Michell said, "I didn't want to follow any specific diet because I had done that many times in the past. I wanted to start a diet that I could enjoy for the rest of my life." She decided to eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible, along with lean protein like chicken, turkey, or fish. Eventually, she started incorporating more plant-based meals and less meat.
She didn't want to eliminate carbohydrates as she had done in the past, so she ate more whole grains like brown rice, oats, wheat bread, and quinoa. After a month, she began meal prepping her lunch and sometimes breakfast, and she also measured out her portions of meat and whole grains. "Eventually, I decided to count my calories and found that I was eating around 1,800 to 1,900 calories. I didn't continue to count calories or macros because it was too time consuming for me," Michell shared, "but it helped to open my eyes to how much I really was consuming."