Healthy Dieting Tips are imperative for Weight Loss. As you know, weight loss is a HUGE topic as evidenced by the multi-million dollar industry: books, weight loss products, and the continual search of many on this quest.
I know many women, in particular, who want to lose anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds, yet are unable to do so, for a myriad of reasons. The weight is stubborn and won’t come off, they get discouraged and don’t stick with a plan or they lose the weight on any number of diet plans, only to gain it back when they return to former eating habits.
I know! I, myself, was one of those. It was my nature to be thin. But I was forever on a journey to lose 5 pounds. But as the years progressed, instead of LOSING 5 pounds, I GAINED.
Gained 5 pounds here. Another 5 pounds there until these 5 pound increments had materialized into 10, 10 to 15 and 15 to 20. I had more than 20 unwanted pounds on me that wouldn’t budge.
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to be counted among the obese. This, I positively, absolutely DID NOT WANT, nor would I be able to tolerate it.
I didn’t have many healthy dieting tips at the time, but I did have a new thought in mind. I continued to eat everything, But, I started out by EATING ONLY HALF OF WHAT I NORMALLY ATE.
And the weight started to come off. Believe me! I was ecstatic.
I was practicing the Japanese Principle of Hara Hachi Bu and I didn’t even know it. Only much later did I learn about what it actually was.
Healthy Dieting Tips Continued:
I was never really overweight or obese; still, I had this overwhelming desire to be as thin as I was when I got married.
I tried every diet out there, bar none, all to no avail. But one of the healthy dieting tips for me, the one thing I HADN’T tried, was PORTION CONTROL.
We don’t need all the calories we actually consume anyway.
I was desperate. But believe me! It was ex-cru-tiating-ly SLOW….1/4 to 1/2 pound at a time. It WAS coming off. Yea! It was encouraging enough for me to stay with it. That’s when having a digital scale comes in handy because you can actually see the small incremental loss.
After having lost 8 pounds, people began to notice, so I knew it was working. At the end of 3 months, I had lost 10#. I told you it was SLOW.
It was at this time, that I became VEGAN.
For me, it was just another of the healthy dieting tips that worked. Strangely enough, it became a lifestyle. It just happened, though. I didn’t actually plan it. It was, however, just that extra nudge I needed. The weight still came off at a snail’s pace, but at least it was coming off and not going on. Again, just enough to encourage me to continue.
At the end of the second 3 months, now being vegan, I had lost another 12 pounds. That became 22 pounds in all. I was, once again, ecstatic! Here I was at my high school weight, the weight I just knew I was supposed to be, my natural weight, and where I felt the best both physically, mentally, and emotionally.
And it is here, within 5 pounds, that I have remained for eight years. I can pretty much eat whatever vegan food I want and still keep my weight in check. So, some of my healthy dieting tips had worked thus far. I do still have to watch portions to some extent. If I eat too much one day and am up a pound or two the next, I cut back for that day.
I know most experts will tell you to only weigh once a week. I highly disagree with this because, by the end of the week, you could be up 3 – 5 pounds or more. And 3 – 5# are harder to deal with than 1 or 2. It’s just easier to keep control over your weight by WEIGHING EVERY DAY.
It’s just another of the healthy dieting tips, in my opinion, that works for me and I daresay could help others not to go overboard. I don’t think I veered from my conviction for the entire 6 months. You absolutely can’t if you want to lose.
Once you’ve reached your goal, you might splurge once in a while, but I say this with extreme caution. For the most part, you need to be true to yourself and your goals. And your new goal will be to KEEP IT OFF. And therein, lies your challenge. But you can do it.
You also cannot think of this as a DIET. Diets inevitably fail because people go OFF the diets and return to former eating habits and guess what? The weight comes right back on. I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t already know if you’ve experienced the yo-yo diet syndrome.
Now, that said, you won’t go hungry. Eating the Standard American Diet, I was often FULL but never satisfied. I was always hungering after more. Eating vegan foods, I am now satisfied. If I am looking for something after dinner or before bed, a few walnuts and I mean only a few (count them) or a piece of fruit will suffice.
