Three Diet Tips That Actually Work

Well, I had a couple of frustrating weeks where it seemed no matter what I did my body refused to lose weight. I am happy to report that I am down 7 lbs since I started eating healthy again. That means my total weight loss is 30 lbs !!!! I have 53 more lbs to go to meet my wedding day goal. Which is 5 months and 27 days from now, or 25.86 week. If I can lose 2 lbs per week I just might reach my goal. So, I've been on a diet since I was 13 - Thank You PCOS (sarcasm) - and I have a few tried and true tips that actually work. They are realistic things we can all do to improve our eating habits and lose weight if needed.

1. KEEP FOOD READY. I don't expect anyone, unless you are a professional body builder or athlete, to go as far as cooking all your meals in advance or anything. However, the worst thing you can do when you are on a diet is to not have food that you CAN eat ready for when you get hungry. Trust me, if you get caught hungry and there is no food in your house you can eat, you are going to be the first one in line driving through some fast food joint because you are starving and your brain is telling you EAT OR DIE ! So make sure your kitchen is stocked with healthy meals and snacks that you can turn to instead.

2. COOK IN BULK. When you are really really hungry the last thing you want is to stop and have to spend an hour fixing a meal. I like to keep meals/snacks ready for when I need them. I don't pre-plan every meal or anything, but I like to be prepared. Some of my favorite things to fix in bulk are: tuna fish (like a freaking gallon), barracho beans, cut up celery sticks to eat with peanut butter, baby carrots and home made ranch dip made from low fat sour cream, chicken soup ( I cook a whole chicken, de-bone it and make a high protein, low carb and very filling home made soup) and turkey chili in the crock pot. For sugar cravings I keep sugar free chocolate vanilla swirl jello pudding (60 calories)  which I love to mix with a spoon full of peanut butter and I also keep sugar free jello ready at all times in the fridge. And of course, don't forget, fresh fruit and veggies are staple snacks.

3. GIVE YOURSELF A CHEAT DAY ONCE A WEEK. A healthy diet should be for the long haul. It's about replacing bad eating habits with healthier choices. However, there is a reason bad food tastes so good. Our bodies crave the naturally high caloric and fat amounts. It is my humble opinion that if we try and ignore these cravings all together, then we are setting ourselves up for disaster. Like eating a gallon of ice cream at 3 in the morning disaster. That is why I think a controlled cheat day is essential. Give yourself one day a week where you can eat what you want, just be careful not to eat too much. For instance going back to the ice cream example: have a bowl of ice cream - don't eat the whole carton. Foods should never be labels "bad" or "evil", everything is ok in controlled moderation.

Good luck to my fellow travelers. We can do this ! Living a healthy life is a choice we make every day. Here is to good choices.