Easy Ways to Lose Weight - Healthy Eating Habits

Diets. Most of us hate that word. When we think of the word Diet it makes it seem like we have a job or a chore to do. While losing weight can get frustrating and overwhelming you do not have to look at it as a job or chore. Just changing the way you eat can dramatically improve your chances for successful weight loss. Making the right choice when it comes to food will help you achieve your goal forever, not just for a month!

The fact is, if we know we cannot have something we want it even more. That does not only apply to food, but to most things in life. That is just the way it goes. When we are told we cannot have something, our natural response is to want it. No wonder why people have such a hard time losing weight. People always telling you what you should or should not eat can get annoying and frustrating. So I say, DO NOT DIET!

To get started lets take a look at what we should be consuming on a daily basis.

You can click here to view Daily nutritional Values http://www.utexas.edu/courses/ntr311/nutinfo/dvalues.html

That’s right. If you eat about 6 smaller meals a day you are more likely to eat better portion sizes at breakfast, lunch and dinner. This will not only help with feeling full throughout the day; it will also keep your metabolism working faster. If we starve ourselves, our body is looking for food, and when it finally finds it, it stores it as fat. If your body feels it has plenty of food, it will increase your metabolism and store less of the fat.

The quality of our food is very important. For example, if you are the type of person who loves to eat bread for instance, you do not have to stop eating bread. You just need to know what kind of bread to eat. With white bread most of the fiber is removed and it basically turns into sugar which our body stores as fat. Wheat bread on the other hand has much more nutrients and fiber helping our digestive system. Choosing wheat products and fiber filled foods will help us achieve our goals. Same thing goes for rice and cereals. The more nutritional value, and the less sugar the better.

A lot of us love soda. Soda is the worst thing you can drink. It is said that if you drink two glasses of soda a day you can gain up to 24lbs per year. That is a lot of weight. Drinking dietsoda is also not a good choice. There have been a lot of noted negative side effects with artificial sweeteners and can actually cause weight gain as well. For more information on diet soda-http://www.ehow.com/facts_4969734_why-diet-pop-bad.html Your best choice is water of course. 8 eight ounce glasses a day is the average water intake a person should consume. What other drinks can you have? You can choose from a variety of 100% juices, green tea, low fat milk, and coffee if you do not over due it with the sweeteners; they even have soda like water, which does not contain any high fructose syrup, which you can drink on occasion. To satisfy a chocolate craving, hot chocolate is a good choice.

Dessert. Yummy. We all love dessert. If you are like most people you love chocolate. Well just because you are watching your weight does not mean you have to stop eating chocolate. If you deprive yourself of chocolate you are more likely to binge. So eat a piece of chocolate if you feel the need. The darker the better. Avoid the chocolate cake. Ice cream is another dessert that most of us love. There are many varieties of frozen yogurts that have a great taste and will satisfy your craving. Fruit bars or a little bit of sherbert will help with the sugar craving.

If you eat out often, you are probably eating a wide variety of fast foods that are terrible for you. You should try to cut down on the amount of times per week you eat out, but if you decide to eat out you can find places with healthier choices. Subway has a variety of sandwiches that are a lot less fattening then a Big Mac. Ask for light Mayo or use mustard, use their honey oat or wheat bread. In a restaurant get baked or grilled meats with brown rice and a vegetable. If you get a salad, ask for a light dressing. Instead of soda, drink water, juice, coffee or tea

There are so many different snacks to choose from. The main goal here is not to grab a sugar glazed donut or a big piece of chocolate cake followed by a 20 oz bottle of Coke. Pretzels, fruits, low calorie snack packs, nuts, cheese, yogurt, low fat pudding, peanut butter and oatmeal cookies are example of things you can eat throughout the day to keep you satisfied and to keep you full. There are plenty more!

Taking natural nutritional supplements can also help us loose weight. Sometimes our bodies lack essential vitamins and nutrients that we need to have a healthy body. There are a wide variety of natural supplements that will give your body just what it is looking for. You can find information on recommended daily nutritional intake by viewing this charthttp://www.utexas.edu/courses/ntr311/nutinfo/dvalues.html

Breakfast idea

I know I love bacon, eggs and toast on the weekend. Most of us do. Eating three or four eggs a week is OK, and if you remove the yolk you can eat even more. When I choose bacon, I buyturkey bacon. While eating a lb. of any kind of bacon is not good for you, eating a couple of slices of turkey bacon a week is fine. Be sure to look at the labels when you buy it though. Some turkey Bacon are better than others. Choose whole wheat bread for your toast. Start buying smart balance butter or some other kind of light butter. Drink a glass of juice.

Lunch idea

I love sandwiches. I love mayo. The mayo I use is Kraft Mayo with olive oil. Reduced fat. It has half the fat and calories of regular mayo and to me I cannot taste the difference. There are plenty of low fat and low calorie Mayo's to choose from. Sliced turkey breast,chicken breast and ham are good choices. Tuna or egg salad are also good choices. Eat it on whole grain bread, add a pickle and some baked or veggie chips on the side and you are good to go. By the way, I love veggie chips. If you have never tried them, you should.

Dinner idea

I love chicken. I can eat chicken every night. The key here is not to bread it and then deep fry it. You can bake it, grill it or boil it. Or you can try what I do. I put a little bit of canolla oil, a very thin later, on the bottom of the pan. I let it get hot and add my onions and garlic. You want them to get brown. I put the chicken in a bowl and flavor it with all types of different seasonings. What seasonings you use is up to you. Just try to avoid a lot of salt. I then add some vinegar and water to the chicken and mix it all around. After the onions and garlic are done browning, I add the chicken with the water and vinegar to the pan. I then cover it and reduce the heat turning occasionally until all the water is absorbed. The chicken comes out with great flavor, and you did not use much oil. On the side I would choose a vegetable and brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

You can find a healthy alternative to almost any food. You just have to look.

I have given you just a few examples of what we can do to change the way we eat. Starving our bodies or depriving it of things we love will make it much harder to loose the weight and keep it off. You no longer have to be on a diet. Just make good choices. Exercise and being active is also very important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Again, you do not have to over do it by going to the gym 5 nights a week for 2 hours, but becoming active will assist you in your weight loss goals.

Information is based on healthy people who do not have any other health conditions. If you have a health condition, you should always follow your doctor’s or nutritionists nutritional plan. Athletes and people who work out extensively might also have different nutritional needs.