Yesterday I started a series of posts to give you the info on how I stay motivated to stick with my weight loss and exercise plan, The Six Week Body Makeover.

One of the main tools that keeps me motivated with the Six Week Body Makeover plan is the free online recipe exchange. Because there are such a large number of recipes available for you to choose from, there is just no excuse for getting bored with what you’re eating! There are chicken, seafood, turkey, beef, veggie, even desert and vegetarian recipes. No, the desert recipes don’t contain sugar, and they aren’t something you eat at every meal, but if you plan for them, you can fit them in. Quite a bonus, if I don’t say so myself. 😉

In a previous post, I gave you a list of 3 of my favorite 6WBMO recipes. To give you a great example of a desert recipe, here’s one that I love: it’s a mock pumpkin pie. A word of warning regarding the desert recipes: even though they do not contain sugar, you still need to monitor your reaction because of the sweetener (Splenda) used as this could trigger cravings for sweets. Keeping this in mind, I think it’s wonderful that you have the option to cook up something that will help you lose weight and keep you from feeling any kind of deprivation.

Something else that I have learned by trying numerous new recipes: if I have any doubts that I might not like it, I split the recipe in half. That way, I am not being wasteful if I truly cannot stand what I make. Remember, you do not want to eat food that you don’t like because then it will feel like a diet!

If I did not enjoy the food I was eating, I just don’t know how I could stay motivated to stick with it. Overall though, I’ve had great success with the recipe exchange. I’d estimate that out of 100 recipes that I’ve made, I did not like 15 of them, and that’s coming from a picky eater.

If you have been contemplating using the Six Week Body Makeover to eat more, exercise less, lose weight, and build muscle, then you now have some examples of the kind of meals you could make. You really eat great food (I’m enjoying some sloppy joes over rice right now!), and you certainly don’t go hungry!