More Successful Diet Tips

There are many diet plans on the market which promise to help you lose weight. But you don't need a lot of books, pills, powders and diet foods in order to lose weight successfully if you just use common sense and keep yourself on track with a few simple strategies for successful weight loss.

-Remember your numbers: 2000 calories=1 pound gained. 3500 calories=1 pound lost. See where you can take control to shave off a few calories here and there.
-Avoid commercial fast-food like the plague. Go for quick and easy recipes cooked by yourself at home instead of take out meals or visits to a restaurant.
-Cook several servings at the same time to have enough for leftovers for lunch or dinner. Or, use the leftovers to create your own homemade TV dinners you can store in a plastic container in the freezer which you can zap in the microwave quickly any time to have a wholesome meal in minutes.
-Always bring a healthy snack with you to avoid temptation in public while on your diet. Carrot or celery sticks or peanut butter and crackers are great on the go.
-Always eat salad and some lean protein before you go out for a party or social occasion like a dinner out in a restaurant. It will stop you binging, and the energy spikes that come with starving on your diet and then indulging.
-Keep your toothbrush and mouthwash handy after every meal when you diet. Not only will it help keep your mouth fresh, food never tastes quite so yummy before or after you’ve brushed your teeth.
-At the holidays, avoid packing on empty calories with alcohol and party type foods.
-If you are having guests for the holidays, split up the leftovers and send them home with your guests. Don't turn one day of indulgence into three days of bad eating.
-Avoid taking a perfectly healthy food and transforming it into a diet nightmare. For instance, a sweet potato is delicious straight out of the microwave. It doesn't need to be mashed with butter, milk and brown sugar and served with marshmallows on top.
-Always opt for the breast meat in poultry versus the dark meat. White meat has only 1 gram of fat per ounce, dark meat 3. This may not sound like a huge difference on your diet, but if the average dinner serving size is 6 ounces, do the math: 1 x 6=6 grams of fat, versus 3 x 6=18 grams of fat.
-Choose healthy fats like extra-virgin olive oil and nuts. Used in moderation, they can actually help you eat less by making you feel more full.
-Beware of salt in your diet, found in lunch meats, smoked foods like fish, and canned goods like soup (where it will be listed as sodium on the label).  Salt makes you retain water in the body, and can pack on the pounds and make you feel bloated and unattractive.  It can also leave you craving more food.
-Don't deprive yourself on your diet. Try to come up with healthy alternatives to the foods you love to eat out.
-Make your own homemade pizza, with moderate amounts of low-fat cheese and lots of vegetable like broccoli, spinach, peppers, onions and mushrooms. Use low salt tomatoes and make your own crust to avoid salt and other preservatives.
-Never deep fry your foods.  If you want fried chicken, try a homemade oven-baked version with non-sweetened crispy cereal like corn or bran flakes to satisfy your craving.