Cause Your Health Counts

At one time or another, half the women and a quarter of the men in this country have tried to lose weight. The ones destined to try again and again are most likely those looking for shortcuts. There are none.

The only way to step off the diet treadmill is to find some kind of program that helps you lose weight slowly and steadily; a program that will train you to adopt a low-fat eating plan, making it a way of life.

Good habits are a must. Start out strong, remembering that people who eat a healthy breakfast generally feel less hungry throughout the day. Researchers speculate that eating the major part of our daily calories early in the day allows the food to be used to produce energy; therefore fewer calories are left over to become fat. Curb your appetite by drinking a glass of water or some tea before meals.

The best diet foods are complex carbohydrates, low in fat, fast burning, and rich in vitamins and minerals. These foods are also high in bulk, which means you can feel full on fewer calories. Whole-grain cereals, rice, breads, pasta, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables are just a few of the things most recommended. Leave off grease, lard and fried foods.

There are literally hundreds of diet programs and plans being marketed these days. Beware of all the exaggerated claims and remember that the best commercial diet programs focus on smart food choices.

Success at losing weight is most likely if you change your entire approach to eating. Permanent weight loss means a lifetime eating plan that features variety, is well balanced nutritionally, and adds up to more calories expended than is consumed. And recognize that not all people are geared to three meals a day. Some may actually do better on five or six small meals per day.

While many of us hint that we diet all the time and still do not lose weight because of some exotic disease, the plan truth is we are taking in more calories than we expend, and, therefore, we gain weight. Buy yourself an old-fashioned calorie counter and use it. Record the foods you eat and the number of calories those foods contain. You will soon realize that only exotic ailment you have is an over-active elbow.

Do you snap your food up as fast as you can, making it appear that someone is trying to take it away from you? Work at it and learn to chew every morsel slowly as you savor every bite. Studies now show that it takes several minutes for your brain to tell you that the food you have consumed is filling you up. If you eat too fast, you will feel “stuffed” half an hour later, instead of comfortably full.

Menu planning is one of the keys to diet success, so be prepared to spend a couple of hours at this task every week and do it in conjunction with your grocery shopping. Plan your weekly menus ahead, doing it on an empty stomach so that your plans will be detailed. Shop for a week’s food so that there will be no trips back to the grocery store.

Avoid crashing and popping. Studies show that people who repeatedly go on and off crash diets actually gain weight over time. The sad fact is that the only thing crash dieters ever learn is how to starve. Suppressing your appetite with most diet pills only risks a number of nasty side effects, such as irritability, insomnia, high blood pressure, and dependency. Plus, once you stop taking them, any weight you might have lost will probably sneak back on. Weight control is learned behavior.