid that I can take with me.

Then I put the fruit sauce over it and add a few nuts on the top. The total calories are under 200 and I feel totally satisfied after eating it.

Group dinner event: For a long time I belonged to an organization that had dinner at each event. It was always pizza. So every time I went, I would pack a healthful dinner and put it in a soft cooler. One of my favorites was a delicious salmon sandwich with a no-fat Miracle Whip made with whole wheat bread. With this I always had carrots, celery, and a piece of fruit. People would walk by and say, "I sure wish I had that for dinner."

Energy drop while running errands: I used to whip into McDonald and pick up a cheeseburger for a dollar. Sometimes I even had more than one. No more.

What I do now is pack a car snack kit with bottled water and several 150-calorie snacks. That way when I have an energy drop, I reach into my small cooler and get a snack that I have prepared.

My energy is soon back to normal without a high calorie cheeseburger.

Here are a few ideas for snack:

10 almonds and 2 T. raisins

11 peanut butter pretzels

One dried apple and 1 tablespoon reduced-calorie peanut butter in a small cup with a lid.

I use zip-lock sandwich bags to store the snacks, and I always have snacks that are not perishable.

Taking snacks with me also helps so that when I get home I do not have an "all blow out meal."

Whatever your challenge is for losing weight, take the time to think about how you could do something that will work for you. Remember, it's not about dieting; it's about changing the way you deal with food. Small steps make a big difference in the losing game.

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