Sound Advice For Changing Your Eating Habits To Lose Weight
By Jason Cox
Those who love to eat also know about the struggle to discipline yourself not to eat. You can read this advice to learn about how to change your eating habits to lose weight.
First of all, you can be assured that will power alone will not work. You need reasons to not want to engage in overeating binges or just simply eating too much. You can keep some times in mind when you are attempting to lose weight. These tips are as follows:
Do not snack on too many chips and snacks before a big meal. If you are at a gathering such as a picnic, work party, or anniversary dinner, you may not only encounter a lot of people, but quite a bit of temptation. For example, before the meal is served, you will notice there is a table full of snacks and appetizers on it. If you must snack, you may want to take one or two select items that you normally do not have the opportunity to eat and leave the rest of the every day junk food alone.
Stay as far away from the food table as much as you possibly can. If you want to visit with people, it is better to visit with them away from the food table when at a huge social even.
Keep yourself busy. If you are busy, you will not be bored and want to eat more. For instance, if you are at a gathering where there are team sports, Karaoke, or other activities you would like to participate in, you can use those to keep you busy and away from the food.
Find low fat and fat snack alternatives. If you eat low fat snacks and deserts such as baked chips, gelatin deserts, fruits and vegetables, frozen juice pops, and so forth, you can satisfy your sweet tooth. You can even find some low fat chocolate and cheesecake desserts out there.
Eat a nice sized breakfast. It has been a common fact for quite a long time now that those who eat breakfast are able to function better throughout the day. Not only that, but they have a tendency to be less hungry. Those who skip breakfast try to make it all up for lunch and dinner, and often times end up eating way more than they should, and the wrong types of foods. Those who are not so extremely hungry later in the day have a tendency to make wiser food choices.
Eat less fried foods. Fried foods contain oils that contain both saturated and trans fat, usually cooked in partially hydrogenated oils. If you eat fewer foods high in saturated fat, and/or trans fat, you are more likely to gain weight and have a higher body fat content. In addition, you are at greater risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart trouble, and cholesterol problems if you eat this type of food. If you want to eat healthy so you can lose weight, try to stay away from fried foods. You can often find baked or broiled alternatives of the favorite foods that you like that are not cooked in fatty oils.
Watch your portions. You may not be a person who eats that often during the day. However, you may be the kind of person that eats double the amount of portions you should eat during a meal. A serving of pasta is generally the size of your fist and a slice of meat is meant to be no thicker or wider than a deck of cards. If you follow these principles when eating you will not overeat. Also, in order to make your plate look fuller you can use smaller plates.
Avoid midnight snacks. If you want to lose weight then you should avoid eating late at night. A general rule of thumb is to not eat a huge meal after 8 o clock at night. The exception may be if you work late. Then your whole eating schedule may be reversed. However, the general rule of thumb is to not eat to close to the time you go to bed. If you can, you should try to eat at work on break instead, or eat before you go to work, if you work late. If you work third shift try to eat a few hours before you go to bed. You burn more calories in the earlier parts of the time you are awake than you do at night while sleeping. Therefore, watch what you eat late at night.
Not only do you need to change your eating habits, but you need to exercise as well. No great dieting plan will help you lose weight by dieting alone. Not only that, but exercise helps keeps you emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy. The more exercise you get the better, but you do not have to strain yourself.
If you have any questions about what the proper diet and exercise program is for you then you can contact a doctor. Either that or you can contain a dietician or join a diet program that you know is safe. If you change your eating habits and exercising just a little bit you can lose weight at a slow steady pace of 1 to 2 pounds a week.