Happy Tips

Weight Loss Tips

How to Eat

• Eat only at the table. Don't munch on the couch or at the kitchen counter.
  
• Don't starve yourself! Skipping meals only tricks your body into thinking its survival is threatened, and it will hold onto its fat stores for dear life.
  
• Eat slowly and chew each bite completely to decrease your appetite.
  
• Eat three small meals and two snacks daily instead of two or three huge meals.
  
• Don't eat anything for the last three or four hours of your day. Once you've had dinner, be done for the night.
  
• Don't eat anything unnecessary. You don't need "all the fixings".
  
• Learn to control yourself at social affairs. Don't use them as an excuse to pig out. Be strong.
  
• Serve yourself normal portions of food. Three ounces of meat or a half cup of rice are plenty in one meal.
  
• Don't nibble on things throughout the day. Some titbits contain hundredso? calories.
  
• Use a smaller plate than usual for dinner. You'll feel like you ate more than you actually did.
  
• Don't work while eating. Separate all of your activities from your meals, so you can concentrate on what and how much you're eating.
  
• Beware of the wall you may hit at 3:00 p.m. Many people feel the urge for a caffeine or sugar lift at this time. Have some fruit or crackers on hand to combat this.
  
• Don't eat a single bite while preparing meals. Chew gum, if it helps.
  
• Never get seconds. Make a habit of stopping after one plate of food.
  
• Put leftovers away immediately to avoid further grazing.
  
• Read labels carefully. Some low fat items are very high in calories.
  
• To slow yourself down, eat with the opposite hand you usually eat with.

What to Eat

• Limit yourself to no more than two servings of red meat per week.
  
• Make sure that no more than a quarter of your calories comes from fat.
  
• Cook your own meals at home and avoid eating at restaurants as much as possible.
  
• Eat six to eleven servings of complex carbohydrates (fruits and whole grain breads, pasta and cereals), but avoid white flour when possible.
  
• Don't go crazy on the protein. Too much doesn't add muscle, contrary to popular belief. It just turns to fat.
  
• Boycott mayonnaise and butter (or margarine). Get them out of your refrigerator. Learn to live without them.
  
• Don't be afraid to try low or reduced fat versions of your favorite foods. You may actually like them better when you don't feel guilty eating them.
  
• Stay away from energy bars, which imply that they will transform you into a fit person. Most of them are loaded with calories.
  
• Make your own smoothies. Those made commercially usually contain fattening syrups, but your home-made smoothies (without the gunk) are very healthy.
  
• Use all the garlic, oregano, etc. that you want. Eating healthy doesn't mean you can't pack your food with flavor.
  
• Pack a sandwich made with whole-grain bread for lunch. Breads with high fibre make you feel fuller than white bread.
  
• Get at least 25 grams of fibre every day. Not only does it ward off disease, but it actually blocks the absorption of calories.
  
• Don't be fooled by "fat free" labels. Many of these foods contain a lot of sugar, which eventually turns into fat anyway.
  
• Don't fall into the "it's okay to eat chicken" trap. The Crispy Chicken and Filet o' Fish sandwiches at McDonalds each contain more than twice the fat of a McDonald's hamburger. If you need whipped cream, whip up chilled evaporated skim milk - your creation will contain only half a gram of fat per cup.
  
• Use extra water in hot cereals to reduce the amount of milk and butter you use.
  
• Use seasoned rice vinegar on salads and veggies. It tastes similar to oil and vinegar, but is is fat-free and as?very few calories.
  
• Cook rice in a mixture of half water, half fruit juice to give it subtle flavor without butter and salt.
  
• Use freshly ground nutmeg or another seasoning instead of salt.
  
• Substitute pureed tofu for two thirds of the butter in cake and cookie recipes. This will cut out 43 grams of saturated fat.

How to Stop Food Cravings

• Craving chocolate? Eat a banana. It sometimes satisfies the yearning for chocolate and is much less fattening.
  
• Chew sugarless gum. It speeds up the igestive system, burning more calories, and sometimes kills a craving.
  
• Exercise! Your appetite will temporarily subside and you'll feel better about taking such a proactive approach.
  
• Still craving chocolate? Try a magnesium supplement. Many women are deficient in this mineral, which is found in chocolate.
  
• Craving fatty foods? Eat fish, or take a fish oil or flaxseed oil supplement. You may be low in essential fatty acids.
  
• Grab something to drink. Sometimes, cravings for food are really thirst in disguise.
  
