Easy Diet Tips and Treats
Unhealthy eating is one of the most difficult and most challenging habits to change. Those who successfully kick other harmful habits such as excessive drinking or smoking must stop those activities altogether, but people must eat to survive, and this is why permanently changing eating habits can be even more challenging. Those who regularly overeat and make unhealthy decisions regarding food must make changes in eating habits for permanent weight-loss success.
There are a number of ways to make dieting more tolerable and the process of losing weight much less painful. Dieting doesn't have to feel like a long-term punishment, and those who are dieting don't have to completely deprive themselves of the foods they enjoy in order to achieve success. The following easy diet tips will help you lose weight with minimal suffering, and they will help you stay on track for weight-loss success.
Minimize Portions
People make the mistake of thinking they have to cut out all of their favorite foods when dieting. Completely cutting out foods such as pizza, tacos, burgers, and even macaroni and cheese isn't necessary. In fact, depriving yourself of the foods you love can actually ruin your diet and cause more weight gain than ever before. After weeks or even just days of dieting, you'll start to resent the situation, and you'll more than likely fall back into unhealthy eating habits.
Instead of eating larger portions of healthier low-calorie foods you really don't care for, cut back on portions, and eat acceptable amounts of the foods you do enjoy. You can have any food you want within moderation, and you can actually lose weight while continuing to eat your favorites. Pay attention to serving sizes and calories, and control your portions accordingly. Eating healthier isn't a punishment, and you shouldn't completely deny yourself and feel depressed as a result of trying to lose weight.
Delicious Low-Calorie Fillers
Cutting back on portions of the foods you really love will probably leave you feeling hungry, especially when beginning your diet. It takes time for the stomach to shrink and the mind as well as the body to become satisfied with smaller portions of food. In time, you won't feel compelled to gorge yourself in an effort to feel content after meals.
Help fill-in with healthy choices such as crunchy tossed salads with low-calorie dressing. Make your salads more palatable by topping them with low-fat croutons, fresh veggies, low-fat cheese, and small amounts of other tasty toppings. Vary the toppings and dressing regularly, and if you really like tossed salad you won't mind having one each day.
You can also add substance to your meals by adding delicious cooked vegetables. This doesn't mean simply opening a can of tasteless green beans or other canned veggies and heating them in the microwave. Treat yourself with foods that will keep you on track such as stir-fried fresh or frozen green beans topped with mushrooms and Italian spices. Take the time to make low-calorie foods that will satisfy your need for substance and flavor and you're more likely to stick to your diet.
Fresh fruits are also fantastic foods that will fill you up without adding empty calories to your daily diet, but you don't have settle for ordinary apples and oranges. Make fresh fruit salads filled with chunks of cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and melon. Top a small bowl of fresh fruit with a dollop of low-calorie whipped topping and you'll have a low-calorie dessert that won't hamper your weight-loss efforts.
Tasty Treats
Who says you can't have treats and sweets when you're trying to lose weight? Those who are dieting should occasionally reward themselves with treats and snacks so they don't feel punished or deprived. This doesn't mean it's okay to have a large banana split or a fattening wedge of cheesecake on a regular basis. It simply means it's okay to have small servings of fattening foods now and then. You're more likely to stay on track if you occasionally allow yourself to eat small servings of foods that are supposed to be off-limits.
If you want to have a piece of cake or pie, serve yourself half of the regular portion. It won't ruin your diet, and you'll realize you really aren't missing out on anything when you occasionally allow yourself to indulge. Packaged treats will enable you to easily check the calories, and you can choose them accordingly. Tasty treats and all of the other foods you love will still taste the same, but you'll appreciate them more than ever when you're indulging in smaller, healthier portions.
Meal Replacement Plans
As you can see, some basic tips can make it relatively easy to have a healthier diet and lose weight. However, if you are just too busy or do not like figuring out tasty new recipes that fit with your diet plan, consider joining a meal replacement program like Nutrisystem or Medifast. These systems provide all the food for you, so there is no searching for healthy recipes, grocery shopping or complications. With Nutrisystem (which offers a free diet analysis) there are different plans to choose from for men, women, seniors, diabetics, etc., and they have many delicious foods to choose from with new and improved choices from before. Medifast is another meal replacement program, and one thing that sets this program apart is that you get to eat every 2-3 hours. It is much easier to stick with a diet plan when you don't go hungry!