If you’re trying to diet in an attempt to make some improvements in your life, it isn’t always easy to get started or follow through. Especially for those that are busy, watching what you eat and avoiding unhealthy convenience foods isn’t the easiest thing to do. Here are four tips you can use to help you during your dieting journey:
Keep a Food Diary
Often times, the act of physically writing down everything you eat and the nutritional facts of the foods can be a huge motivator to stick to your diet more strictly. When reviewing the diary at later dates, seeing specific moments that you may have strayed from your diet can keep you from straying in the future, so that you don’t have to see your failure on paper.
Eat Raw When Possible
Between meals, there’s no better way to curb your snacking urges than with raw fruits or nuts. Not only will they get rid of your hunger, but they’ll keep you full for a longer period of time than a candy bar or chips will, and even give you a great boost of various vitamins.Ruma's fruit and wine gift baskets are great choices for getting extra antioxidants and vitamins.
Don’t Weigh Yourself Everyday
If you’re dieting for the purpose of losing weight, weighing yourself on a scale every day can be really counterproductive. With most strict, effective diets, you can expect to lose between one to two pounds per week, and the process of that weight loss is slow enough that you probably won’t see a difference on a scale every day. When you see a lack of visual progress, your motivation to diet can easily slip, increasing the likelihood of making bad food choices. Instead, only weigh yourself once every week or two, that way you give your body time to actually show your weight loss.
Don’t Do Anything Extreme
Opting for extreme diets, such as those that are very restricting with food or promote severe drops in caloric intake, can often do often set a dieter up for failure and do more harm than good. When your food choices are dramatically limited, not being able to eat any of the foods you like can become so mundane that you eventually abandon the diet altogether. In the case of high calorie deficits, your metabolism will become so used to the lower energy intakes that when you cease the diet, your body will retain the extra calories that you’re consuming in the form of fat.
Dieting is a great way to lose weight or improve your overall health, but you have to be conscious of the dieting decisions you make. Always ensure that the diet you’re following is right for your body’s specific needs, and go about any diet as safely as possible.