For so many people, starting a diet is just not fun. It often equates to dull meal choices and feeling hungry and irritable. Eventually, this leads to a slip of epic proportions where you work your way through everything in the refrigerator. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can lose weight, increase your fitness and still enjoy your favorite meals. Here’s how.
Forget About Diets
Experts have been telling us for years that diets don’t work. That’s why the dieting industry makes so much money. At some point, you’re destined to fail, and the cycle starts all over again. So rather than embarking on a diet, change your eating habits. Weight loss will be slower, but it will be more manageable. Weight lost in a healthy way is more likely to stay off.
Cook Your Own Meals
The best tip for losing weight is to cook your own meals. Ditch the takeout and processed food and buy and cook your own ingredients. You will be surprised that you can still enjoy your favorite meals such as pizza, when you cook it yourself. (My stepfather makes a mean zucchini and pesto pizza!) Make sure you have the right equipment, like a Uuni Portable Pizza Oven.
Cut out unhealthy added ingredients like sugar and fats and create healthier versions of your favorite dishes. You’ll soon pick up healthy cooking tips, and they will become second nature.
Preparing your own meals can take a little planning. You’ll need to think ahead when you go to the grocery store. And you will need to make packed lunches to take to work.
Reduce Portion Sizes — And Still Enjoy Your Meal
Eating healthily isn’t about depriving yourself. You can still eat the foods you like in moderation. Just make sure this fits into your healthy eating plan.
Try reducing your portion sizes. A good way to do this is to purchase smaller plates. On a subconscious level, you will still believe you’re eating a good meal. But you will, in fact, be eating less.
Don’t Drink Your Calories
Calories are often ‘hidden’. You may think you’re eating a healthy snack or drinking a healthy drink. But look for hidden fats and sugar. A good example of this is smoothies. Store-bought smoothies sometimes contain much more sugar than you would would think. The same is true of your daily coffee. Prepare as much food and drink as you can so you know exactly what is going into them. When you’re shopping, always check the labels carefully.
Exercise
To lose weight you need to exercise. Again, this needn’t be a chore. Forget gym memberships unless you like the gym. Focus on activities that you do enjoy. For example, gardening, dancing and walking. If you enjoy the activity, or it’s a part of your lifestyle, then you’re more likely to stick to it.
When changing your eating habits, do this gradually. Make small changes and absorb them into your daily life. Add to them over time. Even small changes are better than nothing. Managing your diet in this way will lead to a consistent weight loss that is easily maintained.
Related Content
- Foods that work with weight-loss resolutions
- Emotional eating: Tips on how to overcome it
- High-fat foods that are actually good for you
[divider]
[one_third] 
[/one_third]
[two_third_last]
Take Charge of Your Health!
Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.
This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.
[/two_third_last]
0 comments