How to Diet: The Sensible Way to Lose Weight

The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to change your lifestyle and diet for good.You need to break your bad eating habits. Forever.

The first thing you need to do is to take a good look at what you are eating now. Many people do not realize how much they are really taking in. A bite here, a nibble there, it all adds up.

Track every little bite you take for a week. You need to see where your calories are coming from. How much protein, sugar and fat do you take in daily?

After a week, you will should have a pretty good idea of what your eating habits are. Where are you going wrong? Maybe you are not getting enough fibre. Maybe you take in too many carbs. You now have a good starting point and you know what you need to change.

When you are ready for the next step, it is time to set some goals for yourself

I would avoid setting weight related goals. Your weight naturally fluctuates for many reasons so don't let the numbers on the scale discourage you.

Make your goal to eat as healthfully as you can.

Find healthy foods you love and eat them often. Have foods filled with sugar and fat less often.

Here's what a healthy and balanced diet looks like:

• 3-5 cups of fruit and vegetables
• 6-8 grain servings
• 2-3 servings of meat or alternatives
• 2-3 servings of milk or alternatives
• 6-8 cups of water

If you eat all of this food in a day, do you think you will have much room left for junk food?

But what if I don't LIKE healthy food?

So you hate fruits and vegetables. You think whole grain crackers taste like cardboard. You NEED to eat a big greasy burger for dinner... or you won't feel full.

Don't worry- your tastes will change! Mine did. I used to eat sugar cubes and now I crave hummus and celery.

You just need to gradually switch unhealthy foods for healthier ones.

Some examples:

• Eat an extra serving of vegetables a day, When that becomes automatic, add another one.
• Drink water instead of juice or pop.
• Mix in a little brown rice with your white. Gradually, over time, add more brown and less white until you are eventually eating all brown.
• Do the same with whole and low fat milk.

You can lose weight through diet alone, but exercise will kick it up a notch. You will burn fat and raise your metabolism.

For weight loss, it is recommended that you do 60-90 minutes of low to moderate intensity exercise every day. If you are a beginner, start with ten minutes a day and work up from there.

Just remember you will be hungry when you are done. Have healthy snacks on hand, like bananas or yogurt, so you won't be tempted to raid the junk food drawer (if you still have one!). And stay hydrated. Drink water before, during and after your workout.

Get support

Sometimes when we want to change our lives, the people closest to us can be discouraging. Maybe they say you will never change, so why bother trying,

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We start off strong, but we lose interest and fizzle out.

There are weight loss support groups that can help. Imagine a room full of people who know exactly what you are going through when no one else seems to understand. They will cheer you on when you succeed and be a shoulder to lean on when you need help.

Weight Watchers offers a complete diet plan and weekly support meetings. The diet uses a points system. Each food is worth so many points depending on its calories, fat and fibre. There are no forbidden foods. You can eat whatever you like. You are allotted a certain amount of points a day. When you reach your maximum, you are done eating for the day.It is a costly but excellent program that many people swear by.

Tops also has weekly support meetings that are similar to Weight Watchers. You will learn how to change your unhealthy lifestyle. Tops is quite affordable, only $30.00 Canadian for the year.

Sparkpeople.com is a complete diet and fitness program. You can follow one of their diets, or track your own food. There are also exercise videos, recipes and online support groups you can join called Spark Teams. Best of all, it is absolutely free.

 After following your diet for a while, you may experience a weight loss plateau. You haven't changed what you are doing, you just simply have stopped making progress. Your body is used to what you are doing and you need to change things up.

• If you haven't started exercising, start now.
• If you have been, increase your intensity or duration.
• Try an entirely new exercise.
• Tweak your diet- if you generally eat 1800 calories a day, try eating 1600 one day and 2000 the next.

Plateaus can be frusterating, but do not start starving yourself! You will only start the viscious cycle of yo-yo dieting. You can't LIVE on a starvation diet. You will gain back what you lost, plus more. Your body will hang onto those pounds fiercely in fear of more starvation.

Follow a healthy diet, watch your serving sizes and get a little exercise, and you will get down to your ideal weight.

Notice I said IDEAL weight. Ignore what the scale says and do not compare yourself to anyone else. We are not all meant to be toothpicks. It is more important to be healthy. Eat foods that nourish you and give you energy.

This is the way to your healthiest self.