Diet Information Weight Loss

Losing Weight Does Not Have to Include Complicated Diets

December 2, 2009
By Scott Z Henderson

The solution to lose weight is not difficult to understand, it is just sometimes difficult to achieve. Less calories in and more calories burned makes perfect sense. Getting more exercise is easy to figure out but sometimes the diet plan is not so easy. Many people get on diets that are just too complex, too expensive, or just too boring to stick with. Instead of buying into these plans, there are simple things that can be done on a daily basis to help reduce the number of calories consumed. Cheap, easy, and effective, by making these little changes today could result in a slimmer tomorrow.

Carry a pocket sized notebook everywhere you go and write down every item that enters your mouth, even water. Studies have shown that by doing this people will eat 15 percent less food then those who don’t. Another mental approach is to add 10 percent to the daily amount of calories you think you are consuming, and then adjust your eating habits accordingly. For example if you think you are eating 1800 calories each day add 180 to your guess you’ll be closer and you’ll actually eat less.

There are a couple of visual techniques that work on the brain also. One is to use smaller plates, bowls and glasses. Studies show that the less food in front of you the less you eat, and the more that is in front of you the more you will eat. Serve your food restaurant style as opposed to family style with bowls and platters of food on the table. When you are finished there are no seconds. Another visual technique is with the color blue. Take a look at most fast food restaurants and you will not see any that use the color blue. The reason is simple, blue stimulates the brain as an appetite suppressant while red, yellow, and orange encourage eating. How many of those colors do you see in fast food restaurants? So put more of the color blue at the table. Use blue plates, a blue tablecloth, and dress in blue clothes at dinner.

By substituting various items in the daily diet you can slash the calories. First drink more water than anything else and when ever milk is involved, use 2 percent or less instead of whole milk. Avoid white foods, meaning sugar, white flour, and white rice. Substitute honey for sugar at one third the amount, use whole grain breads, and brown rice. Decrease the amount of meat in stews, casseroles, sauces, and soups while increasing the amount of vegetables the same amount. Substitute fresh fruit for cookies, cakes, and other high sugar treats.

If you enjoy hot and spicy you’re in luck as the capsaicin in hot peppers is known to reduce the appetite. So go ahead and spice up various dishes with hot pepper. In some dishes use salsa, hot sauce, and other seasonings instead of butter or cream sauces. Experiment a little and discover new ways to spice up your favorite high calorie dishes.

When you do lose the excess weight and find that your clothes do not fit anymore, throw them away. The incentive of staying thin will be greater if you don’t have any “fat clothes” to go back into without spending the money to buy more.

Scott Henderson resides today in South Korea. He enjoys writing and other projects. One of Scott’s latest projects is http://mensreadingglassesonline.com/ a website to educate buyers of rimless reading glasses.

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