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Top 10 Diet Tips

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While diet tips come and go, a handful have been around for a millennium – and for good reason – they work. Having withstood the test of time and medical research, what follows are the current Top 10 Diet Tips:  

1. Watch Your Meal Portion Size: This is probably the oldest advice on weight loss and control known. Take more calories in than what you expend and you will gain weight. The good news is that effectively counting and reducing calories is a fairly simple procedure that does not involve crash or fad dieting.

1. Determine your personal calorie requirements. This number is based upon your height, current weight, age, gender, and physical routine. A web search with “daily calorie requirement calculator” will reveal many free and reliable calorie calculators. 

2. One pound of fat = 3,500 calories.

3. Plan your goals and plan around A and B

Example - your daily calorie needs are estimated at 2,500, and you plan to reduce that to 1,500 calories.  You will lose a pound every three and a half days (3,500 ÷ 1,000 = 3 ½) or two pounds per week. Once you’ve met your target weight – recalculate your new daily calorie needs (they will be different now) and don’t exceed that number to maintain.  

       Also, any diet plan must be sustainable. Allow yourself some breaks and rewards.

       Maybe decide to give calorie counting a rest on special occasions and reward yourself in some way for every weight loss milestone you reach.  BEWARE: extreme calorie counting can promote eating disorders in some people such as bulimia or anorexia – so keep it real.  

                     Four numbers to know when calorie counting:  

1. Your estimated daily calorie needs
2. Your daily calorie intake
3. Your daily calorie expenditure

4. 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of human fat
   

2. Exercise: You’ve heard this before because it also works. More good news is that along with burning calories, exercise has many bonuses - such as improved strength, flexibility, conditioning, cardiovascular and pulmonary health benefits, as well as  psychological benefits like curbing depression.  Though any amount of exercise is beneficial, try to exercise regularly (5 times weekly for at least 30 minutes).
   

3. Keep a Diary: Many significant studies indicate that people who maintain personal diaries on diet and exercise regimens are more successful in attaining and maintaining their goals. Also, there are many useful computer applications that can help in keeping track of your diet progress.
   

4. Lift Weights: Though as an exercise event, weight lifting does not actively burn calories as well as aerobic exercises, muscle tissue burns calories to maintain itself - even while you are at rest.  Hence, the more muscle you have – the more calories you burn. Some studies have indicated that women who incorporate a muscle-building plan into their diet regimen lost as much as 44% more weight over time than those who used dieting alone.  
   

5. Green Tea: Of the hundreds of diet supplements that have come and gone, green tea is arguably the oldest, safest, and most venerated.  Many recent studies have shown that taking green tea increases metabolism and fat oxidation – both great news for   dieters. One study indicated that daily intake of green tea increased the body’s daytime calorie burning by 35 – 43%. Start with a cup a day and increase to three cups a day over time.  People with thyroid disorders should consult a doctor before including green tea to their daily diet plans.

6. Lose Weight Slowly: Diets that induce whopping fast weight losses are most likely inducing dangerous water loss rather than fat loss.  Doctors recommend a goal of one to two pounds of weight loss weekly.  While this may not sound like much, it adds up over the course of a year, and a gradual weight loss plan is more sustainable – and sustainability should be figured into any diet plan. 
   

7. Eat More Fruit, Vegetables, and Whole Grains: If calorie counting is the route you are taking, know that fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods are high in fiber (fiber makes you feel fuller), vitamins, and minerals – all three are great assets to the dieter. 
   

8. Don’t Skip Breakfast and Eat Slowly: Simply put, if you skip breakfast you will end up over-compensating for it at the end of the day – precisely the time of the day when you are least likely to burn it off. Also, eat slowly as it takes your brain an average of 20 minutes to start registering fullness and telling your conscious mind that you feel full. As a result, the person that wolfs their food rapidly will end up eating more.
   

9. Restrict – Rather Than Eliminate Fats – This does not imply that one should go on a fat-free diet.  Many fat-free foods are very high in calories. The body also requires good fats.  Saturated fats are the ‘bad’ fats found in foods like beef, pork, and butter – and when consumed excessively over a period of time - can lead to cardiovascular troubles and promote weight gain.  The ‘good’ fats are the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats found in the likes of olive oil, fish, nuts, and whole grain foods – and promote healthy cardiovascular function and lower cholesterol.  The world of food would be dull without fats and oils in the diet – just be aware of what is what in terms of good and bad fats and know that both are high in calories.
   

10. The Quickest Way to Undo – is to Overdo: This time-tested Puritan axiom holds particular importance to modern-day dieters.  Just as over-doing it on the calorie intake results in weight gain – so does overdoing it with an extreme crash or fad diet lead to an ultimately unsuccessful diet – or worse – an unhealthy diet.  Develop your own diet philosophy – one that you can live in harmony with and sustain for life. Be easy on yourself – after all it’s you.