I have been dieting off and on what seems like my entire life and
have seen or tired every diet out there. Some worked right away but I
couldn't stand eating the same thing over and over again. With others, I
never lost any weight, and some even made me gain. But, by trying all
of these diets, I have taken away some key aspects on how to lose weight
and keep it off.
One of the most important things I have learned is portion control. This is in almost every diet out there, and there is a reason for that, because it is very important when it comes to losing weight. For instance, your meat portion should be no bigger than 3 ounces, which is about the size of a deck of cards. You want to limit the amount of starches you eat, such as potatoes, rice, and pasta. Also, vegetables are very good for you, so they should take up the most space on your plate. Another thing to remember is that when you are wanting something sweet to eat, fruit has natural sugar, which is much better for you than granulated sugar or Splenda, so instead of grabbing a cooking or an ice cream cone, grab an apple or a handful of grapes. They taste good, will satisfy your sweet tooth, and stick with you much longer than a cookie.
Another thing I have learned though all of my dieting experience is that you need to limit your input of salt. Eating a lot of salt has many consequences, it is bad for your heart, and weight wise, your body recognizes it and hold more water, so in turn you weight more. When you go grocery shopping, you should always look for the items that have "no sodium added," "low sodium," or "reduced sodium." This will help your overall health and help you shed those few extra pounds. Just remember, don't add salt to your food once it is on the table, and good step in doing this is just taking the salt off the table all together. Minimizing your salt intake is one of the harder dieting steps I have taken, because we are all so used to salt being in everything, and the taste it gives food. But after a week of consuming a low sodium diet, you will be used to it, and if you get a hold of something that is heavily salted, it will knock you back, and you will then realize how much salt is put in and on food. Another way I have helped reduce my sodium intake is by cutting the salt amount in recipes in half or eliminating it completely, depending on the recipe.
The next important step to eating healthier is to cut down on the amount of starch based foods, like I mentioned in with portion control, but starches have a lot more to do with weight lose than just portion control. Many starches are flour based and flour based foods along with rice, expand after you eat them, so you don't realize how full your stomach is until it is too late. It is also one of the last "fats" that you can work off, it is long lasting, so if you aren't very active, you need to try to steer clear of starches. You always hear about marathon runners eating huge bowls of pasta before a large marathon, well that is because it is a high energy food and will stick with them for a long time. By eating pasta, they will be able to have energy throughout the entire race. This is a very hard food to cut back on, because it seems to be everywhere. All you need to do is be aware of what you are eating and making wise food choices and you will be able to reduce the amount of starch you intake.
Another very important step to healthier eating is the speed at which you consume your food. I am really bad at this one, I eat my food very fast, so I clean my plate and I am still hungry, so I get more food. However, once I finally stop eating because my stomach has caught up with my eyes I am miserable because I have eaten more than will fit in my stomach, so it is getting stretched out. That is a big cause of stomach aches, but if you do that at every meal, your stomach will never shrink and your body will think it needs that much food every time you eat, so you will continue to gain weight. A great trick I have learned to help slow down my eating is to take a normal sized bite of food, set your fork down and crew your food, maybe talk to a friend, or read a paragraph in a book, then take another bite. Because you are taking your time between bites, your stomach will be able to keep up, and the feeling of being full won't sneak up on you.
The last step I am going to share with you about eating healthier is to cut back on the number of meals you eat out. Food from restaurants, especially fast food, is extremely high in carbohydrates and fats. If you make most of your food at home from scratch, you know exactly what is in it. This will help you monitor what you eat better, and believe me, homemade food is something every family enjoys. It won't only make you healthier, but it will help your wallet as well. Eating out is very expensive, even if there are only two of you going out to eat. You can feed a family for much less if you make your own food, plus there is a greater chance of being leftovers if you make food at home, because you can control portion sizes better. The portions you get at restaurants is enough food to feed 2 or 3 people.
I hope you find these steps to eating healthier helpful, and hopefully you can see the results they can give in your own life.
By, Crystal Wade
One of the most important things I have learned is portion control. This is in almost every diet out there, and there is a reason for that, because it is very important when it comes to losing weight. For instance, your meat portion should be no bigger than 3 ounces, which is about the size of a deck of cards. You want to limit the amount of starches you eat, such as potatoes, rice, and pasta. Also, vegetables are very good for you, so they should take up the most space on your plate. Another thing to remember is that when you are wanting something sweet to eat, fruit has natural sugar, which is much better for you than granulated sugar or Splenda, so instead of grabbing a cooking or an ice cream cone, grab an apple or a handful of grapes. They taste good, will satisfy your sweet tooth, and stick with you much longer than a cookie.
Another thing I have learned though all of my dieting experience is that you need to limit your input of salt. Eating a lot of salt has many consequences, it is bad for your heart, and weight wise, your body recognizes it and hold more water, so in turn you weight more. When you go grocery shopping, you should always look for the items that have "no sodium added," "low sodium," or "reduced sodium." This will help your overall health and help you shed those few extra pounds. Just remember, don't add salt to your food once it is on the table, and good step in doing this is just taking the salt off the table all together. Minimizing your salt intake is one of the harder dieting steps I have taken, because we are all so used to salt being in everything, and the taste it gives food. But after a week of consuming a low sodium diet, you will be used to it, and if you get a hold of something that is heavily salted, it will knock you back, and you will then realize how much salt is put in and on food. Another way I have helped reduce my sodium intake is by cutting the salt amount in recipes in half or eliminating it completely, depending on the recipe.
The next important step to eating healthier is to cut down on the amount of starch based foods, like I mentioned in with portion control, but starches have a lot more to do with weight lose than just portion control. Many starches are flour based and flour based foods along with rice, expand after you eat them, so you don't realize how full your stomach is until it is too late. It is also one of the last "fats" that you can work off, it is long lasting, so if you aren't very active, you need to try to steer clear of starches. You always hear about marathon runners eating huge bowls of pasta before a large marathon, well that is because it is a high energy food and will stick with them for a long time. By eating pasta, they will be able to have energy throughout the entire race. This is a very hard food to cut back on, because it seems to be everywhere. All you need to do is be aware of what you are eating and making wise food choices and you will be able to reduce the amount of starch you intake.
Another very important step to healthier eating is the speed at which you consume your food. I am really bad at this one, I eat my food very fast, so I clean my plate and I am still hungry, so I get more food. However, once I finally stop eating because my stomach has caught up with my eyes I am miserable because I have eaten more than will fit in my stomach, so it is getting stretched out. That is a big cause of stomach aches, but if you do that at every meal, your stomach will never shrink and your body will think it needs that much food every time you eat, so you will continue to gain weight. A great trick I have learned to help slow down my eating is to take a normal sized bite of food, set your fork down and crew your food, maybe talk to a friend, or read a paragraph in a book, then take another bite. Because you are taking your time between bites, your stomach will be able to keep up, and the feeling of being full won't sneak up on you.
The last step I am going to share with you about eating healthier is to cut back on the number of meals you eat out. Food from restaurants, especially fast food, is extremely high in carbohydrates and fats. If you make most of your food at home from scratch, you know exactly what is in it. This will help you monitor what you eat better, and believe me, homemade food is something every family enjoys. It won't only make you healthier, but it will help your wallet as well. Eating out is very expensive, even if there are only two of you going out to eat. You can feed a family for much less if you make your own food, plus there is a greater chance of being leftovers if you make food at home, because you can control portion sizes better. The portions you get at restaurants is enough food to feed 2 or 3 people.
I hope you find these steps to eating healthier helpful, and hopefully you can see the results they can give in your own life.
By, Crystal Wade
