Over the last couple of years, my weight started to creep up and up. Each year I had to buy new pants and belts as my waistline expanded. With my mid-century birthday approaching I thought I better get back to a more normal weight if I wanted to feel as good as I always had. Plus I love food and eating. For the record I'm six feet tall and now weigh one-hundred-ninety pounds.
I topped out at two-hundred-thirty-five pounds in January 2006. Hoping to take off some weight but not having a defined goal, as well as not wanting it to be overly painful, I laid out some parameters for loosing weight and modified and experimented along the way. I have to say, it has not been difficult, I enjoy feeling better and am not hungry all the time. Here are some tips to take off some weight.
-Don't add salt to anything on your plate. I used to love salt on everything, the more I salted the more I ate. You can use salt in recipes, but look carefully at nutrition labels on foods. I stay away from anything over twenty-percent sodium per serving. Switch to unsalted nuts and chips, you eat less, plus no salt. Almonds are good nuts for your body.
-Forget microwave popcorn. I used to look forward to my nightly bag of microwave popcorn and cola. The popcorn was loaded with salt and the popcorn did a good job of adding the inches. I gave up the ritual. Soda is loaded with sodium.
-Portion size matters. This is no new diet news, but it really does work. Americans eat huge portions of everything. I gradually decreased portion sizes until smaller ones were enough to fill me up.
-Limit fat. I can't take credit for this either, but I did give up cheese, fatty meats (lunch and dinner), and two-percent milk. Now at lunch my sandwich consists of lite mayonnaise on high-fiber bread,1 slice of fat-free lunch meat and sliced cucumbers and mushrooms. Be creative and use vegetables to substitute for fat, they fill you up and are much healthier.
-Be calorie aware. I don't count calories, but I check out caloric content at the store of everything I buy. You'll be amazed once you tune into nutritional labels how you can get up to recommended daily calorie limits by choosing the wrong foods, especially prepared ones.
-I buy reduced sugar and calorie orange juice and eat a sensible breakfast. Whole grain cereal fills you up and is a good source of fiber. You can put fruit on it to sweeten, but stay away from the sugar bowl.
-Find fruits and vegetables you like, and experiment with new ones. I eat half a banana at lunch with my half-veggie sandwich and vegetables with dinner. The rule is five a day for fruits and vegetables. You can work your way up to this.
-At night to replace my microwave popcorn, I make sugar-free jello with low sugar canned fruit cocktail. It fills me up and it's low calorie, plus a quasi portion of fruit. I'm creative mixing flavors that wow my taste buds. If I'm still looking for something to eat, I also keep some fig cookies on hand that provide a fruit/sugar fix.
-Walk. I walk twenty minutes every morning and evening, it is the best thing I've done in my diet jump-start. I feel better mentally, meet some neighbors and exercise in a low-impact way. You have to find some regular form of exercise, and do it a minimum three days a week with no more than three days off between workouts.
-Splurge on week ends. Some days I dream of pizza, and I think that once the weekend comes I can have some (but not a whole pizza). You can't deny yourself things you have a taste for, but make them a goal to achieve once you've made it through five days with your new way of mind-set food and exercise wise.
Mark Nash is the author of "Fundamentals of Marketing for the Real Estate Professional", "Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate", "Reaching Out: The Financial Power of Niche Marketing", and "1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home". Mark is a contributing writer for: Realtor (R) Magazine Online, Broker Agent News, Real Estate Executive Magazine, Principal Broker, and Realty Times. He contributes residential real estate analysis to Business Week, CBS The Early Show, CNN, HGTVpro.com, The New York Times, and USA Today. View his books at http://www.1001RealEstateTips.com. | |
