Looking for some easy techniques to get your diet on track? Here are 7 of my favorite tips and techniques that you can immediately implement to get your weight loss and diet on track. Best of all – they are easy and take only a couple moments to put into place.
1. One Good Food Choice Isn't Carte Blanche For Two Bad Ones. Eating a healthy and balanced meal is a good feeling. It's rewarding to know that you are properly nourishing your body and providing yourself optimum nutrition. Sometimes that rewarding feeling is so good that you reward yourself with a bad meal or two. Some people confuse this for "cheat meals" which are strategic interruptions in your diet designed to shock your metabolism into heating up again. Eat badly with a purpose, not because you ate good earlier that day.
2. Stuff Yourself With Veggies. An easy way to fill yourself is to make those carb-heavy foods with heaps of vegetables. Eating a hamburger? Stuff it with lettuce, tomato and even avocado. You can do the same with pasta meals, sandwiches and more. The veggies will help fill you up and stop you from going back for seconds.
3. Drink Water Before Meals. In research conducted by Virginia Tech, drinking 16 ounces of water before meals helped stimulate weight loss. Filling up on calorie-free liquids before a meal helps encourage smaller portion sizes and decreases the likelihood of overeating. Additionally, water consumption helps ward off drinking calorie-crammed beverages like juice and pop to satisfy perceived dehydration.
4. Smaller Plates. Seems ridiculous, but appearances matter. A study done out of Cornell showed that eating off a smaller plate leads your brain to believe you are consuming up to 18% more food. Which makes sense when you think about – we tend to use markers such as an empty plate, or the bottom of the bag, to signify when we are satiated.
5. Make Your Veggies and Fruits Visible. Likewise with the foods that you want to eat less of, place them in the cupboards you use the least. Studies have been done with both fruits and candy showing that the closer you keep specific types of food, the more of it you are going to eat. Makes sense when you think about. In a society where convenience is king, make it easy for you to grab a fruit or veggies.
6. Take a Time-out. You know that point where you think you might be hungry still, but you aren't sure? If you're like me there are times when you blow past that mark and fifteen minutes later you are on the couch holding your belly and undoing your belt. Next time you .. Better yet, wrap your food and put it and resolve to come back to it in 15 minutes if you are still hungry. More often than not, you won't be.
7. Spice It Up. Foods like chicken and fish are awesome for us. They are full of protein, low in fat, and relatively cheap at the supermarket. The downside for some is the plainness. Instead of butter or cream-based dressings to make ‘em taste better, try a variety of marinades or spices to give them a little kick and give your palette some variety.
