A little while back, I wrote a post on weight loss on emotions where I shared that the most important thing when beginning a weight loss journey is managing your emotions. If you haven't read that post, please do as this post will largely build upon that and make much more sense.
Diet is a huge deal when losing weight. People might think it's all about exercising, and while exercise is certainly a factor, I would say it has more like a 25% importance. That means that diet holds like a 75% importance. You can workout all day, but if you don't change your diet, I highly, highly doubt you will see much progress at all.
Oh, and get rid of the idea of temporary diets. There's a reason I choose the words "dieting lifestyle change." If you truly want to shed the weight and keep it off, there's no going back. You're going to have to make conscious effort to constantly keep a healthy diet. Is it hard? Yes, but I think you'll find it's not too bad over time.
But let's be real: none of us can dive into the "deep end" of the pool that is healthy eating. You're pretty much guaranteed to drown. If you're slamming liters of Mountain Dew and McChickens left and right like I was, quitting cold turkey and switching to foods like, well, cold turkey is not going to go well.
(Can I just take a second to say how proud I am of that "cold turkey" pun...? Thx.)
That said, the intention of these tips is NOT to help you lose weight. You might see a few pounds shed, but these tips probably won't do a whole lot of help in the weight loss department. Rather, these tips are the baby steps to help you manage your emotions as you begin this big change.
1. Switch from regular soda to diet soda. I can hear you health nuts going insane. "But don't you know diet soda is bad for you?? You should be recommending water!" True, but we have to take these baby steps if we hope to get from point A to point B. It's a fact of life that regular soda does taste better than diet, but if you can begin to bridge this drink gap now, we'll eventually get to drinking water on a regular basis.
2. Avoid your morning coffee stop. Start making your own coffee instead. Yes, I hear you out there: "Well isn't the nutritional value the same?" Maybe, sure. But that's not the point. You know as well as I do that Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts don't just sell coffee. They have stuff you and I don't have lying around the house: tasty morsels. Heck, it's even in Dunkin Donuts's name! If you can commit to avoiding these places, you can avoid a temptation that is so easy to indulge.
3. Switch from sweet snacks to nuts. Now, I'm a big foodie, and even before losing weight, I would often choose nuts over chocolate because I genuinely enjoy the flavor of nuts. Honey roasted peanuts are the bomb. Of course, we'll eventually want to steer toward natural nuts, but if we can begin to bridge this gap now, it'll make it all that much more easy in the future.
4. Substitute one side or condiment when possible. Calories build up fast in certain sides and condiments. Pretty much every white sauce is bad: ranch, mayo, queso, bleu cheese, and more. But here's the thing: there are often pretty tasty alternatives at most of these places. For example, get guacamole at Chipotle instead of sour cream. Or get the steamed broccoli at Chili's. It's seasoned with something that is super tasty, so I would recommend it to everybody.
5. Commit to one smaller portion meal per day. Portion size is a major factor in managing a healthy diet. To that end, I would encourage you to commit to just one smaller portion per meal each day. More specifically, I would encourage lunch be that meal. Why? Most days, you're at work, so work can provide that necessary distraction from tempting you to eat a larger meal. And if you work in an environment like mine, you can get up and walk around at lunch instead.
Speaking of walking around, you'll notice these are tips for instigating a diet lifestyle change. Exercise is still important, so you bet another post is in the works to help instigate an exercise lifestyle change. Hope you enjoyed this post, and be on the lookout for that exercise post in the future!
Diet is a huge deal when losing weight. People might think it's all about exercising, and while exercise is certainly a factor, I would say it has more like a 25% importance. That means that diet holds like a 75% importance. You can workout all day, but if you don't change your diet, I highly, highly doubt you will see much progress at all.
Oh, and get rid of the idea of temporary diets. There's a reason I choose the words "dieting lifestyle change." If you truly want to shed the weight and keep it off, there's no going back. You're going to have to make conscious effort to constantly keep a healthy diet. Is it hard? Yes, but I think you'll find it's not too bad over time.
But let's be real: none of us can dive into the "deep end" of the pool that is healthy eating. You're pretty much guaranteed to drown. If you're slamming liters of Mountain Dew and McChickens left and right like I was, quitting cold turkey and switching to foods like, well, cold turkey is not going to go well.
(Can I just take a second to say how proud I am of that "cold turkey" pun...? Thx.)
That said, the intention of these tips is NOT to help you lose weight. You might see a few pounds shed, but these tips probably won't do a whole lot of help in the weight loss department. Rather, these tips are the baby steps to help you manage your emotions as you begin this big change.
1. Switch from regular soda to diet soda. I can hear you health nuts going insane. "But don't you know diet soda is bad for you?? You should be recommending water!" True, but we have to take these baby steps if we hope to get from point A to point B. It's a fact of life that regular soda does taste better than diet, but if you can begin to bridge this drink gap now, we'll eventually get to drinking water on a regular basis.
2. Avoid your morning coffee stop. Start making your own coffee instead. Yes, I hear you out there: "Well isn't the nutritional value the same?" Maybe, sure. But that's not the point. You know as well as I do that Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts don't just sell coffee. They have stuff you and I don't have lying around the house: tasty morsels. Heck, it's even in Dunkin Donuts's name! If you can commit to avoiding these places, you can avoid a temptation that is so easy to indulge.
3. Switch from sweet snacks to nuts. Now, I'm a big foodie, and even before losing weight, I would often choose nuts over chocolate because I genuinely enjoy the flavor of nuts. Honey roasted peanuts are the bomb. Of course, we'll eventually want to steer toward natural nuts, but if we can begin to bridge this gap now, it'll make it all that much more easy in the future.
4. Substitute one side or condiment when possible. Calories build up fast in certain sides and condiments. Pretty much every white sauce is bad: ranch, mayo, queso, bleu cheese, and more. But here's the thing: there are often pretty tasty alternatives at most of these places. For example, get guacamole at Chipotle instead of sour cream. Or get the steamed broccoli at Chili's. It's seasoned with something that is super tasty, so I would recommend it to everybody.
5. Commit to one smaller portion meal per day. Portion size is a major factor in managing a healthy diet. To that end, I would encourage you to commit to just one smaller portion per meal each day. More specifically, I would encourage lunch be that meal. Why? Most days, you're at work, so work can provide that necessary distraction from tempting you to eat a larger meal. And if you work in an environment like mine, you can get up and walk around at lunch instead.
Speaking of walking around, you'll notice these are tips for instigating a diet lifestyle change. Exercise is still important, so you bet another post is in the works to help instigate an exercise lifestyle change. Hope you enjoyed this post, and be on the lookout for that exercise post in the future!
Comments
Post a Comment