Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips and stay beautiful

In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However, there are plenty of small but powerful ways to avoid common dieting pitfalls, achieve lasting weight loss success, and develop a healthier relationship with food.

Eat protein at every meal. Eating enough protein will help you stay satisfied and resist the temptation to snack excessively between meals. If you want to lose weight, aim to eat approximately .7 grams of protein for each pound of your body weight. Just multiply your body weight, in pounds, by .7 to determine the number of protein grams to eat each day.  Protein also helps boost your metabolism, since it takes more calories to metabolize compared to fat and carbohydrates. Some high-quality protein sources include: lean beef, chicken breast, fish, lentils, beans, and Greek yogurt
. Don't drink your calories. You've heard it many times before, but drinking your calories, with sugary drinks, juice, or alcohol, is an easy way to sabotage your diet. Dehydration, though, is an underlying cause of food cravings, so do drink plenty of water! Water helps to keep you full and is a key way to detox your body. To calculate your water needs, take your body weight and divide by two. This is the number of ounces of water you need to drink every day. If plain water sounds boring to you, flavor it with fruit or veggie slices for a fun twist.. 
Just log it. Writing down your food and beverage intake is critical to weight-loss success, because it keeps you accountable. My clients often tell me their eating habits get worse when they stop logging their food intake. Many great apps, such as My Fitness Pal, can help you keep track of your diet.Just log it. Writing down your food and beverage intake is critical to weight-loss success, because it keeps you accountable. My clients often tell me their eating habits get worse when they stop logging their food intake. Many great apps, such as My Fitness Pal, can help you keep track of your diet.
 No eating after dinner. Late-night snacking is a problem for many people, especially when it's done mindlessly while watching TV or browsing the Internet. When you snack after dinner, your body will be busy digesting your food while you sleep instead of burning the fat. You want your body to be burning fat while you sleep so stop eating after dinner.
  Eat three meals per day, not five or six small ones. As a registered dietitian for over 16 years, I have seen many people who are trying to lose weight graze all day long and never stop eating except to sleep. Shifting to a three-meals-per-day mentality helps them to focus on eating a good source of protein and a whole grain along with fruits and vegetables at mealtime. Eat a satisfying meal, and wait to eat again until the next meal. That also puts your body into the calorie deficit you need to start losing body fat.a key to losing weight more quickly!
  Try high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Most people stick to the same 'ole, same 'ole at the gym without getting the results they crave. If you want change, you must try high-intensity interval training, which is an excellent way to help you lose fat. Getting your heart rate above 75 percent of its maximum rate has been shown to increase your metabolism, which helps you burn more calories. High-intensity exercise burns nine times more fat per calorie than low-intensity exercise does. One of my favorite methods of HIIT is doing Tabatas, which were developed by Izumi Tabata, former training coach for the Japanese speed skating team and now dean of the Graduate School of Sport and Health Science at Japan's Ritsumeikan University. The basis of his method is to work at an extremely high level for short periods of time. Each workout is four minutes long, consisting of 20-second, high-intensity work followed by 10 seconds of rest; this continues for a total of eight cycles. This method has been transformational for the women in my Adventure Boot Camp class. Some examples of these exercises would be jump squats, burpees, and mountain climbers.
  Don't forget strength training. Since people seem so focused on their cardio, they often forget about weight training—my favorite part of the gym. Strength training, whether you're male or female, can help you define and shape your muscles. It also boosts your metabolism. If you're really short on time, focus on your upper body—arms can show definition faster than larger muscle groups. Try lifting weights three to four times per week for at least 30 minutes to see results.

Focus on fruits and veggies

Counting calories and measuring portion sizes can quickly become tedious, but you don’t need an accounting degree to enjoy produce. When it comes to fruit and vegetables, it’s generally safe to eat as much as you want, whenever you want. No measuring cups or calorie tables required.
The high water and fiber content in most fruits and vegetables makes them hard to overeat. You’ll feel full long before you’ve overdone it on the calories.

• Pour a little less cereal into your morning bowl to make room for some blueberries, strawberries, or sliced bananas. You’ll still enjoy a full bowl, but with a lower calorie count.
• Replace one of the eggs and some of the cheese in your omelet or scramble with vegetables. Try tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, spinach, or bell peppers.
• Swap out some of the meat and cheese in your sandwich with healthier veggie choices like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, and avocado.
• Instead of a high-calorie snack, like chips and dip, try baby carrots with hummus, a sliced apple, or the old-favorite: celery with peanut butter (just don’t overdo it on the peanut butter).
• Add more veggies to your favorite main courses to make your dish “go” further. Even dishes such as pasta and stir-fries can be diet-friendly if they’re less heavy on the noodles and more focused on vegetables.
• Try starting your meal with a low-density salad or soup (just watch the dressings and sodium) to help fill you up, so you eat less of your entrée.
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  Put a stop to emotional eating

  We don’t always eat simply to satisfy hunger. If we did, no one would be overweight. All too often, we turn to food for comfort and stress relief. When this happens, we frequently pack on pounds.
  Don’t underestimate the importance of putting a stop to emotional eating. Learning to recognize the emotional triggers that lead you to overeat and respond with healthier choices can make all the difference in your weight loss efforts.
  To start, consider how and when you eat. Do you only eat when you are hungry, or do you reach for a snack while watching TV? Do you eat when you’re stressed or bored? When you’re lonely? To reward yourself?
  Once you’ve identified your emotional eating tendencies, you can work towards gradually changing the habits and mental attitudes that have sabotaged your dieting efforts in the past.
  

  Strategies to combat emotional eating

• If you turn to food at the end of a long day, find other soothing ways to reward yourself and de-stress. Relax with a book and a steaming cup of herbal tea, soak in a hot bath, or savor a beautiful view.
• If you eat when you’re feeling low on energy, find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or doing some quick stretches or jumping jacks. Another alternative is taking a short nap—just keep it to 30 minutes or less.
• If you eat when you’re lonely or bored, reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, find a fun activity to do, or go out in public (to the library, the mall, or the park—anywhere there’s people).
• If you eat when you’re stressed, find healthier ways to calm yourself. Try exercise, yoga, meditation, or breathing exercises. Better manage stressful situations by either changing the situation or changing your reaction. See Related Articles below to learn more about stress management.