32 Tips for Successful Dieting
Posted on January 5th, 2007 by garyPosted in Diet
Every New Year countless people make resolutions to diet and lose weight. However many people fail within the first 30 days. Here are some tips that can help keep on track, eat healthy, and start losing weight for good.
Choose the right Diet: Finding the diet that works for is a lot like dating, you may have to try out a few before you find one that works. Visit Consumer reports or WebMD.com or our online diet guide and do some research.
Use a Current Diet: Just like everything else dieting improves every few years. Even Weight Watchers has some strange recipes lurking deep in it’s past. So make sure you are following an updated diet program.
Asses your Current Condition: Do a realistic body check and decide how much you want to lose and what lifestyle and eating habits you will have to change to hit your goals.
Know Your BMI: BMI or Body Mass Index is just one way to measure your body. SAD or sagittal abdominal diameter is another, don’t obsess over how you measure up against everyone else
What are Your Goals: How much weight do you want to lose, do you have a specific date like a wedding or reunion you want to be in shape for? Short term goals may require you to push yourself, but make sure you leave yourself enough time to reach them.
Set Smaller Intermediate Goals: Don’t set out with the goal of losing 60 pounds in year. Instead try to lose 5 pounds each month. Lots of smaller goals will give you milestone success points to measure your progress.
Skip Late Night Snacks: eating a late night snack can wreak havoc on a diet. Your body uses less energy when it’s sleeping so eating within 2-3 hours of when you go to bed is something you should avoid at all costs.
Know Your Body Type: Everyone’s body is different and can generally fit into one of the classic somatypes get to know what type you are and choose the right type of exercise for your body type.
Exercise Burns Calories: The basic goal is to use more calories than you take in. So the more you exercise the more calories you will end up burning up.
Make Exercise Fun: If you can find ways to make your exercise routine fun chances are you won’t get tired or bored while doing it. Finding something you enjoy doing that’s good for can be the difference between success and failure.
Exercise Videos: Using exercise videos are a great way to exercise without getting bored. You can even watch a free exercise video every day from your computer.
Stay Hydrated: Staying properly hydrated is one of the key ways you can feel energetic during the day. Eight glasses of water is no longer a good rule, instead divide your weight in half for the number of ounces you should drink per day.
Sports Drinks: Sports drinks were made for athletes to replenish electrolytes lost through sweat . However they are loaded with carbohydrates and not good for helping you lose weight (see understanding sports and energy drinks)
Read the Labels: Learn how to read a food label compare brands and select the ones with the lowest amount of sodium, sugar, carbohydrates and preservatives.
Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables: Did you know the food pyramid was revised recently. It recommends eating 9 fruits and vegetables each day.
Fresh or Frozen: Fresh fruits and vegetables are going to give you the most nutritional value. To keep them from going bad before you can eat them store them where you will see them and be reminded they are there. Frozen is the next best option, it will keep longer and lose a small amount of its nutritional value.
Eat Small more Frequent Meals: Did you know it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain it’s full. Recent studies have shown that reducing your caloric intake can lead to a longer lifespan . By eating smaller more frequent meals you are less likely to overeat.
Portion Sizes: Learn to control and manage your portion sizes just because you can get the super big gulp for 25 cents more or super size your meal for an extra 50 cents doesn’t mean it’s good for you. In fact the only thing that you will be super sizing is your waistline.
Glycemic Index: Learn about the Glycemic index it’s not about giving up carbohydrates completely, but giving up the bad carbs while still eating the good ones.
Use a Smaller Plate: Use a luncheon sized plate instead of a dinner plate. Your plate will look smaller with less food and you will be inclined to eat less.
Never Eat out of the Bag: Never eat right out of the bag or jar. Put your food on a plate so you can properly gauge how much you are eating.
Eat Lots of Soup: Soups are very filling and satisfying, just be sure to check the label and make sure they aren’t loaded with sodium, sugar or other preservatives.
Share Your Dessert: Most desserts are so rich they are actually too much for one person, so share it with one or more people at the table.
Don’t Skip Meals: While skipping a meal may sound like a good idea you’ll actually be hungrier in a few hours and much more likely to overeat. Instead keep healthy snacks like a bag of carrots or granola bar available.
Check Your Scale: How accurate is your scale? Has it been kicked under the dresser or your bed for years? If so throw it away and get a more accurate one.
Don’t Obsesses over your weight: Ideally you should weight yourself once week, not every day. Try to wear the same or very similar clothes each time so you will get a more accurate reading. Don’t obsess if you aren’t losing weight fast enough. Unless you have a dramatic lifestyle change it may take a few weeks for you to get results.
Keep a fitness Journal: Try to keep a record or your basic stats measurements once a week. Also try to keep track of what you eat each day and how much you are exercising. It’s not important to go into great detail, just hit the highlights. You can track your progress and find out what’s working for you and what’s not. There are even Free Online Fitness Journals.
Create a Photo Journal: Take a picture of yourself from the front or side every week if possible. Try to wear the same or similar clothes in each photo. Sometimes you will start to see changes in your appearance before they show up on the scale. You can integrate your photo into your fitness journal.
Vitamins: Find a good Multivitamin and take it daily. Vitamins help the body work properly and help you get the most value out of the foods you are eating.
Get Enough Sleep: Many studies have shown a direct correlation between getting enough sleep and losing weight try to get between 6 and 8 hours of sleep every night. In addition try to wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day, even the weekends. It helps your body maintain natural circadian rhymes.
Read fitness blogs: Fitness and Health blogs and news sites can be a great source for weight loss tips, just verify what you read.
Megite Health News: What’s Happening Right Now
Yahoo! Health News
BBC NEWS | Health
Julia Havey-Ediets.com’s Master Motivator
Fitness Blog – Families.com
Health and Fitness Blog :: Main Page
Diet Plans and Weight Loss Programs: Mediterranean Diet, GI Diet, Atkins Low Carb Diet, Slim Fast, Bob Greene
The Health Care Blog
The Health Blog – A blog about proper health and nutrition habits
The insiders guide to what’s hot, new and undiscovered in the world of fitness. – LIFT – Think Fit.
FitLink.com – The Premier Online Fitness Community
gary’s fitness blog
Health Care and Fitness Website Marketing Tips
Health Supreme
SUGAR SHOCK! Blog
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