Healthy Eating

If you are not happy about your weight, you're not alone. About every third person you meet is either on a diet, has just fallen off a diet or intends to go on a diet.

Dieter Profile

Reasons Why Most Strict Diets Do Not Work

	If you're like most people, you get bored with the limited food choices in diets, and quit quickly. Diets don't alter your long-term eating patterns.
	When you come off a diet, you may gain more weight faster. You see, your body adapts to getting fewer calories by using what few it gets very well. Having learned not to waste calories, your body is better than ever at storing those calories it doesn't use as fat.
	Dieting upsets your internal balance of water and minerals. This can lower your blood pressure a lot, leaving you ill, weak or with an irregular heart beat.
	Just as your weight see-saws, so can your emotions and self-esteem. You tend to feel that by failing to control your weight, you've failed at other things. It's tough to live with a constant sense of failure and disappointment.
	Extreme dieting has been known to lead to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. It also can cause other severe health problems.

Improving Eating Habits

	Don't cut out, cut back. Train yourself to eat smaller portions, especially of meat, by cutting back a little at a time.
	Think of lower calorie substitutes when you're cooking or preparing food. How about yogurt for sour cream in dips and on baked potatoes? Try skim milk instead of whole milk in recipes. Every little change helps.
	Although at first you might miss lots of fat and sugar in your food, it's surprising how quickly your tastebuds will adjust. Enjoy the crunch of raw vegetables instead of the crackle of potato chips, and the natural sweetness of ripe fruit instead of the sticky sweetness of cake.

Getting On The Right Track

	Zap your taste-buds with non-fattening flavourings such as lemon juice, garlic, mustard, herbs, spices, curry powders, chili sauce, and salsa.
	No particular food should be taboo. You can eat anything, but exercise moderation. Eating fast food or a donut once in a while will not make you fat.
	Eat more starchy foods. Switch your mealtime thinking, eat more potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, and dried beans. Starchy foods are filling, but are low in fat.
	When you're in a hurry or on the run, try looking in a different area of the convenience store. Most convenience stores sell the basics for a nutritious snack, like milk, juice, bran muffins, and fresh fruit.
	Best choices for a restaurant main meal are a small grilled steak, poached fish, roast chicken, pasta or a fruit salad plate. Avoid those dishes that have rich sauces or gravy. Another idea is to have salad dressing and coffee cream to be served on the side, that way you can control how much you use.

Eat Less Fat

	Make a little meat go further by cooking it in a casserole, stir-fry, hearty soup, stew or in a sauce with pasta.
	Choose a low-fat method of cooking, such as baking, broiling, steaming or microwaving. Try to avoid frying.
	To increase your fibre and carbohydrate intake, while decreasing your fat intake, plan meals around pasta, rice, beans, and vegetables, instead of meat.
	Remove the skin from turkey or chicken before you cook or eat it.
	The lowest fat cold cuts are lean ham, roast beef, chicken, and turkey.
	Try to eat nuts and seeds only once in a while, as they are very high in fat.
	Use butter, oils, margarine, mayonnaise, sour cream, and salad dressings sparingly. Try to choose the 'light' varieties with less fat.

Cut Down On High Calorie Extras

	Snack foods such as potato chips and corn chips are high in fat, salt, and calories.
	Cookies, cakes, pastries, chocolate bars, and candy can add a lot of sugar, fat, and calories to your diet.
	Alcohol is a source of extra calories and potential health problems.

Exercise          

Calories are a form of energy. If you do not use all the calories that you eat, you will store them as fat. By becoming more active, you use up stored calories, or can prevent them from being stored in the first place.

Exercise makes you feel better about yourself, improves your health, and of course, controls your weight. Exercise also makes the most of the body shape that you've got.

The best form of exercise follows the FIT Formula:

Choosing An Activity That You'll Enjoy    

It is important that you choose activities that you will enjoy, that way you will be more likely to do it.Any activity counts, and the more physical exercise, the better. Walking is a great start, since it is cheap, you can do it year round, and you don't need any special equipment.

	Don't set yourself up for failure by choosing a difficult activity right off the start. Be realistic, and work your way up to fitness.
	Try to choose some form of major continuous motion, such as walking, running, swimming, rowing, or tennis, since continuous motion burns more calories. Sit-ups and push-ups are good too, but they do not burn as many calories as the activities above.
	Think about your lifestyle in deciding upon an activity. You don't want to choose an activity that is going to interfere with your responsibilities, and you also want to choose an activity that fits into your day.
	Quick Fact: Walking a mile burns the same amount of calories as running a mile.
	Think of all the ways you can make your daily routine more active. Use stairs more, use your bike more, and walk more.

Hints And Tips

	Always be positive in yourself and your ability to reach a healthy weight.
	Lose your weight slowly, no one-day wonder has ever worked.
	Weigh yourself occasionally, not continually. Don't get hung up in minor weight changes.
	Give yourself time to adjust to your new eating and exercise habits.

10 Good Reasons Not To Diet - a short list compiled by the Network for Size Esteem.