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Dieting is seriously hard work! This article will attempt to guide you in the right direction by avoiding the usual dieting pitfalls.
1. Don't be hasty in choosing a diet.
Many people latch onto the next big thing and this can sometimes turn out to be a super hard diet that they have no chance of being able to follow. If you're not sure then pick another diet, go with one that feels right for you.
2. Be realistic - keep your feet on the ground!
Changes won't happen over night. With any goal you may choose you need to give it time and work at it consistently and then you will see results. Dieting results also tend to vary from one person to the next.
3. Don't overdo the exercise
Don't use your enthusiasm in the early days of your diet to hit the gym too regularly. Your body will need to time to heal after every workout so if you don't give it the proper rest, all your work in the gym will be in vain.
4. Calories are important
It's important that you don't drastically cut down the number of calories you take in, contrary to popular belief. Your body will react badly to this and it isn't the best way to lose weight.
5. Meals are important too
It's never a good idea to skip meals. Dieting properly is about eating the right foods not cutting them out altogether!
6. Don't check your weight every day.
Keep off those bathroom scales if you can help it. Your weight will fluctuate naturally, this isn't something you can avoid and if you check your weight every single day, you'll soon feel depressed!
7. Keep in control of your emotions
It's easy to let your frustration overtake you and then blindly reach out for a fatty snack. Be strong and keep focused, don't let your emotions rule you.
8. Help is at hand
It can sometimes take a will of steel to survive any diet and you're a fool if you think you can do it all alone. Take the opportunity to reach out to friends and colleagues who can give you the encouragement you need.
9. Don't trap yourself in a food prison.
Although it may feel like you can never enjoy food while you're on a diet, you're just beating yourself up if you don't eat your favourite foods once in a while.
10. Don't think that your willpower will be enough to get you through.
Keep a clear head. You need to make a list of all things you need to eat and all the things you should avoid.
I hope these tips go some way to helping you follow your diet plan thoroughly. It's not easy but it is doable, especially with a little help from your friends.
By: Matt OConnor
The truth is that you can reach any healthy weight from any size with the right techniques. You can drop from 450 pounds to a size 12 dress for example, without bariatric surgery or even medically supervised diets like Very Low Calorie Diets (VICD). Many have achieved this to confirm that it's a replicable possibility among particular people.
When it comes to total weight lost what is realistic is primarily depended on the individual. The motivation the desire and the willingness to change are very important. So important are these that even extreme interventions like weight loss surgery that have a near guarantee of huge permanent weight loss, weight regain can occur if the individual lacks the desire, will and motivation to change.
However even all the willingness and passion will never replace good dieting habits. Infact when looking at realistic dieting goals you should look at two main perspectives; total amount of weight loss targeted to result to the idea weight or desired weight and the time taken to reach this goal or rate of weight loss.
You have probably heard that you should aim for two pounds of weight loss a week. This is what is generally acceptable as healthy. But as you probably are aware, weight loss tends to taper and hit a platue.
Similarly you may have heard of people that lose much more in a week. For example the story featured on US magazine of Janet Jackson who lost 60 pounds in 4 months. From chubby figures that could no longer fit her rings, she transformed into a model that graced the cover of the magazine with chiseled abs.
What you need to understand is celebrities like Janet Jackson have nearly endless resources to support their endeavor, from motivational coaches to personal chefs. This is why what can be a realistic goal for one is by far not realistic to someone else.
Your goal setting should agree with your level of commitment. Commitment requires sacrifices. It also requires priotisation. Infact there is a level of commitment which if you find yourself in, you should forego losing weight for the time being. This is rather than putting yourself in a position of imminent failure hence frustrating yourself.
And though it seems that you should set goals depending on your level of commitment you can do the reverse. For example, you just want to fit in a size 10 jeans. Then you can find what is needed overtime to achieve this. Then you can commit to achieve it.
All in all what is realistic always depends on what your really want and how much you are willing to pay to get it.
By: Mark Kimathi
Sticking to a diet plan is not easy, if it were then everyone would be thin and we wouldn't need to set diet goals for ourselves. We all need a little help to keep us on track with our diet plans sometimes. These 20 tips are meant to give you some additional ammunition in your war against the weight.
1) Make sure you eat a good breakfast. It keeps your energy levels stable and keeps your metabolism high.
2) Fill your plate with veggies and eat them first. If you split your plate into 4 sections two of them, or half the plate, should be veggies. That leaves 1/4 for a meat item and 1/4 for a starch.
3) Remove liquids with calories from your diet plan. This includes soda's and juices. Switching from regular Coke to Diet Coke saves you 180 calories from a 12 ounce can. That's 65,700 calories a year or almost 19 pounds.
4) Try to avoid caffeine. It will give you that temporary boost in energy and dull your appetite, but later you'll feel even worse and twice as hungry. And the more hungry you are the more likely you are to binge.
5) Switch from whole milk to 1% or skim milk.
6) Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day.
7) If you're feeling hungry have a glass of water first. Often we think we are hungry when in reality we are thirsty. Even if it is true hunger the water will fill you up a little and you'll be less likely to overeat.
8) Have a healthy snack at 3PM when your energy is low. Vegetables with low calorie dip, rice cakes and sugar-free jam, low fat yogurt or a small handful of almonds are all good choices.
9) Keep your portions reasonable. Portions should be the size of your fist or the size of a deck of cards. Stay away from "supersize" portions
10) Eat at a slower pace. It can take 15 minutes for our brains to register that we are full so if you're eating fast you're probably eating too much.
11) Eat more soup. They are filling and good for you. Stick with the non-cream soups that are low in calories and often high in fiber.
12) Eat every 3 hours to keep your metabolism high, hunger at bay and your blood sugar levels stable.
13) Use low calories condiments like mustard instead of fatty ones like mayonnaise.
14) Keep a food journal, especially if you're just starting to diet. There are lots of them available online. My favorite free one is at FitDay.com
15) If you're eating out get a doggie bag and put half your meal into it for later or even better for someone else. A typical meal out will have 1000+ calories, not including bread, appetizers, drinks etc.
16) When eating out skip the dessert. If you simply have to have that triple fudge chocolate layer cake share it with someone.
17) Treat yourself once a week. Even the strongest of us have weak moments. If you know that you'll get a break once a week it's much easier to stick with your diet for the other 6 days.
18) Exercise regularly. Even if you just walk 20-30 minutes a day the benefits are amazing. You'll lose not just from the calories you burn during exercise, but also from the boost in metabolism.
19) Find an exercise partner. It helps to know that someone is counting on you to show up at the gym. And it makes it more like an appointment and thus harder to skip out on.
20) Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. Try to drink only on weekends and limit yourself to one or two glasses.
Even using just a few of the tips can save you hundreds of calories daily and take off some unwanted pounds. I am not that overweight to begin with and dropped almost 10 pounds just by cutting soda out of my diet plan and drinking more water. Good luck with whatever diet plan you choose and I hope this list will help some of you to meet your diet goals.
By: Steven Walters