I was at lunch with a friend one day recently. She and I had wonderfully, large, fresh salads. As she was halfway finished with hers, she sighed and said, “This is just soooooo satisfying.” Bingo! Exactly my sentiments about eating the right foods.
Fruit, by the way, will feed cravings for unhealthy foods. So will sugar and refined foods. They actually become addictive. So, of the healthy dieting tips, do be mindful of this. WATCH WHAT TRIGGERS YOU TO EAT and stay away from these triggers. Could be nervous about eating. Could be emotional eating and the like.
If you really want to do it, you can do it. Healthy dieting tips include FEEDING YOURSELF POSITIVE, SELF-AFFIRMING WORDS.
Do not say: I can’t do it. It will never work. If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t you can’t. It’s really that simple. Focus! Tell yourself you can do it. You will do it. You are doing it. And it will happen. Do not sabotage yourself with negative self-talk.
I can’t emphasize this enough. I hear so many people beat themselves up with their words.
You just have to be focused and don’t let other people or functions or holidays get in the way of what you want to accomplish.
I was once invited to a girls’ Christmas party. Lots of people there. Lots of food. I love pasta and the hostess had a tortellini dish on the buffet table. I wanted to taste it. I took three small tortellini and salad. I did not go back for seconds.
This is very rare for me. If the food is succulent, I ALMOST ALWAYS want to go back for seconds, and many times I actually do. But this day, I had my mind made up; I was not going to sabotage myself.
The keyword here is FOCUS.
Healthy Dieting tips include not sabotaging yourself. Don’t be your own worst enemy. The three tortellini were so scrumptious, I asked for the recipe. When I had reached my goal weight, I made the recipe and not before.
If you’re not disciplined, become disciplined. Focus! Make a commitment to yourself.
Healthy Dieting Tips have to be ever-present in your mind for you to succeed in your quest. Because if you really think about it, there could be a reason every single day, every single meal, NOT to continue with it.
After I became vegan and people tried to push me into taking something I didn’t want, saying, only this once it won’t hurt. Or, this is a holiday. Or, you’re on vacation. Whatever! There will always, always, always be a reason or excuse to fall from your resolve. Don’t let ANYONE (not even yourself) talk you out of your resolve. Become stoic about it.
Try these Healthy Dieting Tips for your weight loss. Here are a few very simple ideas.
When you feel like eating something you know you shouldn’t BRUSH YOUR TEETH. The freshness of the toothpaste and the freshness of your mouth should keep you from indulging.
When you feel like eating something you know you shouldn’t, CHEW GUM. Always keep sugar free gum handy for those tempting times. I order mine from here. The gum will keep your mouth fresh as does the toothpaste. This gum is sugar-free but has none of the bad artificial sugars in it. It’s made with Xylitol and is one of the healthier sweeteners. If you look at the ingredients in gum, you will see there is an artificial sweetener in ALL of them, including the ones with sugar. Why I wonder?
Healthy Dieting Tips Continued:
KEEP A RECORD OF WHAT YOU EAT EVERYDAY FOR EVERY MEAL. You will be able to see at a glance what you’re eating. Every little bit counts and will add up to pounds if you are not vigilant. If you are really serious about losing weight, you will take this extra, very necessary step.
KEEP ON HAND IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR ALWAYS, for when you get the “munchies” or “snack attacks,” such things as baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, radishes, sliced apples, celery, broccoli, cauliflower. Whatever you like, but keep them handy, so you don’t reach for the WRONG foods.
DO NOT HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM FOODS THAT WILL STEER YOU OFF COURSE: Cookies, candy, sweets of any kind, your downfall foods. You know what they are. If they aren’t there, your chances of succeeding are greater.
ENLIST THE HELP OF YOUR FAMILY. If they eat those foods, ask them to put them where you can’t get them.
GO TO RESTAURANTS SELDOM. It’s always easier to eat the wrong things when you don’t have control over what is put on the table and when it is put on the table. If you MUST go, do this. As you know, restaurants generally serve very large portions. And Portion Control is one of the things that will help you through this.
Ask for a TO GO box when your food arrives. Before you take the first bite, put half of it in the box to take home for another meal. If it sits on your plate after you’ve eaten your 1/2 portion, believe me even the firmest resolve can be broken…..because as you sit there talking with others at the end of the meal and the food is still on your plate, it is all too easy to keep picking at it.
