totally me*

. . . the*Days

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Step 1. Say Goodbye to Dieting
Forget all about dieting! In fact, you should remove the words diet and dieting from your mind, altogether. Why? Because they are getting in the way. They are preventing you from tackling your weight problem. Every time you hear these words you switch off and reach for the cookies. Result? Your weight problem gets worse.

Step 2. Say Hello to Healthy Eating
Healthy eating is a much nicer phrase than dieting. Start using it today.

Step 3. Put Away Your Scales
Weighing scales don't make you lose weight. They just terrorize you. Put them away now! (Actually, don't put them away until you finish reading this page, because you'll need them to complete Step 5.)

Step 4. Stop Worrying About Your Weight
Here's why:
Worrying about your weight makes you fatterWhy? Because worry makes you miserable.Result? You eat cookies and get fatter. Worrying about your weight problem makes you less able to solve itWhy? Because worry makes you feel more of a failure. Result? You are beaten before you start. Worrying is a waste of your valuable timeDo something you enjoy, instead.

Step 5. Take Your Clothes Off and Look in the Mirror
Ideally, do it tomorrow morning, before breakfast.At the same time, please do the following:
Weigh yourself
Measure your bust, waist, hips and thighs.

Step 6. Start Looking Ahead
Don't worry about how you look next week, or next month.Take a longer term view - say, 6 months.
Decide what weight you would like to be in 6 months.
Decide on a good incentive to help motivate yourself.

Step 7. For the Next 7 Days Keep a Food Diary
(a) Write down every single thing you eat. (b) Write down when you ate it.
Don't waste time cheating.The purpose of this diary is to enable you to see what you actually eat, as opposed to what you think you eat! Also, it will help you to see when you eat.
SUMMARYSo far, you have done a number of important things:
You have stopped thinking about dieting and worrying about your weight.
You have decided how much weight you want to lose and why.
You have taken a good honest look at yourself and your eating habits.

Step 8. Create a Healthy Eating Plan for Yourself
Keep it simple, as follows:
Eat regular amounts of these foodsFruit, vegetables (fresh/frozen/canned), whole wheat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, oats, wholegrain cereal.Guide: Eat a minimum of 5 helpings of fruit & vegetables, per day.Guide: Eat a minimum of 5 helpings of whole wheat or wholegrain foods, per day.
Eat regular amounts of these foodsSkimmed milk, fat-free yogurt, lower-fat cheese.Guide: Eat a minimum of 3 helpings of lower-fat dairy foods (milk, yogurt) per day.Guide: Limit yourself to a maximum of 1 matchbox size piece of cheese, per day.
Eat smaller amounts of these protein foodsEggs, fish, red meat, turkey and chicken.Guide: Eat no more than 4 eggs a week.Guide: Red meat, limit yourself to 1 x 3oz portion a day (size of deck of cards).Guide: Re Fish, turkey or chicken, you can eat 50% more - but no fat!
Eat TINY amounts of these foodsOil, butter, soft margarine/spread, mayonnaise, cream, refined sugar.
DrinksWater, fruit juices, tea or coffee (but easy on Espressos!)
Enjoy the occasionalPastry, cookie, candy bar/chocolate, bag of popcorn/potato chips/crispsGuide: 'Occasional' means (say) once a week.

Step 9. Fill Your Refrigerator With Healthy Food
We eat whatever sits in our refrigerator. So empty out the junk food and fill up on foods from
Step 8.

Step 10. Learn How to Cheat
Do you hate fruit and vegetables? If so, that's tough. You MUST make friends with fruit and vegetables. Eat at least 5 helpings per day, although more is better. There are no substitutions. However, you can cheat. Here's how:
Make home made soup. Ideally, add spices, a little lean meat and lots of vegetables.You won't taste the vegetables.
Make fresh orange juiceMany people won't eat 3 whole oranges every day. But they will drink the juice!
Make blended fruit drinks (smoothies)Guide: Use 1 cup of fresh fruit + 1 cup fruit juice. For extra creaminess add a little fat-free fruit yogurt.

Step 11. Trim That Fat
Get into the habit of trimming all the fat off meat. All means all. This alone will dave you thousands of calories AND help you to live longer.

Step 12. Learn How to Snack Healthily
Fruit, cereal and fat-free yogurt are excellent choices, so are thick sandwiches (lots of thick crusty bread, small amount of margarine/spread, lots of lower fat filling.)

Step 13. Be Choosy Where You Dine Out
Frequent dining out (main meal) is one of the biggest reasons why America is so fat. So be choosy!
Don't enter a fast food restaurant unless it's a SPECIAL treat.
Never dine out on the spur of the moment.
Limit yourself to one dining out experience, per fortnight.

Step 14. Don't Go Hungry
Don't forget about food and allow yourself to go hungry. For any healthy eater, hunger is a crime. In fact, going hungry is the dumbest thing you can do. Never go hungry!

Step 15. Be More Active
Ideally, set aside 20 minutes a day to exercise (or 2 x 10 minutes) and gradually build up to 30 minutes a day. Yes, you may hate it to begin with but, believe me, exercise grows on you!

Step 16. Follow This Diet Plan for 3 Months
By then you should have lost an easy 15-30 pounds.
The best thing is: Your eating habits will have improved tremendously. Which means you stand an excellent chance of keeping off the weight and getting your weight problem under control for good!

:: posted by ToMatO | 1:08 PM |

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