Dieting Dos and Donts This Year

At the start of each New Year we provide advice and inspiration for those resolving to shed a few pounds. This year we’re revealing our favorite list of dieting do’s and don’ts:

 Don’t... skimp on protein at breakfast.

About 20 grams of protein eaten at breakfast helps to control your appetite throughout the entire day. Build your breakfast meal around healthy protein sources, such as eggs (for example, two free-range eggs with whole grain toast and a side of fruit), organic yogurt (it can be added to a smoothie, or enjoy a parfait topped with granola and fresh fruit), nut butter (on whole grain toast or in oatmeal), avocado, or last night’s chicken.

Don’t... count calories. Instead, count fiber.

Calorie counting may help to control your food intake and portion sizes, but it doesn’t account for food quality and can lead your blood sugar astray if the calories are imbalanced (for example, too many carbs or too much protein). Fiber, on the other hand, fills you up quickly, reducing the amount of food taken in. Because it takes more time to digest a fiber-rich meal than it does to digest a meal low in fiber, you feel satiated longer. To boot, fiber helps to balance your blood sugar, and soluble fibers (such as those found in beans, fruit, vegetables, and oatmeal) can reduce cholesterol levels. Most health experts, including the American Heart Association, recommend 35 grams of fiber a day for adults.

Do... eat your biggest meal at lunch.

Our lifestyle dictates that we eat a small lunch and large dinner. The more you eat at lunch, however, the less hungry you’ll feel by suppertime and the greater the likelihood that you’ll eat smaller portions. Also, eating a large meal a few hours before going to bed means those calories are stored (as fat) rather than burned off. Prepare a big dinner, place a small portion on your plate, and pack up the rest for tomorrow’s lunch. Think of all the money and calories you’ll save by bringing your own lunch to work rather than eating out.   

Do... sweat. Exercise is imperative.

No time to exercise? Interval training is the answer. Short, intense spurts of activity burn more calories and fat than longer periods of more moderate activity. The best part is, due to the intensity of the workout, you can drastically reduce your exercise time. So much for that excuse. 

Do… Read a restaurant’s nutritional information.  

Would you have guessed that the Olive Garden’s Spaghetti and Italian Sausage dish has 1,270 calories, 67 grams of fat, and 3,090mg of sodium*? At only 500 calories and 12 grams of fat, Applebee’s Weight Watchers Chipotle Lime Chicken may have fewer calories compared with other meals on their menu, but we bet you didn’t bargain for the 5,250mg** – about three day’s worth - of sodium. Restaurants now make their nutritional information available to consumers. Before heading out for lunch or dinner, look up the menu on line, review the nutritional information carefully, and choose the best options ahead of time (before you’re sitting at the table with a growling belly). Another tip: Rather than eating the entire meal at one sitting, ask the server to package half of your food in a doggie bag before it comes to the table.

Don't...ignore portion sizes.

Size matters. If the holidays have left you feeling and looking less svelte than you would like, be mindful of how much is on your plate. Your meals may be of excellent quality, but there is such a thing as ‘too much of a good thing’. How much is too much?

Meat: A serving of meat, poultry or fish should be the size of your palm. That’s about 3oz. If you still aren’t sure, measure the portion against a deck of cards.

Grains & Starches (bread, cereal, pasta, rice, potatoes, millet, quinoa, couscous, buckwheat and other grains): A serving is one cup of pasta, rice, cereal or other grain, or two slices of bread – all whole grain of course. Measure dried cereal in a measuring cup before placing it into your bowl. It’s surprising how ‘small’ a portion appears!

Fruit: Eat up to three whole pieces of fruit a day, half a cup of cooked or stewed fruit, such as applesauce, and no more than a quarter cup of dried fruit a day.  

Vegetables: Raw vegetables are generally considered ‘free’ foods to be eaten liberally. The same applies to cooked vegetables; however, keep in mind two things: they’re condensed by cooking, so one cup of raw is roughly equivalent to half a cup of cooked; secondly, watch the calories and fat from oils or sauces (or both) used to prepare the vegetables.  

Fats: A tablespoon of oil, fat, or butter provides 11 to 14 grams of fat and about 100 calories. Measure the amount of oil poured into a pan for cooking. Better yet, fill an oil spray canister with oil, and skip the butter on your toast entirely. 

Does diet cheating work?

For most people, dieting is tough. Many people find themselves unable to resist the temptation to cheat. Often, this is due to attempting to follow a diet that requires strict adherence to specific menus and foods. Diets that forbid the dieter to eat certain foods are particularly difficult to maintain. Total denial of any foods or snacks that have been a regular part of your daily food intake for years will lead to cheating or binge eating. When you eliminate all sweets, salty snacks, junk food, and fast food, it is very likely that you will begin to have strong cravings for these foods. This makes it almost impossible not to cheat. Cheating on your diet does not have to mean complete failure.  