If you feel comfortable and you know others wouldn’t mind, perhaps you could ASK THEM NOT TO BRING BREAD TO THE TABLE.
Even More Healthy Dieting Tips:
BRING YOUR OWN SALAD DRESSING or ask for it on the side and use it sparingly. BETTER YET, USE ONLY SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE as your dressing.
DRINK WATER before you leave the house and another glass at the restaurant before you order your food. This will fill you up, and chances are you will not overeat.
MAKE A COMMITMENT TO DRINK A GREEN SMOOTHIE every day. Greens will keep you balanced, alkaline, hydrated, mineralized, full, and satisfied. These green smoothie recipes should keep you from reaching for the wrong foods.
EAT ONLY FRUIT IN THE MORNING until lunchtime. Fruit goes through your system the fastest. If you are not vegan reading this, and you are eating meat at all, eat it after any fruit consumption. If you eat fruit after meat, the fruit will sit and putrefy because the meat takes many hours to go through your digestive system. Eat fruit on an empty stomach or at least two hours between meals.
HEALTHY SNACKS A snack should take that hunger edge off so you’re not continually ravenous. It should be healthy, curb your appetite, and keep you from wanting more. A snack should satisfy you, so you don’t go searching for the wrong things.
Healthy Dieting Tips are as simple as some of the following:
EAT EVERY TWO OR THREE HOURS. Yes, you read right. You will be hungrier eating plant-based foods. It’s all right. As long as you’re eating the right foods, you’ll still lose weight.
One of my favorite healthy dieting tips and in-between-meal snacks is a small salad of tomatoes and cucumbers especially when they are in season. 1 tomato cut-up, 1 cucumber, diced, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, a small drizzle of olive oil, and a drizzle of red wine vinegar. Sometimes I add nutritional yeast to it. Sometimes I don’t. Both ways, you can’t go wrong. Eat one of these before you go to a restaurant. It will help to fill you up, so once again, you don’t overeat at the restaurant.
Another is green beans. You could eat 1 or 2 cups of green beans as a snack and still be true to yourself and your goal.
How about escarole? It’s dark, leafy green, and dark, leafy greens are full of nutrients. They are low in calories and make a great snack. Put an entire head of escarole in a large pot of water. Turn heat to high and bring to boil. Turn to simmer and continue to cook until it’s wilted and soft. Scoop out a bowl full. Add sea salt and pepper and lemon juice or a slight drizzle of olive oil and another drizzle of red wine vinegar. Honestly, this is just so satisfying.
Peel a cucumber and eat that as a snack. It’s quite filling.
In fact, Tanya Zuckerbrot, R. D. author of The F-Factor Diet states that “Fiber is the secret to losing weight without hunger.” Fruits and vegetables have fiber. So stick with these.
Yet More Healthy Dieting Tips:
KEEP SODA-POP AT BAY. Diet soda contains artificial sweeteners which are among the worst thing you can put in your body. Regular soda is highly sugar-laden. Further, it depletes the phosphorous in your body. Drink lemon water, instead.
WHERE POSSIBLE, EAT ONLY ORGANIC. You might think it’s more expensive, but when you really think about it, you will be paying one way or the other: For organic foods without the chemicals or paying for it with ill-health and doctor bills to boot. One way or another, you will pay.
EAT FOODS AS CLOSE TO WHOLE AS POSSIBLE. That means no refined foods. The whiter the food (white sugar, white flour), chances are the more refined and lacking nutrients.
STAY AWAY FROM FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS. These are your enemy. As wonderfully and deliciously tasting the food is, it’s not healthy. Even those who carry salads. The salads are fine, except just by being in a fast-food restaurant, you could be tempted to have something you wouldn’t ordinarily eat if you had stayed away. The smells alone could cause you to stray. So stay away altogether from the temptation of Fast Food Restaurants.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: EXERCISE. You must keep moving even if it’s only WALKING!
Be ever mindful of healthy dieting tips. You could probably your own to these. Do come up with your own. Ones that work for you.
Good Luck.
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