What can you do to get started with weight loss?
The first thing is to make sure to eat sensibly.
Fad diets are out.
They are unhealthy and you can't build a life around eating almost no food or eating only certain restricted items.
So eat a variety of healthy foods several times per day.
Be sure to include a carbohydrate at each meal.
Having fruit,
Grains,
Bread or pasta will help avoid the carbohydrate deprivation that often leads to binging.
Handle your craving for sweets by putting something sour in your mouth.
A wedge of lemon or lime usually does the trick.
Suck on it for a few minutes.
The sourness will affect your taste buds and may eliminate the craving.
Another alternative is to have a sip of juice or a small piece of fruit.
It doesn't take much of anything sweet to help the craving disappear.
Even the tiniest quantity will provide enough sugar to get you through the crisis.
When you find yourself starting to eat a food you tend to binge on,
Slow down.
Take your time.
Notice each bite.
How does it taste?
Be there for the experience.
Eat it sitting down and be conscious of the fact that you are choosing to eat that particular food at that particular time.
This will help you eat less and feel more in control.
Freeze low calorie orange or grape juice in ice cube trays to have when you feel desperate.
This works well for many people.
When you feel like eating,
Suck on an ice cube.
This gives you something to chew which is an important aspect of satisfaction and you need the water.
When you want to eat and it's not time for a meal or snack,
Set a timer for 15 minutes and keep busy.
When it goes off,
Ask yourself whether you are really hungry.
If you are and you choose to eat,
Be sure it's something healthy,
Enjoyable and low in calories.
Exercise is great for getting and staying motivated.
It increases your metabolic rate and decreases your appetite while shaping your body.
You get three benefits from one activity.
Munch on some frozen grapes.
Seedless green grapes stored in the freezer and ready to pop into your mouth are satisfying and they are only three calories per grape.
Polish your fingernails when you have the urge to eat.
Put on two coats and let them dry.
By the time they are dry,
The desire to eat will have probably disappeared and you will have beautiful nails.
Get all the inappropriate foods out of the house.
There is no reason to have to fight temptation.
If these foods must be in the house for your family,
Put them out of sight.
Store leftovers in individual portions in full or opaque containers and keep them at the back of the refrigerator.
Work just enough for one serving per person and never serve family style with the serving dishes on the table.
Work on eating slowly and appreciate each bite and enter the kitchen only when necessary.
Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry.
Always go after a satisfying meal.
Go only once a week and be sure to make a list and stick to it.
Only walk down the aisles that have foods on your list.
Chew gum while you cook.
This way you are conscious of when you taste food while cooking.
Eat in one place,
Sitting down at the table,
Never in the living room,
Den or bedroom.
It causes you to associate food with too many environments.
Keep your hands occupied so you won't be tempted to eat.
Keep your goal in mind by posting favorite slim pictures of yourself or someone else in strategic places around the house.
The refrigerator is a good place for this sort of thing.
When you are faced with temptation,
Visualize yourself 10 pounds fatter and ask yourself if the food is worth it and if eating at this time will help you stay in line with the image you want of yourself.
Act like a thin person.
Walk energetically with your middle pulled in and your shoulders back.
Tuck in your blouse.
Wear a belt.
Reward yourself for appropriate eating.
Do something special for yourself every time you succeed,
Even a little.
When you get angry or feel sorry for yourself,
Let it all out.
Go to the bedroom,
Close the door and yell or punch the pillow.
Keep busy during your days off.
Eliminate the word failure from your vocabulary.
You are not a failure because you are overweight.
