Are you tired of diet tips handed out by someone with apparently unlimited income and time? For some of us, it may just not be practical to spend half of our Sunday preparing carefully portioned meals for the rest of the week, or financially feasible to buy all our meals prepackaged in just the right portions. And there are those of us who cringe at the thought of weighing food to achieve 'optimal portion sizes'. Here are ten real life diet tips for the rest of us.
1. Eating out? Restaurant portions tend to be enormous, and if it's on the plate, we tend to eat it. If it's possible, order from the kid’s menu, where portions are more reasonably sized.
2. Keep healthy snacks around and easily accessible. A bowl of fruit on the kitchen table, a container of celery or carrot sticks in the refrigerator, or a couple of pop-open cans of fruit salad in your desk at work will help you grab for something healthy when those first hunger pains begin. In other words, you'll be more likely to grab something low-calorie and good for you if it's easy to eat.
3. Substitute frozen vegetables for canned. Canned veggies tend to be high in sodium, which you don't need, and low in real
nutrition, which you do. Buy economy size bags with zip closures to make it easy to pour out a single serving for a meal.
4. Buy a vegetable steamer. Steaming is one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables. The food retains nearly all of its natural nutrients instead of leaching it out into the cooking water. Even better, it makes your veggies taste great - which means you'll be more likely to eat them instead of filling up on fatty foods that pack on weight.
5. Never eat standing up. One of the easiest ways to sabotage your diet is to 'eat without thinking'. Treat eating with the respect that it deserves. Fix yourself a plate. Sit down and eat properly. You'll be less likely to just pop food into your mouth without paying attention.
6. Spread your meals out. When you eat three meals a day, your body tends to store whatever it doesn't need right that moment. By adopting a 'grazing' habit, you'll keep your metabolism working throughout the day. Have a small breakfast, a piece of fruit with crackers or toast at mid-morning, a light lunch and an 'after school snack' mid-afternoon. Just remember that you're breaking up the same amount of food into smaller meals, not ADDING more food into your daily diet.
7. Grab a fruit juice or flavored water instead of soda. Soda is nothing but empty calories. No nutrients, lots of sugar. Instead, grab a bottle of 100% fruit juice, or water flavored with a spritz of fruit.
8. Drink water. Even the
FDA recommends at least 8 full 8 ounce glasses of water a day to keep your body working right. When you're
dieting, you should drink even more. It's not just that full feeling - water helps your body digest foods properly and cleans out your system.
9. Can't afford a gym membership? Make a pact with friends to exercise together. Make a date at least three times a week to play volleyball, take a walk or spend half an hour doing something active.
10. Skip the potato chips. Fatty snacks fried in hydrogenated oil like potato chips contribute fat and calories and not much else. Instead, grab a handful of
dried fruit or a cup of yogurt for the same amount of calories and a lot more nutritional benefits.
Post contributed from http://health-and-fitness-buzz.blogspot.com
Comments (10)
great tips
#1 was funny to me, as I've noticed that restaurant portions are becoming smaller and smaller. I guess it depends on the restaurant itself. =/
Dried fruit has a lot of added sugar, and its easier to overeat it. Same thing with fruit juice, watch out for sugary cocktails that are hardly fruit at all.
fantastic tips
Fruit juice has been known to be worse than soda.
the wording of tip number 3 bothers me but other than that, great tips!
you have #3 mixed up
#7 - fruit juice can actually be just as bad as soda, lot's of sugar
#8 - you don't necessarily have to drink 8 glasses of water. i think it was suggested 4.
#10 - substituting with dried fruit is a big no no. too many people are caught up with it provides more nutrients, but you have to EAT more to feel full. one mini box of raisins contains around 30, would you feel more full eating 30 small raisins or 30 plump grapes? they're also high in sugar.
I don't understand how #3 is worded wrong... You're substituting the frozen in place of canned because of the sodium content. Makes sense to me. I don't agree with #7 though because fruit juice is very high in sugar and has been linked with an increased risk of diabetes. Eat fresh fruit instead and drink water or other calorie-free beverages. You have to be careful with dried fruit too. It often contains lots of added sugar and tends too be much higher in calories, so it should still be considered a "treat" rather than a healthy whole fruit substitute. I agree that most people can benefit from consuming more water, but it's different for everyone. Not all people need 64 ounces a day to remain hydrated. We also get water from other things we consume, like soups, fresh fruits and veggies.
@direwolf005@xanga - As the title of #3 states, "Substitute frozen vegetables for canned", they're saying to have canned vegetables instead of frozen vegetables, but in their explanation, they totally contradicting themselves, by saying NOT to eat canned vegetables, " Canned veggies tend to be high in sodium, which you don't need, and low in real nutrition, which you do." That's what people were talking about, and I was confused myself hahaha! XD
1. I see portion sizes are getting smaller... if anything I eat more at HOME when I cook for myself then when I go out to eat!
2. I guess this is a good idea, but people don't quite understand what a healthy snack is! Vegetables is a perfect idea that no one can really go over board on... but people are stocking up on 100 calorie packs which is NOT healthy at all.3. Love me some frozen veggies!!! MM MM Good!
4. You don't have to buy a veggie steam to steam veggies!5. Eh, each to their own on this one, some people can eat correct portion sizes standing up... and more sitting down!
6. I eat three meals a day and am functioning just fine... when people divide their meals into more than that, they tend to eat large amounts of calories at each of these meals (usually SIX) because they are not sure what a snack looks like!
7. Fruit Juice, are you SERIOUS! That's all sugar!! 8. Yes drinking water is good! But there is no RDA of water because everyone is a different size! The 8 full 8 oz glasses is a DATED recommendation.
9. Good One!10. And yes, it's ALWAYS a good idea to skip the potato chips... but seriously recommending dried fruit is not a good idea either because in a tiny portion there is tons of sugar and the packaged food is probably loaded with extras... why not just have some FRESH or FROZEN fruit!