Pick A Number Between One and Ten

Ten Weight Loss Tips......

Pick a number between one and ten. Picked a number? Then go to that number on the list below, and implement that item. Feel free to pick more than one number and to implement more than one item at a time.

Give it your best, and watch the pounds drop away! Remember too, that this is not about dieting. It is about making positive changes, and living a healthy lifestyle that includes healthy, balanced eating, and exercise.

1. 10 minutes before each meal, drink a full glass of water. (you will feel full, faster, and will eat less)
2. Eat Real Food. Real foods don’t have bar codes! Eat mostly fresh meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains. Lose the packaged foods!
3. Eat smaller portions at each meal. You won’t even miss it, and this can easily help trim 300 or more calories a day. In 12 days, voila, you’ve lost a pound without even trying.
4. Keep a food log. Write down everything you eat, and the approximate quantities, every day for a minimum of 3 days. It is proven that people who keep a food log, lose almost twice as much weight as others. It will make you completely aware of what, and of how much, you’re eating each day. This is about being accountable to yourself.
5. Avoid getting calories from liquids. Sodas, fancy coffee drinks, alcohol, etc., are all loaded with calories, but have no filling effect. If you drink two beers, or two glasses of wine every night, you are taking in about 300 calories. Eliminate these, and in 12 days, you will have lost a pound, without really trying. A margherita can have upwards of 500 calories in it! 
6. Eat until you're “hara hachi bu.” Translated from Japanese, this literally means "eat until you're 80   percent full." It takes 15-20 minutes for our brains to receive the message from our stomachs, that we are full and should stop eating. Stop eating before you feel completely full, and you will eliminate a bunch of uneeded calories.
7. Eat slowly. As I said in #6, it takes 15-20 minutes for the brain to realize that we are indeed full enough. When you eat slowly, you will be eating less food in the time it takes the brain to tell us to stop eating.
8. Do not go too long between meals/snacks. Eat a small healthy snack between breakfast and lunch, and again between lunch and dinner. Not only will you have more consistent energy levels throughout the day, but this will help you to avoid getting overly hungry and then overeating at your next meal. Keep your snacks around 150 calories or less. So, try an apple with a few walnuts. Or veggie sticks with a small piece of cheese.
9. Cut back on restaurant meals! Not only are they twice the size of meals we’ll typically make for ourselves at home, but they can also be loaded with fat, salt, and sugar, which makes them very high in calories. On their menu, California Pizza Kitchen lists the calories for each meal. It’s an eye opener when you see that your healthy salad also has 1200 calories. I weigh 125 and I’m very active, and I eat around 1800-2000 calories a day (to maintain my weight). So, that large salad has almost 2/3 of my calories for the entire day! That’s quite a bit at one sitting if you’re doing this on a frequent basis. Not to mention that our bodies, after around 500 calories at one time, will tend to turn the rest of the calories to fat. If you eat out 4 evenings a week, and can cut back to 2 (cooking healthy meals at home the other 2 nights), I’m estimating that you’ll save between 400 and 800 calories per meal!
10. Short circuit emotional, or mindless eating. Instead of reaching for food when you're angry, bored, or feeling down...go for a 10 minute walk. Think of it as redirecting your attention. It's easy, and it works!