Hi...just wanted to introduce myself. I am a woman of 40...married and mom of two wonderful girls, aged 6 and 9.

I have seen on here that a lot of people are eating 6 small meals/day, consisting mostly of protein, fruits, veggies. I guess I want to know if this is a specific way of eating that I could read up on, or if some just choose to eat this way.

I have been on every diet there is, WW, Bernstien's, Nutrisystem, you name it, I've done it. I now know that I have to do this slowly and properly.

Any advice or encouragements would be greatly appreciated!!

Sounds like you're on to a great start, keep it up!

Welcome newbie! For me, the biggest adjustment has been to change what I perceive as a "meal". In the case of 6 meals a day, likely what most people are eating throughout the day are 3 meals and 3 snacks. Their "meals" are probably just a bit more than their snacks.

Think about it.... you've probably done the routine where you starve all day or eat very little, just to give up and gorge later on at night because you're famished. Your body knows it's going to do this so it's ready for it..... and as a result you pack on more weight.

By balancing out what you eat throughout the day but eliminating some of those high fat/salt/carb foods, you're actually helping to regulate your bloodsugar so that you won't get those awful cravings and you'll end up eating less.

Whatever you do to lose weight now has to stick with you forever.... so make it something reasonable that you can live with for the rest of your life. Balancing out your meals only makes sense and you'll be surprised at what you can eat without tipping the scales if you don't do it all at one sitting.

I used to think that a big heaping bowl of oatmeal and 4 toast for breakfast was reasonable..... but now I know that even a quarter of that is sufficient. Most meals in restaurants are enough for both my husband and I and that's surprising.... at first you don't think it will be enough but when you're done you wonder how you ever ate a whole meal by yourself. You don't have to walk away from the table stuffed and bloated, just satisfied (and you'll save money too).

My husband brought home a large pizza the other night (brat) and it was more than I could take.... but I only ate the topping. It was delicious and satisfying. That was 2 days ago.... when I weighed myself this morning I was down another pound! Woohoo.