Plan Ahead and Never Feel Guilty Again

Fad diets, no carb diets, no sugar diets, and other diets that eliminate certain foods are hard to follow and almost always lead to cheating on your diet. Counting calories, carbs, fat grams, and fiber is the most effective way to diet. On this type of diet, cheating is allowed--just not too much cheating. With this diet plan, you can plan ahead and never feel guilty again. Planning to cheat will allow you to stick to the diet plan without binge eating. If you have done well all week, splurging a little on the weekend can be a good idea. Treating yourself to a small reward will help satisfy cravings for your favorite "bad" foods without feeling guilty. Just, don't go overboard. Using a diet cheat sheet with diet cheat foods can be helpful for staying within the limits. Create a diet cheat sheet listing favorite sweets, junk food, etc., and include the calories, carbs, fat, and fiber for appropriate portions. This diet cheat sheet will serve as a handy guide for cravings you can afford to satisfy. Today, many diet cheat foods are packaged in convenient 100 calorie servings. Giving in occasionally to controlled cravings will not "ruin" your progress. Simply include the diet cheat foods in your daily food intake total. Satisfying controlled cravings will actually help you stay on track with your diet.

The following are some common tastes people crave while dieting:

Sweets: chocolate, cookies, cakes, candy, doughnuts, etc.                                                                                          
Salty: chips, fries, processed meats, olives, etc.                                                                      
Fats: burgers, bacon, sausage, ice cream, junk foods, etc.
Unfortunately, these frequently desired diet no-no's are very high in calories, fat, and carbs. What's more, they provide little or no fiber. However, even these guilty pleasures can be enjoyed once in awhile. You will have to limit these foods. Don't use half your total daily caloric intake on these foods every day. Keep in mind, the overall nutritional value of the foods you consume while dieting is extremely important for maintaining good health. Most of the above listed foods have very little nutritional value. That being said, a special treat once or twice a week can help you feel satisfied and ready to get back to work on the diet.

Dieting does not have to synonymous with torture. Cheating is permissible with some planning. You do not have to be laden with guilt after eating a cookie. Be sure to incorporate an exercise plan along with your diet plan. Exercise will facilitate your weight loss and provide tremendous health benefits.

What is Crindy Crawford Diet?

It is hard to believe she turns 40 in February. Cindy Crawford is one of the original supermodels. Cindy and her mole have graced more magazine covers than anyone else in the world and she still looks fabulous as she enjoys a beach in Mexico.

Mother of two chidlren, Cindy attributes her figure to eating often - five times a day, to be exact. Just a tiny hint of cellulite around her sculpted bottom is the only clue that time has passed since her prime in the late 80s and early 90s.

Cindy's secrets to maintaining her gorgeous figure: “Drink lots of water, find a form of exercise you enjoy and don't smoke,” she recommends. “You have to eat regularly to maintain your energy levels - if you starve your body it simply stores everything that you do eat.”

Cindy is a fan of the Zone Diet. This eating plan controls portions and recommends meals are carefully balanced, containing 40 per cent carbohydrate, 30 per cent protein and 30 per cent fat. Followers of the Zone Diet eat little and often.

Cindy says: “I snack between breakfast and lunch and again at 4pm so I'm not starving by the time I sit down and eat dinner.”

Once the queen of the fitness video, Cindy does a daily workout involving 20 minutes cardiovascular work, walking or running on an incline, then 40 minutes of free weights. But then, she does have her own gym in her LA mansion. She's also a yoga fan.

Cindy looks after her skin using her own skincare line called Meaningful Beauty.

Diet and cheating

Taking a day of your diet is good. A diet is a great example of having commitment to what you want and I applaud anyone and everyone that does a good job of committing themselves to staying healthy with a good diet. The trouble is trying to stay on a diet every day for months or years on end. This is what people aspire to but it is not very easy to do.

Cheating day on a diet confuses your metabolism

A few diets seem to say that you should try to confuse your body by staying on your diet for a few days or a couple of weeks at most and then getting off your diet for anywhere from one to three days. What do you think of this? Well the idea behind the days off on a diet is that you need to confuse your body so that it does not just adjust to lower caloric intake or just lower your metabolism to maintain fat levels.

Diets with a Cheating Day

Would you like to know examples of off day diets? There is a Weight Watchers diet adjustment that involves changing the amount of points you eat a day and cycling though these. You could do a kind of day off on this plan. The Body for life plan is that you do diet and exercise six days a week and eat whatever you want for one day a week. And finally there is the fat loss for idiots program that has you do the diet for 11 days and then take 3 days off before you do it again. This is the most confusing for your body (this is good) and easiest for you to manage.

Rules for a Diet Cheat Day

The best way that I see people doing there diet with days off is to have rules still for your days off. Try to follow the following rules:

1. The idea is to eat what you want but do not overdo it.
2. First of all you need a good regimen for your diet days and then for your days off the rules should be about how you cheat.
3. Try to make sure that you are not being ridiculous because it is your day off. Do not eat a whole large pizza or a gallon of ice cream.
4. Do not binge, no huge meals just meals that make you comfortably full
5. This is the day that you go to a restaurant if you want.
6. Do not eat three days worth of food in one day. The idea is that you can cheat but you don’t want to spend the whole week just catching up.

I hope that this plan for days off helps. I know that I have struggled with this in the past but the best thing is to just expand on your regular diet and at the same time make sure that get to eat those things that you are craving, in small measures of course.