There are literally hundreds of weight loss diets at your fingertips. Some advise you to give up certain foods, or food groups. Others recommend eating special combinations of foods, at set times each day. In reality, it is simple: to lose weight you must consume fewer calories than those you use or burn for energy. In other words, you must create a caloric deficit. Regardless of the type of diet you choose, there are rules of thumb that everyone should follow when trying to lose weight, simply put, because they work.
Eat Breakfast
Those who consume a healthy breakfast eat fewer calories throughout the rest of the day. They are less likely to binge, or overeat, and make healthier choices at subsequent meals. After an overnight fast, your body needs fuel. Eating actually stimulates your metabolism. Eggs, bacon, sausage and buttered toast are not required. A simple breakfast of a bowl of high-fiber cereal with skim milk, a slice of toast with 1 tsp of peanut butter, a piece of fruit, and a cup of tea or coffee will suffice.
Do Not Skip Meals
Skipping meals leads to binging and overeating. You can not 'save' calories for later. Your body is programmed to rely on regular meals and snacks. This keeps your metabolism elevated and staves off hunger. When you are ravenous, you are more likely to make a poor choice, such as a high-calorie, high-carbohydrate dessert versus a piece of fruit and cheese, simply because you may be too hungry to think.
Choose Wisely
Fill up on plant foods. Three-quarters of your plate should be filled with whole grains, such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, and vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, beans, while only one-quarter of your plate should be reserved for lean protein sources, such as pork loin, or chicken breast. Choose foods offer more volume and less energy (as in total calories per serving) to fill you up. For instance, light popcorn, fruit, and vegetables will fill your tummy on few calories, whereas a candy bar will not keep you full, but is very high in calories.
Snack Smart
Snacking can be a weight-loss tool or a diet downfall. It depends largely on your snack habits. Keep snacks calorie controlled (approximately 200 calories). Use snacks to fill nutrition gaps and keep you from overeating at the next meal, not as an emotional crutch. Two snacks daily should be enough, enabling you to eat something about every four hours.
What is a good snack? A piece of string cheese, four Triscuit crackers, and five slices of shaved ham weighs in at approximately 190 calories.
Allow all Foods: In Moderation
Do not omit foods and/or food groups from your meal plan. Omitting food groups is characteristic of fad dieting. It is, more often than not, unrealistic and unwise. All foods should be allowed. Once you create a list of "off limit" foods, those will be the first foods you crave. The trick is to make wiser choices most of the time. Allow yourself a treat in the evening if you like. Just be sure to balance those extra calories with additional exercise or a lighter meal earlier in the day.
Watch your Portions
This is one diet rule you cannot omit. The sizes of our serving dishes, plates, and bowls have increased steadily over the years. A plate we use for a pre-dinner salad today is the same size of a dinner plate from the 1950s. The more food a person is presented with, the more she will eat. So measure and weigh your portions, at least until you get a sense of how they appear on your plates.
Eat out Less Often
Eating at home will drastically reduce the amount of calories you consume. Restaurant meals are prepared with only flavor in mind, not your waistline. Typical restaurant meals offer over triple the amount of calories, fat and sodium of their home-prepared counterparts. Sure, you can take half of your portion home with you, but the portions are generally very large, so it is not enough to downsize. Try choosing a starter and a salad appetizer versus an entree, if you must eat out.
Do Not Drink Your Calories
You might be surprised to learn how many calories loom in your innocent-looking beverage. We all know to stay away from smoothies with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate, but not all calorie-laden beverages are that obvious to spot. Eating food is what satisfies. Drinking a beverage that offers the same amount of calories as the snack you passed up will leave you hungry for more. Alcoholic beverages, coffee drinks, juices, and sodas should all be limited. Opt for calorie-free beverages more often.
Keep a Food Diary
Few people enjoy this exercise but it keeps you honest. When you have to write down what you ate, the amount, time you ate it and reflect upon it all later, you are more likely to shy away from the colorful candies or potato chips sitting on the counter. Having to see what you have eaten, in black and white, is a helpful deterrent. You can use it as a learning tool also, reviewing what you chose and make notes in the margin on what might have been a wiser choice.
Weigh Yourself Regularly
It might be preferable to try on a pair of pants to gauge your relative size, but clothes do stretch. And that method is not terribly accurate. Those who have been most successful at taking, and keeping, weight off weigh themselves regularly, at least weekly. You need to know if you are going in the right direction. Allow yourself a 2 to 3 lb. window. Once you stop losing, or creep up to the edge of your "window", take action immediately. Do not wait. Significant weight changes do not happen overnight.
References
- Obesity; Consistent self-monitoring of weight: a key component of successful weight loss maintenance; ML Butryn, S Phelan, JO Hill and RR Wing; Dec 2007
- Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior; The National Weight Control Registry: is it useful in helping deal with our obesity epidemic; JO Hill, H Wyatt, S Phelan and R Wing; Jul-Aug 2005
- American Journal of Public Health; The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic; LR Young and M Nestle; Feb 2002
Member Comments