Dieting Tips
By jennifer611
@jennifer611 (2514)
United States
January 7, 2007 5:01pm CST
Emphasize your weight loss triumphs and work towards making them more frequent
Find a weight loss "buddy," club, or support group. This will help you stay with your weight loss program.
Use mustard on your sandwiches instead of mayonnaise. Mustard has no fat & very little calories while Mayo, is loaded with fat. If you just don’t like the taste of mustard, find a low-fat alternative, but avoid mayonnaise at all costs.
Weigh yourself each week. Don't be worried about small daily changes in your weight. You shouldn't lose more than 1 - 2 pounds a week. There may be weeks when you don't lose weight. This is normal. Stay on your diet to lose weight.
Bake, roast, or broil your food instead of frying. Remove all fat from meats and skin from poultry before cooking.
Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water each day. This will help flush out your body while also suppressing your appetite
If you haven't done so already, switch to diet soft drinks. An average 12 Oz can of regular soda contains around 120 calories, while the diet version usually has one or zero. If you drink 3 cans a day, you'll be saving 360 calories right there. Now multiply that by 7 days a week, 30 days a month and 365 days a year... You'll be saving a lot of calories!
Limit alcohol. Alcoholic drinks have many calories & little else.
Don't give it up if you don't want to, just reduce your intake.
Pick one place at home and work that you will do all your eating. Be sure you are seated. Don't eat anywhere but in that place. Enjoy your food by sitting down and eating slowly. Sitting down focuses your attention more directly on the activity of eating. By eating in the same place you identify and associate that place with the idea that it is the only area in which you should eat.
Shop for Groceries only after eating. You will be less likely to buy foods impulsively – especially foods you don’t need.
When you shop for groceries stick to your shopping list. This helps you guard against impulse buying. Make sure you list is complete and do not buy any extra food items.
Watch food labels. Foods with a high percentage of fat (or carbohydrates that are sugars) will slow down your weight loss program Don't just count grams, count percentage of total calories that are fat or sugars.
Don't think that just because you are eating low fat/low calorie foods that you can eat all that you want. The calories still add up and must be burned off regardless of what kind of food you eat. Balance is the key.
If you are going to a restaurant, decide ahead of time what you will be eating. Stick to it.
Never starve yourself, especially before going out to eat (or you will binge). Never skip meals, you must have some kind of nourishment regularly or your body's starvation defenses will kick in, lower your metabolism, and store fat.
Exercise – If you want to stay healthy and make weight loss permanent you just cant do without exercise. Along with cutting down on the fat you eat exercising regularly may be your best ally in improving your all around health and bringing your weight loss under control.
Schedule your exercise time just as you plan your other activities of the day. Treat this time as an important appointment you don’t want to miss
Write your weight goal & post it where you'll see it everyday.
You are responsible for what you do & what you eat.
Eat to live, not live to eat. Overeating can KILL you!
Repeat: "I'm learning a way to live, not just a way to diet."
Water is essential to all bodily functions and has no calories. It is the perfect drink for dieters. You need eight 8 oz. glasses of water daily.
Be happy: you're OK! Resisting all those tempting foods is NOT going to kill you.
Limit your time in the grocery store. The longer you stay, the more you will buy.
Be patient - it took years to gain weight; it takes time to lose weight.
"Nibble" food and "linger" over drinks. Do the "Push Away From The Table Exercise."
Chew your food completely: digestion begins in the mouth.
Avoid "washing" half-chewed food down.
Let someone else be the walking garbage disposal: you are no longer responsible for eating up the leftovers after a meal.
Success is when you can look beyond food...and look down and see your feet.
Each day you stay on your weight-loss diet brings you closer to your weight goal.
The purpose of getting together with people is to enjoy their company...not eating.
Chart or graph your weight loss and serving selections.
Take small servings - avoid gorging yourself.
Consuming most calories in one big meal is the worst way to diet. Eat 4 or 5 small meals rather than in one all-out feeding frenzy.
If your schedule only permits you to eat one major meal in a day, eat it in the morning to midday hours rather than afternoon/evening hours.
Lose weight with a supportive friend or in a support group.
2 responses
@babyjane (1390)
• Philippines
8 Mar 07
1. Drink water
Water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off longer term.
Water acts as an appetite suppressant by keeping your stomach full and fending off dehydration which can lead to false cravings/hunger.
Water also helps your body metabolize stored fat by helping the kidneys flush out waste. When you don't drink enough water the liver which works to provide stored fat for energy helps the kidneys eliminate waste and becomes less effective at metabolizing fat.
Drinking water ice cold burns about 62 calories a day. Your body has to work to raise that waters temperature to your body's temperature. This equals around 430 calories per week.
2. Eat regularly
This means eating 5 times a day and the most important meal is breakfast.
Make sure you fuel your body first thing in the morning to avoid hunger pangs later in the day.
When you eat 5 times a day you will never feel hungry, make sure the total calories consumed are sensible and don't over eat in any of the meals learn portion size control!
3. Eat lots of fibre
Eating adequate fiber foods to help keep things moving through your bowel. And like water, fiber rich foods bulk you up and make you feel fuller for longer.
Fibre is found only in plant foods our bodies cant digest it to so it simply goes through the body. During the elimination process it cuts calories consumed by attaching to protein and fat that you eat along with it removes that as well
In addition, high fiber foods are typically low in calories and filling, so you are reducing your calorie intake overall.
Good fibre foods include: strawberries, apples, figs, chickpeas, potatoes, (with skins) broccoli, brown rice, beans, bran and nuts.
4. Consume more good fats
There are good fats and bad fats
Good fats provide you with essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids) needed for normal reproduction and growth, as well as for production of prostoglandin, a hormone like compound that regulates blood pressure, prevents blood clotting and lowers the risk of heart disease.
For example, the reason oily fish is a great food stems from the fact that the essential fatty acids which it contains can actually help your body burn fat more efficiently and protect against disease. Get at least three portions of oily fish a week with Salmon, mackerel, herrings and sardines being good choices. 5. Get plenty of quality protein
Quality protein is an effective weight control tool because of the satiety factor and its ability to keep you full for longer periods. It also balances out carbohydrates by preventing insulin spikes that cause energy loss and sugar cravings
Protein helps to maintain muscle mass which is important in the fat burning process.
Good choices include:
Fish, shrimps, Low fat cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, skimmed milk, egg whites, s Weight gain is caused by consuming too many calories, whether they are from carbohydrate, protein or fat.
6. Carbohydrates can help you lose weight
Don't believe what you read about carbohydrates being bad for you, they can actually help you lose weight!
A diet containing good carbohydrates such fruits and vegetables, wholegrains and moderate in fat and calories, will result in weight loss
Good carbohydrates will also help you combat hunger pangs as they are slowly realized into the body.
When eating carbohydrates eat them "from the earth" with no refining or processing.
These include whole grains, vegetables; fruits and beans.
Sensible weight loss
If you have read the above you will see that it is not the food group, but the quality of the food in it that's important for fast weight loss.
@Jlowe110 (313)
• United States
8 Jan 07
I would just eat healthy, eat 500 calories less than you do, don't eat junk food, only healthy food, and excersize and do cardio to burn more calories than you have eaten that day. But you have to eat, otherwise you will burn your musce doing the excercises. Swimming is a good cardio, and healthyf or you, and running is to. Run a mile at first everyday, then move up to 2, and etc... Probably about every month, move up. You can always get those premade healthy meals that come with breakfeast lunch, and dinner. Oh and always eat breakfeast, i've heard that not eating it will put on more pounds. Just do what I said, or a mixture of what soem other people ahve said and you will be set!!!


