Posts Tagged ‘self-control’

10 Elements of a Healthy Diet

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

As I have alluded to in previous blogs, a low-glycemic diet is the best way to better healthy and to your goal weight (see my post First Milestone in My Weight Management – Glyconics (is that a word?). This is not new, it goes right with what Grandma always said (see my post Secret to Losing Weight)

1. Eat a balanced diet consisting of all the food groups.  No, Junk food is NOT a food group.

2. Drink at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day – preferably filtered or distilled.

3. Eat 2 to 3 portions of fresh fruit a day. (see my post Veggies and Fruits – Key foods)

4. Eat lots of non-starchy vegetables- preferably raw.  If you eat them cooked, be sure they were steam cooked.  (see my post  Veggies and Fruits – Key foods)

5. Eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day – spaced 2-3 hours apart.

6. Find out what your daily calorie intake a day should be. Your doctor can tell you and he can also tell you which foods you should include and which you should avoid based on your medical condition.

7. Remember, whatever you eat, it is your decision. And no decision is a ‘bad’ one. But it will take your towards your goal or away from your goal.

8. Activity is a must. 10,000 steps a day should be your goal. That is total steps from the time you get up to the time you go to bed. If you get a good pedometer, you would be surprised how many steps you take a day.  Also, get at least 30 minutes a day of activity such as walking or exercise. This can be done in 10 minutes segments to start, but should gradually blend into one 30 minute session.

9. Get your 8 hours of sleep a day. It is much easier to stay on track if you are rested.

10. Remember, you are worth it. You deserve to be healthy and fit. Your life could depend on it. Your quality of life probably will. When you are in an airplane, they tell you to put your oxygen mask on first and then your child’s or parent or companion. Your eating habits are the same. You have to make time for your health first so you can do for others better.

I recently commented on an article submitted in Mixx.com. I stated that I was on a plateau due to my mindset, my mental stumbling blocks. Two people commented back with very good advice which I am going to include here.  The advice is to write down a list of those things that keep you from obtaining your goal. This does several things for you.

1. You face the attitudes and feelings you have just by admitting them and writing them down. You don’t have to show the list to anyone.

2. Having the list to refer to helps you to remember they exist.

3. By remembering they exist, you can work on resolving them. You can dispel wrong mental attitudes, etc, and avoid other triggers if possible.

4. If nothing else, by facing these obstacles and realizing the effects on your progress towards your goal, you can maneuver around the pot holes and continue on to the fulfillment of your goal.

I will end with reminding you it always helps to have someone to talk to. There are a lot of good people on the social networks. Just find a group interested in health and fitness. You might be surprised at the help you can get.

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Losing Weight: Do ‘Diets’ Work? List of 5 Obstacles to dieting

Monday, January 21st, 2008

If you noticed, I have some links on the right side for some diet programs and diet helps that do work. I have found that the different diet programs offer different services to us, the dieter.  We have certain problems in our life that make it hard for us to lose weight or maintain our weight.

1. Time Constraints. There are so many things to do in our society – school, work, church, family, friends, shopping, cleaning, errands, doctor appointments, travel, computer research and socializing, etc, not to mention TV. Who has time to eat? I find myself going through a drive through grabbing a hamburger or chicken sandwich. Fat Fat Fat.

2. Lack of Activity. So many activities take time and energy. We sit at the computer, sit at the TV, sit at the ball game, sit at the movie, sit at the cafe, sit in the car driving, etc. And then we are too tired to get up and ‘exercise.’

3. Emotional eating. Many of us use food to comfort us or to distract us from unpleasant things.

4. Self-image, self-confidence. Do any of you find yourself constantly saying unkind things to yourself? This self-talk only eats away at self-image and self-confidence. Then, to prove yourself right, you binge?

5. Proportions – Self-control is another problem. We may eat the right foods, but eat too much. This again can be for comfort or distraction, or be a habit. Enjoying socializing with friends by going out to eat can give us illusion that just going out and eating does the same. Most restaurants will serve about twice the amount of food that we actually need. Or if we cook, we pile what we like on the plate.  We need portion control.

So, diets in and of themselves may work, but unless we change many facets in our lives, the weight maintenance will be harder than the weight loss. Mental attitude towards ourselves and food, activity level, type of food we eat, amount of food we eat, and CALORIES (that dirty word) we eat all have to be taken into consideration for our DIET.

And what is Diet again? It is the food we eat – whatever it is that we eat.

What problems do you encounter losing weight or maintaining it? Leave a comment.

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