Dieting

Every diet uses the same principle to cause weight loss – dieters take in fewer calories than they burn as fuel. There are three ways of using diet to lose weight: restricting portions; adopting a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet; or eating a high carbohydrate, low-fat diet. A great number of weight loss programs ask us to deny our hunger drive. It is self-defeating quest that as many of have experienced, eventually fails. The key to permanent weight loss is finding a way to fill up your stomach, satisfy your hunger and still shed pounds. Your stomach holds between two and three ponds of food. The feeling of fullness is created largely by the volume of food, rather than its calorie density. This runs counter to most people’s belief that weight loss programs work by eliminating foods and also cutting back portions. To lower overall calorie density, add vegetables and fruits. Toss carrots, zucchini, onions and mushrooms with pasta: add strawberries, bananas or apples to oatmeal. Mix salsa with bean dip, and scoop it with carrot and celery sticks. You’ll feel satisfied sooner with fewer calories. If the great majority of your foods are exceedingly low in calorie density, you can eat frequently, occasionally enjoy a high-calorie-dense food and still lose weight.

Slimming strategies.

1. Make whole unprocessed grains, vegetables, beans and fruits the mainstays of your food plan.

2. Until you’ve achieved your weight loss goal, steer clear of dry foods such as bread, rolls, crackers, and other flour products.

3. Avoid foods that contain a significant amount of fat.

4. To lose weight, eat more, not less – fruits and vegetables, that is.

5. Don’t drink your calories; eat them. Sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit juices and alcoholic beverages contribute calories without creating a sense of fullness.

6. Eat water instead of drinking it. Food such as beans, whole grains and whole-wheat pastas absorb most of the water they’re in, and they are rich in fiber. They fill you up and have staying power. Drinking water is necessary for your health but simply drinking water won’t appease your hunger.

7. Eat frequently. Three full meals a day, along with two or three low-calorie snacks will control hunger.

8. Avoid refined sugar; satisfy your sweet tooth with fruits.

9. To boost your metabolism an burn up more calories, walk two or three miles per day, at a moderate pace.

10. Avoid temptation. Keep foods that trigger binges out of your house. If you can’t live without ice-cream, buy it in individual bars or cups. At parties distance yourself from the food.

11. Never go to a restaurant hungry. You may suffer from a ten-minute problem. In the fist ten minutes after you sit down at table, you may attack whatever waiters put in front of you. If you are hungry you act with your taste buds not with your judgment. Before you go out, have a small salad, a piece of fruit or a nonfat yogurt to curb your appetite. When ordering don’t think about your money’s worth. Think about getting your health’s worth.

12. Finally remember the word diet comes from the Greek diatta, which means “way of living”. To keep from being overweight, you have to count calories and make wise food choices as a long-term way of living, not a short-term diet. Think of calories as dollars. Don’t spend them recklessly.