If No One Sees You Eat It, It Has No Calories!

If you are trying to lose weight, aren’t getting the results you
want and want to give up….stop! Take stock and see if you have
fallen foul of these ‘diet traps’.

1. If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories

This might sound ridiculous, but you might be surprised to find
that many people act as though this were true! It is easy to
turn a blind eye to what we actually eat and drink during the
day. Being true to yourself with a daily food diary can do
wonders for breaking through a diet plateau. Keep a small
notebook in you at all times and make a quick reminder of
everything, and I mean everything you eat and drink during the
day. It’s just too easy to forget what you eat, especially if
you are used to eating on the run. Mothers with small children
at home are especially at risk. There are hundreds of unwanted
calories lurking in toddler leftovers. Corners of vegemite and
toast, half chewed milk arrowroots and the last sips of
chocolate milk can wreck havoc.

2. You aren’t diligent about planning your meals and healthy
snacks

As a weight loss coach I’ve yet to meet the person who
consciously decides it’s their lifetime goal to put on weight
until they are obese and desperately unhappy about how they
look. Usually it’s a result of one or two decades of no-so-good
food choices and not finding time to exercise that leads to
packing on the pounds. Once you have five or more kilos to lose,
it is going to take a deliberate change in habits over several
months to get rid of the weight. This is where many folk run
aground in their weight loss journey. They fail to plan. It
takes conscious planning to do something different for the
length of time that is required to get the results you want.

If you are not the type of personality that plans, ask yourself
this. How many times do find yourself looking for something to
eat and resort to quick takeaways, vending machines or skipping
meals instead? Start planning ahead by keeping a bowl of fresh
fruit at home and at work at all times. Fruit is great for a
healthy snack. Prepare your lunch to take to work so you won’t
be a victim of vending machines. Get up early so that you have
time to start the day with a healthy breakfast, instead of
grabbing a skinny decaf on the way to work and a diet coke for
morning tea.

3. You’ve fallen subject to fad diet ideas

Keeping a balanced view of all the food groups will help you
have a big enough repertoire of healthy food choices to keep you
motivated and interested longer.

“You can’t look at foods individually,” says Dayle Hayes, M.S.,
R.D., a nutrition consultant in Billings, Mont., and member of
the Council for Women’s Nutrition Solutions. “Any time you
eliminate whole food groups or foods that are a major part of
your diet, you wipe out important nutrients.” For instance, if
you dis dairy, you zap a great source of protein. If you turn
your nose up at high-fat fish like salmon, sardines and herring,
you eliminate a top source of omega-3 fatty acids.

“The ‘bad food list’ is one of the oldest gimmicks in the world
of fad dieting,” adds Robyn Flipse, RD., a nutrition consultant
in Ocean, N.J. “As long as people can blame certain foods or
food combinations for their excess weight, they don’t have to
tackle the bigger issues, like planning, shopping and preparing
meals for themselves and doing some form of physical activity on
a regular basis,” she says.

(c) Kim Beardsmore

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