My diet tips to help get to healthy.

[cakemakermom]

I keep seeing these "diet tips" everywhere that are too good to be true, like the only drink veggies, or cut out everything but grapefruit. As much as those might help for a week or so, long sustaining weight loss or healthy habits will not work if that's what you follow.

I figure since I've managed to keep on losing weight for 7 months now, I have a couple of things that I've learned that I can pass onto you.

Although I'm not one to drink pop nor have I been for years, my #1 healthy habit tip is replace 1 can of pop with one glass of water. If you are one that drinks several a day, eventually you should be down to one a day or better yet one a week. It's not about cutting out the things you like completely, it about savoring the things you enjoy. If you really need flavor in your water, there are plenty of ways to add flavors, soak some fruits in water overnight, citrus makes the best flavors. Mint and cucumber have great flavors. Just look up water infusion and you'd find plenty of recipes.

Healthy habit tip #2, do not keep trigger foods in the house. Say you are like me who will eat an entire box of cookies. Leave them on the shelf at the store. Only have them around for parties and let others take them first. After the party, send food home with others, that cake or the junk food doesn't need to stay home where you're just going to finish off the bag/box/cake that day.

Healthy habit #3, read labels. Know what a serving size actually is. A serving size of a potato will fill you better than a serving size of chips. Measure with a measuring cup so you know what that cup of grapes looks like. It's amazing how our eyes trick us into believing what a serving size is if we haven't actually measured it.

Healthy habit #4, replace candy with fruit. That strawberry candy will not taste as good as an actual strawberry and you'll get fuller with the fruit than the candy.

Healthy habit #5, add veggies into your day. You can creep them in if you really don't think you like them. Add them to soups, sandwiches and hot dishes. Don't forget to try new ones and you might find you like them.

Healthy habit #6, move. It doesn't take much movement to build up to more movement. Start by taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Park farther back in the parking lot. Take a casual walk around the park. You don't have to be doing those crazy exercises that you find to be work. Do something you enjoy. It's as simple as finding movement you enjoy. Find a dance class, move with a dance game, play in the backyard with the kids. There are plenty of ways to get extra movement in the day. If you have time to be here reading this or watching tv, you have time to be moving.

Healthy habit #7, eat in more often than you eat out. You can control what you put in your meals better at home than while you're out. You can measure better at home and at the restaurant is likely to give you a 2-person portion on your plate. Brown bag your lunches for work. It's cheaper than eating out and healthier. There are plenty of ways to brown bag it. You'll be saving money and calories if you replace just one eat out meal a week. Even if you do eat out, order water instead of pop, do the nutrition homework before you go out, most places have the nutrition facts on their website. Craving fries? Order the small or split an order with someone else. Better yet, order the steamed veggies instead of the fries. A baked potato can stop that fries craving.

Now I'm not saying you can't ever have some of your favorite junk foods, everything should be done in moderation. Enjoy that chocolate or that flavored cup of coffee, but be sure it's not all the time or it's not a treat anymore and you're not going to savor the taste anymore. My biggest thrill is chocolate. I don't do cheap chocolate, I only get the good stuff and buy a small box of them so I can enjoy the serving size. I also do chocolate in granola bars so I'm going to be adding to my nutrition for the day. I don't have chocolate daily, just every once in a while. If you never allow yourself the junk food, you'll crave it more and tend to overindulge in it when you do give in. If you allow yourself that nutritionally void stuff occasionally, you're more likely to have just the serving size of it and slow down to savor the taste.

I do real foods like sugar and honey. I don't believe in "diet" foods, they are adding something to make those foods lower in calories, usually salt or chemicals. Low fat will not keep you as satisfied as the full fat ones. I prefer my foods to be as close to nature as possible and if it's been through a chemical factory, then it's not really food anymore. I know some people will argue with me about using sugar, but I honestly don't have as much sugar in my day as you'd think. I don't add any to my tea anymore and my body is satisfied when I use the real stuff instead of those artificial sweeteners.

Small changes make big differences! Everything in moderation!

[jlschlangen]

Wow that is good info Cake. I should remember this info. Thanks for posting this.

[alipski]

Great tips! Thanks for sharing! I've been juicing to detox a bit. I've been having a pretty processed diet for a while and am not a fan of veggies. I just two meals a day and will be done soon. It's given me the chance to work in a TON of new veggies I never would have eaten. Realzing that they weren't so bad juiced, makes me excited that I tried them. I don't plan on juicing forever, but it gives you a chance to clean out your system. I recommend watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It's a great documentary that explains it better than I ever could. It's not a way of life and not meant to be but it sure has helped me feel cleaner and introduced me to flavors and veggies I was too scared to try before! lol. I think everything in moderation and eat raw vs processed as much as you can will help everyone.
I am so proud of the work you've done! It isn't easy. You're rocking it, girl!!!

[cakemakermom]

Everything closer to the source is best. Veggies are the least caloric item you can eat. Fruits help the sweet tooth and actually fill you up. 3 ounces is a proper meat size.

I have also recommended one degree of separation, if you see it cooked, then it's only one degree. Tea steeped is one degree. Anything that has been cooked is one degree. But those are still food.

I've seen the documentary, it was interesting. There are plenty of documentaries on Netflix about how food is processed. I enjoyed "King Corn" about a couple of college kids who wanted to see how corn is made and where it goes. Corn (and soy) are in 95% of our "food". There are plenty of other documentaries that are worth the watch.

[alipski]

I saw that one, too. Interesting isn't it? It's so hard to watch how our foods are so processed and the conditions of some of the factories...Very interesting.

[ReneeW]

Great tips!!! I appreciate hearing them from someone who's had success with weight loss and had to live through the downsides/challenges as well.

[cakemakermom]

Thanks, there have definitely been challenges this year. We got bed bugs and that threw off anything we were doing, but I still managed to lose weight even though I couldn't use my kitchen like I'd like.

Fortunately those bugs are gone and I can start working toward normal again.

[maddox]

These are the excellent diet tips to get better health.
I also got help from these diet tips to make my diet plan more effective.
I appreciate all of these diet tips.

[Susan824]

I missed seeing this advice when it was originally posted, but I'm sure glad it resurfaced. Great tips, Cake. Thanks for sharing your best practices. Nicely written!!!

[healerarina]

Oh, most tea has 0 calories if you don't add sugar or sweetener. Plain coffee has only a couple calories, again if you don't add cream or sugar. They are great alternatives to soda, tea more so because there are many caffeine free varieties and it has antioxidants. DH and I get loose leaf from teavanna, their Sakura Allure tastes like cherry sprite without extra sugar, and it has the benefits of green tea with only 5% the caffeine content of coffee.

[ReneeW]

My tip is that as far as moving goes -- find a friend to be your health partner. It's made a HUGE difference in my life. My BFF and I go to a class at the gym twice a week in the mornings, and I would RARELY go if not for her and knowing that she's counting on me to be there. I have to get up at 5:15 am to go so there's no WAY on these cold mornings I'd get my sorry butt out the door otherwise. So that's my tip!!!

Plus we also try to meet one other morning so we can do cardio and gab and catch up since we can't talk during class. It's another motivator. When the weather is nice we run and talk.