First thing that involves food is WATER!
Keeping yourself hydrated is one of the most important fundamentals to good health. Drinking water every day will help keep your skin looking fresh and smooth. And also, that will keep your organ systems equipped to flush out the accumulation of excess materials from cell growth and waste products from foods.
Since it contains no calories, drinking water instead of any other beverage at mealtime reduces overall calorie intake. Keeping a large bottle with the popup squirt top is a great idea for sipping during the day.
You are what you buy
If you haven't bought it, you can't eat it! More importantly, if you haven't written it down on your shopping list, you're likely to forget it. Random shopping isn't as fruitful or rewarding as making a list and buying only what you've written down. It's also cheaper, because cruising the aisles and trusting your memory to recognize what you need will result in spending significantly more money than you intended.
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Weight Watchers® uses a proprietary points system to make balanced meals. By marking your own groceries and foods in a similar fashion, either by their protein, carbohydrate, or fat values, you can make your meals by sight, without having to refer to reference books or diet catalogs to decide what to eat. Our Nutrition Tracker will allow you to actually shuffle between like groups of foods to find equivalent substitutes when making your different meals.
This also means you'll need to organize your foods, shelves and pantry. Whether you use a diet planner, prepared meal plan or other weight-loss program, you soon realize you are keeping a mental "list" of your favorite foods and their nutritional values. For eating home cooking, apply the same idea to an actual physical list of your favorite foods and assign them a ranking or value.
Get what you want when you eat out
With portion sizes on the increase, try asking the service person at the restaurant to bring half of what you ordered for your meal, and have the other half put into a doggie bag or take-out container. Or, just ask for the container when the meal arrives and divide the meal before you start eating. That way, you're not tempted to "eat the whole thing". By asking the serving size (ounce, cup, etc.), you get an idea of the number of calories in the meal. Most restaurants are very aware of how much food they're serving.
Eating out versus eating in
Not surprising, research shows that meals ordered out contain a considerable amount more fat and calories than when a similar meal is home-prepared. Not only are you going to eat better eating in, you also save money.
Eating what you don't want isn't worth the effort
If you don't want to eat something, DON'T, even if it has fewer calories or fewer exchange point values. Instead, eat a smaller portion of what you want to eat, stay on exchange or calorie values and enjoy the real thing. Denying yourself what you want to eat is only frustrating, and leads to falling back on the old habits. The changes you want to make have to last a lifetime.
Treat yourself to fresh fruits and vegetables
Even with high off-season prices, nothing beats the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables. And as snacks, they're a lot cheaper than that pound of gourmet chocolate.
Exercise
At some point during your day, do some form of exercise. If taking off the hour for lunch to go to the gym isn't possible, then break up your exercising into ten-minute sessions three times a day. The effects are cumulative, and you'd be surprised how climbing stairs at home or work, or parking farther away from your building can make a difference over time. That's what lifestyle change means: an attitude that what you're doing will last a lifetime.
Enroll the whole family
Make your efforts healthy for everyone around you. Why not get your family or work group involved in eating more healthy foods and taking walks during coffee breaks or lunchtime? Sit at your desk and stretch, flex your muscles, or do isometric exercises a few times each day to keep your metabolism going. It's also a lot more fun to exercise with a partner. That way, you can inspire each other, particularly on those days when either of you don't want to go and need the partner to push you.
Group support is another way to get motivated. Listening to the experience of others while contributing yours will help increase your health-oriented behaviors and habits.
If it touches your lips, it's on your hips
Pay attention to every bite, lick or taste you take throughout the day. Can't understand why you're not losing weight? Try writing down every time food contacts your lips. You'll be amazed at how much and how quickly those calories add up.
Invest in 10 percent
A ten percent return on any investment is a good one, so why not invest ten percent of your body weight to get immeasurably profitable health returns. A loss of ten percent of your body weight gives you a disproportionately higher reduction in your risk of cardiac disease, diabetes and other weight related problems.
