What does “diet” mean?
For almost everyone, the term “dieting” means not eating the foods they love, eating smaller portions, and worst of all, skipping meals. I hope we all know by now that dieting is hard and doesn’t work for the long term fat loss we all want.
Let’s take a closer look at the 3 diet methods, the side effects, and the proper way to deal with your diet.
Not eating the foods you love to lose fat
You probably like the same foods that I and most Americans do, over-processed, high in fat and sugar, and oversized portions. We need those large portion sizes because the food we eat is not the nutrition our bodies need. They are just empty calories that our body stores as fat.
If you’re trying to change your entire diet at once, that can be just as difficult as quitting smoking. I tried it and the side effects of cutting out all the sugar were pretty painful. I lasted 3 weeks. The key here is to add a couple of healthy things to your diet and cut back on the unhealthy things. An example would be adding fruit as a snack throughout the day instead of donuts, but only every other day. Then add one more fruit day a week with the occasional donut.
Whatever you do, don’t call it cheating. You can only cheat while on a diet, and that’s not what you’re doing. You’re changing your diet for better health, a leaner, leaner body, more energy, higher self-esteem, and the knowledge that you’re doing what’s best for you and your family.
Eat smaller portions to lose fat
Leaving the table hungry is not the way to go. This is one of the things that makes dieting very difficult. It will put you in a bad mood because you will feel that you are punishing yourself for doing what you like, eating. After a few days of being hungry and weak, you rebel against yourself and eat a whole pizza by yourself. This leads to guilt, resentment, and low self-esteem.
When you switch your diet to nutritious foods, it’s best to eat more often with smaller portions. There is a whole list of foods you can find that are healthy, low in calories, and packed with the nutrients your body needs. The more your body gets used to getting those nutrients, the less hungry you’ll feel. Personally, my favorite snack that keeps me away from the vending machine is peanut cocktails.
I eat a handful every hour and this event helps to eat a smaller lunch. That may be more than recommended, but I have a labor intensive job that burns a lot of calories. I still eat fast food from time to time, but it will just be a small sandwich from the cheap menu, like a chicken sandwich. Never take the fries!
So eating smaller portions of great-tasting healthy foods will keep your metabolism going and burning fat.
Skipping meals to lose fat
Skipping meals is the worst diet method you can do to lose fat. Eating food actually increases metabolism and keeps your body burning calories. This also gives you energy to do more with your day and burn more fat. When you skip meals, bad things happen to your body. Your metabolism, the fat-burning mechanism, slows down to conserve energy and keep your organs functioning. If you only eat once a day, your body will store almost all of the food to keep your body running during times when there is no new fuel. Store this as fat.
For breakfast, I have a whey protein drink, about 170 calories, or a spinach salad, about 230 calories, but both give me plenty of energy, healthy unsaturated fats, vitamins, and micronutrients for healthy body function. Give yourself this boost in the morning and you will see the difference.
If you find that you only like to eat pastries or donuts for breakfast, try switching them up a couple of days a week to start. It will take time for your taste buds to adjust to your new diet. That’s what the protein drink is for. My sweet chocolate fix for the day! Just remember that to lose fat, you need fewer carbs and more protein. To gain weight, eat more carbs and less protein. Go check out the best fat burning foods on my blog. Just click the link below this article.
