Food Tips.

In order to manage your weight you need to manage your food! AsI mentioned before, keeping a diary will be helpful to get a good idea of what you are eating. This will also direct you to what you shouldn't be eating.

Now, I don't subscribe to the "never eat anything that's not low fat/calories" school of thought. Life happens and you must live it. The occasional slice of pizza, piece of cake or glass of wine isn't the end of the world. Provided, that it doesn't become a habit!! I would suggest that for the first 4 months you stay away from these foods. Until you can come up with a sensible management plan and have rid yourself of most of you bad habits.

Here are some food tips for you:

Begin with Breakfast:
Your body has gone without food for at least 8 hours - and it's starving. Skipping breakfast keeps your body in "starvation mode" and slows down your metabolism so you don't burn any needed calories. A morning meal revs up your metabolism and keeps your body burning fat all day

Stop Starving:
Skipping meals and eating too little actually lowers your metabolism. Cutting too many calories puts you in a fasting state, which causes your body to hold on to fat and calories to survive. This drastically decreases your metabolism and makes it much harder for you to lose weight

Small Meals for a Big Boost:
Eating smaller, more frequent meals provides a steady source of energy to your body, which boosts your metabolism and increases your energy throughout the day. By eating five to six small meals instead of three large ones, your body burns calories as you go, rather than storing the extra as fat.

Enjoy a variety of foods that will provide essential nutrients.

Three-quarters of your lunch and dinner should be vegetables, fruits, cereals( look for lot's of fiber and little to no sugar), breads(whole grain only!), and other grain products. Snack on fruits and vegetables. Eat lots of dark green and orange vegetables. Choose whole-grain and enriched products more often.

Choose lower fat dairy products, leaner meats and alternatives, and foods prepared with little or no fat. Shop for low fat (2% or less) or fat-free products such as milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese. Eat smaller portions of leaner meats, poultry, and fish; remove visible fat from meat and the skin from poultry. Limit the use of extra fat like butter, margarine, and oil. Choose more peas, beans, and lentils

Limit salt, caffeine, and alcohol. Minimize the consumption of salt. Cut down on added sugar such as jams, etc. Limit beverages with a high caffeine content (tea, sodas, chocolate drinks) and caffeinated coffee to two cups per day. Minimize alcohol to 1-2 drinks per day.

Limit consumption of snack foods such as cookies, donuts, pies, cakes, potato chips, etc. They are high in salt, sugar, fat, and calories, and low in nutritional value.

Eat in moderation. If you are not hungry, don’t eat.

Finally, I realize all this sounds good but how do you know what is right? Here is an easy way to start . I found this weight management program quite helpful and it follows all of the principles mentioned above. The Sonoma "diet" gives you all the food you need and is tasty! It takes some preparation but the benefits are worth it!.

Have a great day!
Richard