Being on a Diet does Not have to Equal Deprivation
Depriving yourself of the foods you love to eat is no way to lose weight.
What you need to do is eat smaller portions of those foods, choose a few each day (don’t eat everything all at once) and enjoy what you are eating. What I am trying to say, is no one wants to eat carrot sticks and melba toast all day. You need to find balance and variety so that you don’t become bored with your diet. If you love to eat bagels with cream cheese, try buying a lower calorie bagel and light cream cheese. Eat just half of the bagel, because they are notoriously dense in carbs. That way, you get to eat something you enjoy and at the same time, you are not throwing all of your weight loss efforts out the window.
Personally, I enjoy chocolate, a little too much. It is not a good idea for me to buy a “family size” bag of M & Ms or anything along those lines. I can, however, find a small bite size portion near the check out at my local grocery store. They now have those 100 calorie portions of chocolate bars, etc. Sugar free is another great choice when it comes to chocolate, but watch the fat content. Even though something is sugar free, sometimes it is a trade off for higher fat. Also, don’t think that you can eat endless amounts of something because it is sugar free, because these items are sweetened with “sugar alcohols” which will cause you to spend a lot of time in the bathroom. This is a real bummer, pun intended.
Breakfast - It Really IS the Most Important Meal of the Day
You need to make sure that you eat a good breakfast with some protein, like eggs. Your metabolism needs a jump start in the morning since you haven’t eaten anything all night while you were sleeping (hopefully, unless you are a sleep – eater). Breakfast is just that “break fast” – breaking the fast that you have been doing all night long. Slicing up vegetables and fruits so that they are handy to grab as snacks is also a great way to stop the “munchies”. You can make a really great low calorie dip for the vegetables with light sour cream or no fat sour cream and adding in a low sodium soup mix. Onion or vegetable soup mixes by Knorr are very tasty.
Grocery Shopping Takes a Little Planning
On your next trip to the grocery store, keep these things in mind. Shop around the “outer square” when possible. This is where the fresh produce, whole grain breads and meats are. You don’t need to enter the centre aisles with the high salt, high fat, high sugar, processed foods are kept. Eat a snack of some sort before you go to the store so that you won’t throw impulse items into your cart. Have a list written out beforehand so you know exactly what you need and buy only what is on the list. Not only will this help with not buying the wrong things, it should help to cut down on your grocery bill.
Boost Your Metabolism
Most importantly, don’t starve yourself all day and then eat everything in sight when you get home from work. This is the best way to gain weight and eat all the wrong things. Try to eat 5 – 6 smaller meals and don’t make dinner the biggest meal of the day. If you can eat your dinner before 7:00 p.m., this is ideal, as you won’t be “sleeping” on those calories. Choose some lighter fare such as a lean meat paired with a salad. If you eat less food more often, this will boost your metabolism and help you to lose weight.