Weight Loss Tips for Serious Losers

(WINNERS!)

Little things add up. This is true when it comes to gaining weight, but it is just as true for losing it. By making several small changes and mixing things up with a variety of workouts and recipes, you can lose the weight and keep it from coming back. If you are serious about losing weight, these weight loss tips are for you!

1. Eat one or two cups of salad vegetables before lunch and dinner. Use low-fat dressing. When you fill up on lettuce and greens, you take in few calories and leave less room for overeating.
2. If you simply MUST have a food that is not a good diet choice, eat half of a serving – that is, half of a REAL serving. (Instead of 1 slice of cheesecake, eat ½ of one serving of cheesecake).
3. Give it up by the week or day. “Today (this week), I’m not eating sugar. Tomorrow (next week), I’m going without fat. The next day (two weeks from now...), I’ll go without starches.” Do not increase your food intake to compensate – unless you are eating a vegetable salad (lettuce, radishes, broccoli, carrots...).
4. Like juice? Try splitting up your typical glass of juice into two glasses by diluting with water. Drink one glass in the morning and one glass later, or put it all in a water bottle and sip it throughout the day. You will spread the calories out and add some flavor to your water while getting the vitamins you need!
5. You can have pizza. Just eat one slice rather than two or three... or more! If one doesn’t fill you, eat a piece of fruit and down a glass of water with fiber added.
6. Stop adding sugars, creamers, and sauces to your coffee. Learn to love black coffee. I am living proof that it is possible to learn to love your coffee black. It may take a couple of weeks, but it happens.
7. Split your meals into several small ones rather than two or three larger meals. Instead of eating a yogurt and a sandwich at lunch, eat half of a yogurt and half of the sandwich. Save the rest for a “second lunch” in a couple of hours.
8. When you feel the urge to eat goodies, drink 32 ounces of water and wait 15 minutes. If you still want it, then eat just half of what you would normally eat.
9. I saw this on a reality show: Do you really want the doughnut? (Make sure it is yours). Grab cleaner or air deodorizer... anything... and spray it down and then throw it away.
10. Overestimate your calorie intake. Does the slice of bread have 80 calories and the turkey 30? Call the bread 100 and the turkey 50 – by rounding up when you count calories, you will take in fewer of them. It is important that you only do this for a realistic calorie restriction diet – if you are starving by eating less than 1200 a day (you really SHOULDN’T do that), use every calorie you can. However, if you are eating 1500 or so, saving 100 to 200 more calories by over-estimating will speed up your weight loss.
11. Take a break from dieting. Do you need a “no-diet” day? Save up extra calories for that day by reducing calories by 100 in the few days leading up to it. If you eat 2,000 or so calories on that day but have saved 500 or so, it is no big deal – ESPECIALLY if you put in an extra 20 to 30 minute workout.
12. Instead of one tablespoon of vegetable oil, use 2 teaspoons of olive or canola oil.
13. Do you despise low-fat mayonnaise? Use half of the amount of regular mayo - even a full serving. Just remember to count the calories.
14. If you like spicy food, add cayenne pepper to foods you might not have considered adding it to – spicy food does increase the metabolism. While doing this alone really isn’t a viable way to lose weight, as part of a program, it can add a little boost to your calorie burn.
15. Love your TV shows? Pace during commercial breaks.
16. Work out with free weights while you watch a DVD.
17. When you go shopping during the day, park at the farthest end of the parking lot. If you live less than a couple of miles from the store, leave your car home and walk.
18. If you don’t like turkey or chicken breast, eat leaner cuts of beef and pork.
19. Vary the intensity of your workout while you are working out. Short bursts of intense cardio in between moderate cardio segments increases calorie burn.
20. No, you don’t have to work out for one hour. If the prospect keeps you from exercising, then break it up into two 30 minute workouts – one in the morning and one in the late afternoon or evening. Still too hard? One 30 minute workout a day is better than nothing!
21. Extend your mealtime. Take smaller bites and chew your food longer. Put your eating utensils down frequently, sip some water and make conversation.
22. When you are craving salt, you may be tempted to reach for a bag of chips, but did you know savory or sour flavors can take away salt cravings? Instead of munching on potato chips, crackers, or popcorn, try munching on a dill pickle.

For a high protein, high calcium, high fiber shake, blend together:

8 ounces of low-fat chocolate soy milk

1 sliced apple or ½ of a banana

2 Tablespoons of fiber such as Metamucil

1 Tablespoon of peanut butter

(Approx. 350-400 calories)

Travel the Country or the Globe with a Fitness Destination in Mind

1. Buy a wall map and put it on a wall you look at every day. This should be a map of your country or a map of the world.

2. Put an x on the spot where you live and another x on the spot where you have always wanted to travel.

3. Figure out the distance between the two places. This is how far your exercise journey will take you. HINT: It should be at LEAST 1,000 miles or 1,610 kilometers.

4. “Travel” at least five days a week. That is, when you take a walk, go for a jog or bike ride, swim, row or ski, keep track of the distance.

5. Record it on you map by highlighting the distance traveled with a marker.

6. If your destination is 1,000 miles away, set a goal date of arrival at one year or 18 months, depending on how much you plan to work out during the week.

Try adding some variety to your routine by walking on an inclined treadmill and/or stair climber when you “reach” a mountain range and swimming, using a rowing machine or canoeing when you reach a body of water. Who says you can’t dance across Kansas or skate across Egypt? The important thing is that you enjoy your journey.

By the time you reach your "destination", you will have burned between 100,000 and 150,000 calories, depending on the intensity of the exercise. This translates into 27 to 40 pounds of weight loss, if you have not altered your diet to include more calories. If you choose to diet while on your journey, you will lose even more!

Reward yourself: For every mile you cover, put away a set amount of change. By the time you reach your fitness destination, you may be able to travel there! If not, use the money to buy a new wardrobe or count it as a start for that desired trip.

Regardless of which weight loss plan you follow or how much weight you have to lose, the most important aspect of losing weight and then keeping it off is your mindset. See weight loss and maintenance as a challenge and strive to overcome. Nothing about changing your lifestyle will be "easy", but it WILL be rewarding.

If you fall, get back up. So you binged on pizza and ice cream last night! The only thing that will make you a failure is if you decide to let it keep you down. Start over again right now!