25 “Diet” Tips to Fight the Battle of the Bulge

Oh, how I wish that there was a magic diet pill or potion that we could take that would just melt away unwanted pounds and not wind up being the impetus for some class action suit down the road.  I’d be the first one lined up to take it!  But, alas, with the track record of previous diet drugs, I don’t see my dream becoming reality soon enough to easily zap my bulge in my lifetime.  If only there were some way to really make dieting easier, it’d make me a much happier person!

Along with accepting that there is no magic pill, I have also discovered after many years of hard work and parting with lots of money, that there is also no magic diet.  Trust me, I’ve tried them all and the truth is that diets really don’t work.  Yeah, they can drop a few unwanted pounds in the short term, but you can never stay on them and most of the time you not only regain the weight you lost, but you add a little more on for good measure!

I feel like I should be an expert on weight loss by now, but I certainly am not.  However, I am finally beginning to believe the whole ‘moderation is key’ philosophy to “dieting”.  It’s been touted for years, but we’ve all tried to ignore it.  It really is the only way.  I want to hold onto the notion that it will all happen quickly and in some dramatic way.  I like fast results.  But despite some very dramatic fast results in the past, I always seem to wind up right back where I started before long.  So now it’s time to change the game plan a little.

So here are 25 of the most logical and useful diet tips I’ve uncovered, to help you get started on the road to healthier eating and living.  They won’t melt the pounds away quickly, but by following some of the tips, you should find it a little easier to fight the battle of the bulge.  If anyone has any other advice that works for them, I’d love to hear it!

25 “Diet” Tips to Fight the Battle of the Bulge…

1. Keep a food journal.  It really does make you more aware of what you eat and if you know you have to write it down, you’re less apt to eat the “bad stuff”.
2. Pay attention to what you eat.  Sit down and enjoy your food with all of your senses.  Don’t eat standing up, out of the fridge, out of a box or in front of the TV.  Many of us don’t even pay attention to all the times we eat or how much we consume, because it has become such a passive activity.
3. Only allow yourself to eat when you are seated at a table.
4. Drink lots of water.  It really does work!  6 – 8 glasses a day should do the trick.  You can make some of the glasses other non-caloric drinks, but don’t drink too much diet soda (see below).
5. Switch to diet soft drinks rather than regular ones.  If you switched just one 12 oz can of regular soda a day with diet soda, you could lose about 15 pounds a year!!!  But don’t drink too much, because diet soda has been shown to increase appetite.
6. Don’t drink your calories – eat them!  It’s a lot more satisfying!
7. Eat a healthy breakfast.  It really does help you eat fewer calories during the day.
8. Eat low-fat or non-fat dairy.  It has all the same nutrients for a lot less fat and calories.
9. Eat more fruits and veggies. They fill you up, have lots of nutrients and not a lot of calories.  And they taste so good!  Try to set a goal to fill half of your plate at each meal with either fruit or veggies and split the other half between lean protein and healthy carbs.
10. Don’t supersize your meals (unless you want to supersize your clothes!) – they’re already big enough!
11. When going out to dinner, ask your server to immediately wrap half your food to take home or share a dish with someone else.  Always start your meal with a salad (nonfat or lowfat dressing or oil and vinegar) or a broth-based soup to fill up.  Skip the bread basket.  Drink a full glass of water before you begin your meal.
12. Don’t skip meals.  You wind up usually eating more later in the day and think nothing of ‘grazing’ because you think you saved so many calories from the skipped meal.
13. Eat more frequent smaller meals throughout the day.  You’re less apt to get very hungry and choose quick, unhealthy options or eat too much.
14. Slow down!  We’re all in such a rush most of the time, that we eat quickly or while we’re on the run.  Not only do we not give ourselves a chance to enjoy what we’re ingesting, but we don’t give our bodies time to signal to our brain that we’re full.
15. If you want dessert, eat it.  Just have a few bites and stop.  After the first few bites, it all tastes the same anyway.  If you don’t have it, you’ll just be thinking about it all night anyway and will probably eat a bunch of other things to try to compensate, but you still won’t be satisfied.
16. Brush your teeth right after a meal or pop in a piece of gum to remind yourself to stop eating.
17. If you have a craving for a certain food, give yourself 10 minutes to see if it goes away before indulging.  Take a quick walk, call a friend or read an article in a magazine (don’t watch TV – the commercials will probably make you hungry!).  If you still really want the food after 10 minutes, have it but try to limit portion size.  Most of the time, the craving will be gone in the time you wait, or at least your head will be thinking more clearly!
18. In order to diminish your sweet tooth, try to do without all sweets for a short time.  Usually after about 2 weeks, you don’t crave them as much and when you do, you can be satisfied with a smaller portion.
19. Resolve only to eat certain treats when you’re out.  It’s more satisfying (and fun!) to go out for an occasional ice cream cone or have a piece of cake at a fancy restaurant than it is to grab cookies out of a package hiding in the pantry.  And if the tempting foods are not in the house, it’s harder to binge on them!
20. Check out the serving sizes on the packages.  Even foods labeled ‘light’ or ‘low-fat’ have calories and often we are accustomed to eating more than a single serving at a time.
21. Learn to visually estimate portion sizes.  A cup of carbs (like pasta or cereal) is about the size of a tennis ball.  A single serving of meat, chicken or fish is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards.  A piece of fruit should be about the size of your clenched fist.  An ounce of cheese is about the size of 4 dice.
22. Never go to a party hungry.  Eat a small meal before you go and stay away from the food.  Keep a low-cal drink in one hand at all times to make it harder to fill up on food.
23. After you host a party, send all the extra food home with your guests, give to a friend, or bring to work the next day.  Just get it out of the house!
24. Wear snug fitting clothes during the holidays and at parties to remind yourself to keep eating in check.  If you use these occasions as a license to eat, you’re sure to gain weight.
25. Exercise is key.  If you don’t move, you won’t lose!  This is especially important if you’re trying to figure out how to reduce tummy fat, since the bulge in that area doesn’t disappear on its own without targeted exercise.  If you don’t like going to the gym or don’t have time to get there, consider home gym machines to get a good workout in the privacy of your own home, or just put on a good pair of sneakers and get out for a walk every day and then add a few exercises to your routine, such as a seated row, a few sit ups, and some stretches.  Make sure to schedule exercise into your schedule as you would any other important appointment.

Most of these diet tips involve basic elements of common sense, and when looked at individually may not produce dramatic weight loss results.  But by incorporating a number of these small changes into your daily routine, you may soon find that battling the scale doesn’t have to be so daunting.  This is truly one of those times when we can admit that slow and steady wins the race!