• Sweet tooth? Protein, fat and fiber keep blood sugar levels more even and help keep such cravings under control.
  
• Watch your caffeine intake. Caffeine seems to make sugar cravings worse.
  
• If your will power weakens at night, try leaving the lights on until the minute you go to bed. Dimmed lights tend to lower inhibitions.
  
• Turn off the lights in your kitchen and avoid hanging out there.

Track Your Weight Loss Progress

• Reward yourself regularly, (don't use food as a reward) buy a new outfit, get a new hair sty?e, even if it's just a grin of approval in the mirror.
  
• Don't weigh yourself every day. Instead, get on the weight scales once a week to avoid discouragement.
  
• Instead of obsessing over your weight, keep track of your waist measurement, body fat percentage or clothing size.
  
• Have 2 pieces of clothing to help you track your progress. ! that's way too tight and one that fits perfectly at the start of your diet. Try them on every 4 weeks.
  
• Create a small graph like the one below with one line that shows your weekly target progress and the other that shows your actual progress. Make your target progress very realistic, say 1lb a week so that you can easily exceed it and keep highly motivated.
  
  

How to Eat Out and Stick to your Diet

One of the most common problems people have with losing weight is pitfalls like eating out. Here are a few ways you can control how much you eat:

• As soon as your food is served, ask for a box and put half of your meal into it, to take home. Restaurant portions are usually twice the size they should be anyway.
  
• Don't ruin a nice, low fat salad with creamy dressing. Go for the vinaigrette or oil and vinegar, and use them sparingly.
  
• Don't let yourself down by getting (or sharing) a dessert. Order some fruit or Jell-O intead, if you must have something sweet.
  
• Arrive with a healthy meal in mind and ask for it without opening your menu. This will spare you the pain of looking at an array of temptation.
  
• After each bite, put your fork down, and don't pick it up again until you've completely swallowed the last bite.
  
• Drink a glass of skim milk before you leave your house.
  
• Look for restaurants that serve "contemporary", "spa" or "California" cuisine.
  
• When ordering seafood, choose the leanest types, such as haddock, sole, trout, scallops, shrimp and crab.
  

How to Speed Up Your Metabolism

• Don't skip breakfast. You will lose weight more quickly if you have a bite to eat in the morning.
• Drink hot water with lemon
  
• Eat hot meals rather than cold. Your metabolism speeds up very slightly when you
  eat and again if the food is hot.
  
• Do at least thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise, five days a week. This
  will condition you to burn fat more efficiently.?
  
• Don't deprive your body of carbohydrates, no matter what they say.
  
• You need carbs for energy and will feel terrible without them.
  
• Wear a pedometer and see that you take 1,000 steps every day.
  
• If you have a sit-down job, get up every hour and walk around for five minutes or so.
  
• Dedicate two hours a week to weight training, concentrating on the larger muscles. Every other day is optimal.

Funny Diet Tips

Don't take our humorous diet tips too seriously, they're just for fun!

Success is when you can look beyond food...and look down and see your feet.

• To make your hips and thighs look slim on the beach,dig ?wo tunnels under your thighs and mke a mall dent in the sand for your bottom. Place your towel over the top and sit in the dug out area. Hey presto, no bulging thighs and hips.
  
• Always stand 3/4 on for photographs ..... really slimming
  
• Stand next to a person fatter than you whenever possible and never ever befriend a real skinny!!!
  
• Always eat in private, if people never see you eat, they'll believe you when you say you have a thyroid problem
  
• If you have a problem with eating too much in the evenings, go to bed at 7.30 pm every night and ask your partner to hand cuff you to the bed, you never know, you may solve two problems in one, by spicing up your sex life t the same time ;)
  
• If you do know someone who's naturally skinny, have them come and live with you for two weeks and eat exactly what they eat at exactly the same times. You are guaranteed to lose weight!
  
• Con your friends into thinking how good you're looking lately ..... study and memorize your most flattering pose in a mirror and ensure when anyone sees you, you strike the pose..... note, this only works if you then don't move again until they've left the room.
  
• Cross your legs at your ankles. Your thighs and calves will look slimmer.
  
• Get a tan. A tan helps you look thinner
  
• Whenever a friend calls round, tell them you're on your way to the gym, word will get round about how fit and healthy you are.... and you may feel it necessary to prove it once in a while
  
• 100 laughs a day is equal to 10 minutes of exercise! Now can it get any easier than that?