Celebrate your "profitable" investment returns, and prepare yourself to reinvest another ten percent to continue to accrue beneficial returns!
froem: www.healthatoz.com
You are what you buy
If you haven't bought it, you can't eat it! More importantly, if you haven't written it down on your shopping list, you're likely to forget it. Random shopping isn't as fruitful or rewarding as making a list and buying only what you've written down. It's also cheaper, because cruising the aisles and trusting your memory to recognize what you need will result in spending significantly more money than you intended.
Stack likes with likes
Weight Watchers® uses a proprietary points system to make balanced meals. By marking your own groceries and foods in a similar fashion, either by their protein, carbohydrate, or fat values, you can make your meals by sight, without having to refer to reference books or diet catalogs to decide what to eat. Our Nutrition Tracker will allow you to actually shuffle between like groups of foods to find equivalent substitutes when making your different meals.
This also means you'll need to organize your foods, shelves and pantry. Whether you use a diet planner, prepared meal plan or other weight-loss program, you soon realize you are keeping a mental "list" of your favorite foods and their nutritional values. For eating home cooking, apply the same idea to an actual physical list of your favorite foods and assign them a ranking or value.
Get what you want when you eat out
With portion sizes on the increase, try asking the service person at the restaurant to bring half of what you ordered for your meal, and have the other half put into a doggie bag or take-out container. Or, just ask for the container when the meal arrives and divide the meal before you start eating. That way, you're not tempted to "eat the whole thing". By asking the serving size (ounce, cup, etc.), you get an idea of the number of calories in the meal. Most restaurants are very aware of how much food they're serving.
Eating out versus eating in
Not surprising, research shows that meals ordered out contain a considerable amount more fat and calories than when a similar meal is home-prepared. Not only are you going to eat better eating in, you also save money.
Eating what you don't want isn't worth the effort
If you don't want to eat something, DON'T, even if it has fewer calories or fewer exchange point values. Instead, eat a smaller portion of what you want to eat, stay on exchange or calorie values and enjoy the real thing. Denying yourself what you want to eat is only frustrating, and leads to falling back on the old habits. The changes you want to make have to last a lifetime.
Treat yourself to fresh fruits and vegetables
Even with high off-season prices, nothing beats the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables. And as snacks, they're a lot cheaper than that pound of gourmet chocolate.
Exercise
At some point during your day, do some form of exercise. If taking off the hour for lunch to go to the gym isn't possible, then break up your exercising into ten-minute sessions three times a day. The effects are cumulative, and you'd be surprised how climbing stairs at home or work, or parking farther away from your building can make a difference over time. That's what lifestyle change means: an attitude that what you're doing will last a lifetime.
Enroll the whole family
Make your efforts healthy for everyone around you. Why not get your family or work group involved in eating more healthy foods and taking walks during coffee breaks or lunchtime? Sit at your desk and stretch, flex your muscles, or do isometric exercises a few times each day to keep your metabolism going. It's also a lot more fun to exercise with a partner. That way, you can inspire each other, particularly on those days when either of you don't want to go and need the partner to push you.
Group support is another way to get motivated. Listening to the experience of others while contributing yours will help increase your health-oriented behaviors and habits.
If it touches your lips, it's on your hips
Pay attention to every bite, lick or taste you take throughout the day. Can't understand why you're not losing weight? Try writing down every time food contacts your lips. You'll be amazed at how much and how quickly those calories add up.
Invest in 10 percent
A ten percent return on any investment is a good one, so why not invest ten percent of your body weight to get immeasurably profitable health returns. A loss of ten percent of your body weight gives you a disproportionately higher reduction in your risk of cardiac disease, diabetes and other weight related problems.
Celebrate your "profitable" investment returns, and prepare yourself to reinvest another ten percent to continue to accrue beneficial returns!
froem: www.healthatoz.com