ABC DIRECTORY: How to Keep to Your Diet

Sep 4, 2008

How to Keep to Your Diet

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Writing down what you eat is one basic principle. A second principle is to read the food labels. Make sure your grocery items include a lot of fiber and little fat, that equates to a lot of vegetables, fruits, peas and beans and low fat dairy products.

Steps

Eat a snack if you're starting to get hungry but have a few hours till dinner / lunch - especially important around 4pm, when you're between lunch and dinner. If you wait and starve yourself you will be more likely to overeat or eat too fast at dinner.
Do not buy non-diet foods.If it's not in the house, you cannot eat it.If you need a treat and have earned it (by eating well or exercising, not having a bad day) go out and buy one cookie. Don't keep a bag of special treat cookies in the house, they only convince you that you deserve one when you don't. And yes, when you deserve one, have one. Or better yet, think of a way you can treat yourself that has nothing to do with food!
Understand that if you are engaging in an activity that you usually snack during, find something to do with your hands instead of eating. Take up knitting, learn to sew, write those thank-you cards, anything to keep you from munching mindlessly while you watch TV, etc.
Remember if you eat bar peanuts compulsively, sit away from the bowl. You will be less likely to reach over someone else to get to them. Find fun exercise. Join a cool gym that has fun classes, enroll in a dance class with friends, go somewhere beautiful to walk. Get friends to do it with you so that you have company and moral support and someone to hold you accountable, or, buy a dog if you really need someone to remind you to go outside twice a day.
Know that if you are really craving something, like M&M's, just eat a few. Don't try to satisfy the urge by eating everything else in the house. You will never feel as satisfied and will probably overeat. If you are compulsive, have a trusted friend dole out two to you and stick to it!
Eat more dense foods like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, these foods will curb your cravings. These foods are very healthy for you, so you do not have to worry about gains. Do not eat them cooked, eat them raw.(cooking vegetables removes the density of it.)
Make sure to drink plenty of water! 8 glasses a day! Sometimes when you are dehydrated you compensate by eating when really your body just needs water.

Tips

Disregard anyone or any ad that says that there is a quick fix.
Don't think of it as a diet, think about it as a lifestyle change.

Warnings

There is no tip that works for everyone. Experiment with what works best for you and then work within that system.
Watch the portion size. Your potato, pasta and rice should be about the size of your computer mouse.
also for portion size, cereal should be the size of your dad's fist, meat a deck of cards and peanutbutter a golf ball

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