5 Easy Food & Drink Tips

Weight loss is a simple formula – calories in vs. calories out.  ie: you need to either a) consume fewer calories (aka:diet), b) spend more calories (aka:exercise), or, c) a combination of the two (best alternative).

1.                Eat 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day.

          Rather than 2 or 3 large meals, try eating 4-6 moderately sized ones,
(breakfast, midmorning, lunch, mid afternoon, dinner, early evening) and never, ever skip breakfast.  Maintaining caloric intake through out the day helps establish and maintain
metabolic rate, maintains consistent blood sugar levels which in turn helps avoid insulin valleys & spikes, and keeps appetite under control. The key is, a “meal” can be a banana & cup of yogurt (watch the sugar in yogurts though). Keep your calorie intake slow & steady. 

2.             Eliminate fast foods/minimize fried foods & highly processed “made up” convenience foods.

Fast food - processed, pre-frozen, preserved, deep-fried, fatty, cholesterol laden, empty calories – just about all the watch words in existence can be used to describe this terrible “food”.  Most fast foods provide so little in the way of nutritional value, it’s hardly worth mentioning.  It’s truly JU-N-K food.  Just say no!

What exactly is a Red Vine?  A Pop-Tart?  Magic Shell ice cream topper?  Watch out for food products that bear little or no resemblance to their original food source.  Go for a box of raisins, not the Raisinets; have whole grain toast with all natural jam rather than a Pop-Tart, etc.  You’ll cut down on sodium, added sugar and a paragraph of preservatives. As an added benefit, the original food source most often contains fewer calories and fat, plus more fiber, vitamins and minerals.

3.              Drink Water!!!

Consume 1/2 oz. of water per lb. of body weight per day.  (150 lb. person = 75 oz. per day).  This isn’t as difficult as it sounds.  Get a 20 oz. container of bottled water, fill it up 3 times, and there’s 60 oz. right there.  The health & fat burning properties of water are well documented.  It has no sugar, added or other, is readily available & is free or darn cheap.  Take a look at the label on the side of virtually any other beverage.  Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, etc. (cleverly labeled sugar) are virtually assured of being in the top 3 ingredients, along with a bunch of other stuff that can’t be found anywhere in nature.  All these chemicals, sugars, food colorings and dehydrates really work against you reaching your fitness goals.

4.              Eat until you’re satisfied, not full.

Portion sizes are a key.  It takes a full 15 to 20 minutes for the stomach’s “stretch receptors” to communicate to the brain that we’re full.  During that 15 minutes, most of us continue to eat.  Limit portions and stop consuming, whether you feel full or not.

As you begin your exercise routine, you’ll be placing your body in an atypical caloric deficit.  Your body is not accustomed to this, the result - you’ll feel hungry.  This hunger/need sensation is expected, is strongest in the initial weeks & is a GOOD sign.  Resisting the temptation to eat more during this period is critical.

5.                 Drink an 8 to 10 oz. glass of water and/or eat a medium-sized apple 5 to 10 minutes before meals.

This trick works like a charm.  You’ll be shocked at how much less you consume per sitting just by taking this simple action.