Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages

It is not uncommon for some people to confuse thirst with hunger. As a result you can end up eating additional calories when an ice-cold glass of water is the only thing you need. If you don’t like simple water, you can add some citrus or a bit of juice, or brew infused teas like mango or peach, which contain lots of flavor but no calories.

Consider what you can add to your diet, not what you should get rid of.

You should start by paying attention to getting the recommended 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Although it may sound like a lot it is well worth it, because at the same time you are fulfilling your fiber goals and becoming more satisfied with the amount of food. You are also less threatened by overeating as fruits and vegetables displace fat in the diet. Of course the health benefits of fruits and vegetables should also be taken into account. More than 200 studies have proved the disease-preventing feature of phytochemicals present in produce. You might also want to incorporate vegetables into meals instead of simply serving them as sides on a plate. Personally, I like to make stir-fries, frittatas, risotto, pilafs, soups, or layer on sandwiches from seasonal vegetables. It is very simple to buy a variety of vegetables and put them into dishes.

Think if you are really hungry.

Every time you feel like eating, search for physical symptoms of hunger. Hunger is simply the way your body is informing you about a need to refuel the organism, so when a craving does not arise from hunger, eating will never be able to satisfy it. After a finished meal, you should feel better not stuffed, bloated, or tired. Your stomach is no bigger that the size of your fist, so it doesn’t takes much food to fill it comfortably. If you are careful to make your portions reasonable this should help you to get more in touch with your feelings of hunger and fullness.

Be choosy about nighttime snacks.

Unreasonable eating happens most often after dinner, when you can finally sit down and relax. Sitting down with a bag of chips or cookies in front of the television is an example of eating amnesia, where you unconsciously eat without being hungry, but out of habit. My advice is to simply close down the kitchen after a certain hour. Another solution is to allow yourself a low-calorie snack, like a 100-calorie pack of cookies or a half-cup scoop of low-fat ice cream. Once you find that you are normally satisfied with the low-cal snack, try a cup of zero-calorie tea.

1. Examine your fitness level
   It is always sensible to seek your doctor’s advice before you decide to start any type of exercise program. If nothing is wrong you will at least have your pulse and blood pressure examined and you will acquire your doctor’s consent for the sort of program you have in mind.
2. Create an exercise plan
   Do not simply jump out of bed in the morning and jog your butt off. Rather than that sit down and try to create a realistic plan. You can use a diary to note the details. It is important to adopt a gradual approach, for example two sessions in week 1, three sessions in week 2 and so on. Finally, plan to evaluate your progress after let’s say one month.
3. Think of an exercise buddy
   Exercising all by yourself requires great self-discipline. However, you can make it easier for yourself by if you find a friend or neighbor who will exercise with you. Alternatively, or additionally if you like, join an exercise class that is suitable for you. Remember, do not allow yourself to be involved in something that is too strenuous.

First of all, do not diet on the weekends. This is perhaps an unconventional bit of advice. However, I was able to lose 50 pounds without dieting on the weekends. I discovered that I feel tired, depressed, and unmotivated if I wanted to follow my diet into the weekend. I had the impression that Friday and Saturday (my weekend) should be a time to celebrate 5 days of dieting. At the beginning, you may not find this necessary, usually in the first several weeks of a diet. Nevertheless, as many weeks passed, the weekends became a time for me to celebrate my weekly successes and I used them to get myself mentally ready for another five days of dieting. I considered it as a sort of a mental recharge.

Another important thing is to not sacrifice your life for the sake of diet. In some cases you may find yourself unable to eat healthy. Sometimes this will happen because of lunches with your team at work, birthdays, or special occasions, there will be some events that you simply can’t (or don’t want to) eat healthy. A diet will make you feel overwhelmed if you will be forced to sacrifice special events in your life. The way I dealt with this was to exchange a day that I was not going to diet on the weekend. To put it simply, if I didn’t diet on Tuesday, for instance, I would diet on Saturday, instead.

First of all, remember to make the small changes. This is a very popular tip, but I seem to have a twist to it. Instead of giving up what most diets claim you should give up (soda, coffee, beer, caffeine, etc.) just try to make healthier decisions. I did not want to resign from anything, so I decided to introduce some changes instead. The first thing I did was switching to diet soda. Don’t worry about the flavor, you’ll get used to it fast. Before starting my diet, I swore I would never drink diet soda. Now thanks to my friend, diet is the only soda I drink. The second change I made was about drinking black coffee. Get rid off the sugar and creme, and you will get the caffeine without the unnecessary calories. The last major change I made was to drink “healthy” beer. Although I’m a Miller Lite drinker, a temporary switch to Beck’s Premier Light (60 calories per serving) allowed me to still enjoy a healthy social life while keeping my diet.
The small changes in your diet should be followed by the small changes in your life. Try parking further away, walk to the end of the train platform and get in the last car, and promise not to take an elevator for a whole week. I also found it beneficial to wear a pedometer and try to compete against myself for how long a distance I could walk in a single day. The furthest I walked in a day was 6.5 miles. I voluntarily walked to work two times a week.

Sometimes it is very difficult to find the time to get to the gym. However, a half an hour workout is only 2% of your day (assuming 24 hour days). In my case, the most encouraging idea was comparing my workouts to sitcoms. As a huge Everybody Loves Raymond fan, every time I would sit down to watch a TV series, I would remind myself that in the half an hour that I was spending doing nothing, I could complete my daily workout.
Another important thing is that once you’ve lost the weight, you need to keep it off. This is where the red flag comes in. You should pick a weight and promise to never get heavier than it again. It is typical for your body to gain or lose in weight from five to ten pounds. I suggest choosing a weight that is ten pounds heavier than what you “normally” weigh and never weigh more than it again.  Establishing a red flag weight enabled me to keep off every pound for over one year.

First of all, enjoy your treats away from home. When you need a treat I suggest going for a walk to your local ice cream parlor or planning a family outing. By transforming your craving into an adventure, you do not have to be anxious about the temptation of having treats in the house, and it is a fun and pleasurable way to make it work when you are attempting to lose weight. And what should you do in times when you just can’t get out? I advise you to stock your kitchen with some fresh fruit, which I believe can be every bit as delicious as any other kind of dessert.
It is also a good idea to eat several mini-meals during the day. Eating less calories than you normally burn allows you to lose weight. However, when you are hungry all the time, eating fewer calories is often very challenging. Scientific research show that people who eat 4-5 meals or snacks a day are able to control their appetite and weight more efficiently. I recommend dividing your daily calories into smaller meals or snacks and enjoying as many of them as you can early in the day. Remember that dinner should be the last time you eat.

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