Eat Your Way to a Skinnier You!

There are a multitude of ways to diet. Logging your calorie intake in a food diary, using online tools, juice cleanses, starving yourself…Here are a few every day things you can do to make your journey easier.

• Always Eat Dessert - Don't deprive yourself of the things you love all the time. And, a small amount of a "forbidden" sweet can let your body know that meal time is over. Do it with a small piece of Dark Chocolate, rich in flavor and high in antioxidants. Or a few bites of a Fruit Tart. Don't eat a whole Cheesecake, you are trying to lose weight.
• Use a Napkin - Grab a napkin or paper towel to blot off excess fat and oils off of foods that need it, like pizza. If you do this every time you see that shiny surface on your food, you can save up to an entire cup of Fat per year.
• Grab the Tabasco - Spicy foods contains Capsaicin, which puts the sass in the spice! And, temporarily boosts your metabloism. Make sure you have some low-fat dairy products on hand, they can squash the spiciness on your palette better than water alone.
• Make it Public - If your friends and family know that you are trying to lose a few pounds, ask them to get on your case if they see you making bad decisions. Knowing that you have a team of people pulling for you can help!
• Tighten that Belt! - If you have a sudden craving for a Bacon Cheeseburger, tighten up your belt a notch to remind yourself of the size you want to be. Not so tight that you can't breathe, but enought to remind you that you want your clothes to be smaller and fit you better.
• Time or Money? - Pre-cut veggies can cost more at the market, but you will be more likely to eat them if they are already cut down to a convenient snack size. Or, set aside some time each week after you do your grocery shopping to cut and bag snack sized portions for the week.
• Five Star Dining - Rather than rushing through a meal at a family-friendly diner type of place, hit a snazzy restaurant where you won't feel rushed by the server to get out so they can turn the table faster. More expensive restaurants have ambiance and elegance, leaving you time to savor each bite of your meal. This extra time lets you digest food and realize when you are full. No need to scarf down a burger, slowly enjoy a steak! But only half of it…
• Don't forget your mid-afternoon meal - If you always eat 3 Square Meals a day, you may be doing yourself a disservice. Snacking on a small amount of nuts or cheese in between lunch and dinner can help you from over-eating at the dinner table, since you will not be famished.
• Don't Toss the Peels - A majority of the nutrients and fiber in vegetables and fruits are in the skins and peels. Eat the potato skin, eat the apple peel. Not only is it less work to not have to peel the outer layers off of your food, you won't be missing out on the vitamins any longer. This does not work well for bananas or oranges though.
• Use a Plate - Never grab the entire carton of ice cream and sit down on the sofa with it. Put your food on a plate or in a bowl, the amount that you want, no more. How many times have you sat down with a bag of chips, planning on only having a few, then all of a sudden the whole thing is gone? Use a chip bowl!
• Take up Knitting - If you have a tendency to eat while you relax and watch TV at night, find something else to do with your hands. Knitting, going through the bills, painting your toenails, doing crunches, polishing your silverware…
• Take a 10 minute break - If you are walking back from the bathroom and have to pass the vending machine and all of a sudden feel like having a bag of chips or a candy bar, keep walking, get back to work and if you are still thinking about it 10 minutes later, then maybe you really are hungry, and it was not just the power of suggestion. This is where your pre-cute veggies come in handy…much better than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!
• Go out for Cheesecake - Or a Chips and Guacamole, or Apple Pie a la Mode. Just don't keep any of your dangerous foods in the house. If you're sitting there and something bad sounds good, it is easy to eat it if it is in the cupboard already. Would you really get in your car, drive to the store, buy it, come home and eat it? No you wouldn't. So keep bad foods out of the house. Then it is harder to eat them.
• Start with a salad - Eating less by eating more, that is the trick. If you start with a green salad before dinner, you will fill up a bit with greens and veggies, then eat less of your dinner. Of course don't go for the Blue Cheese dressing and skip the croutons too. Fat Free Balsamic, or just ask for the oil and vinegar bottles and sprinkle a small amount on your salad.
• Grab a Knife - If you get a bagel with cream cheese (it'd better be low-fat!) scrape off the excess cream cheese that they pile on. Same goes for mayo on a sandwich. The knife can also be used to simply cut your meal in half so you can eat the rest later.

Do you have your own tips? Leave comments here for other fitness minded individuals to read and share!

Be eXcellent! - Ms. X