List: Little Tips and Mind Tricks!!

I've been collecting little tips and mind tricks for weight loss. Some for from this forum  *Thanks Everyone!* and some are from other sources over the years. I hope this helps!

Please add on and post your Little Tip and Mind Tricks!

 - Portion control: put on your plate what you?d usually eat and then eat only half.

- Cut food into small pieces so it SEEMS like more. Research shows your eyes want to see (or at least the illusion of) large portion sizes.

- Similar to the above: Use small plates and cups. Research shows If it SEEMS like more food you?re more likely to eat less.

- Eat small meals often through out the day.

- If you're going to a place where there is temptation, (parties, grocery shopping) eat first. This is most important when shopping for food because shopping on a full stomach means your brain is free to make rational decisions about right food to buy for your diet.

- Take advantage of daily opportunities for exercise - use stairs, park far away so you have walk more, etc.

- Drink a lot of water and avoid alcohol. If not water, green tea is highly recommended.

- Don't see slip ups in the diet plan as failure - Just a bump in the road. You?re making a huge life style change so losing a small battle here and there doesn?t mean you lost the war. Keep it going!

- Protein rich food will make you feel fuller. Soy beans are great!

-  Cold temperatures will make your metabolism work harder to keep your body warm which means more calories burned.

- When you have a snack, put some in a small bowl rather than eating from a bag. If you bring the bag, you?ll eat more than you want to.

- Servings: better to take many small than a few large. A bit contradicting to above tips but many servings SEEMS like more, right?

- Drink 8oz of water 5 min before eating to get fuller faster and with eating less calories.

- Take a bitet, put fork down, chew, sip some water, repeat. Eating slower will make you feel full faster and you?ll eat less.

- When you should stop eating, pour salt, hot sauce, soapy water, or any sort of ?yuck? over the food on your plate to keep you from continuing to eat it.

- While cooking, have a cough drop to keep from ?taste testing? or eating while you cook.

- When eating out, order a to-go box with your order and immediately put half your order in if for later (tomorrow?s lunch maybe).

-Brush teeth when you?re done. It?s a good deterrent from eating more and has great dental benefits.

-It?s helpful to have snacks pre-measured into portion sized bags. Sometimes having the right foods at your convenience can make all the difference.

Tips below from 'fat like me', an eating disorder site I frequent (although it's been taken down now).  Most of the tips from above posts are common for an anorexic, but are actually difficult to follow without the mental frame of mind of one.

• Learn when you eat and why you eat then in particular. Plan to be doing something unrelated to food at those times. Many of us find night to be the hardest time to avoid food.
• Get plenty of sleep. Steal naps whenever you can and rest when you need to rest. Sleep deprivation increases appetite and makes you age faster.
• Pick apart your food cravings. If you eat food in separate parts instead of all mixed into one, it feels like you've eaten more and you don't get extra stuff you don't really need. For example, if you're really craving pizza, think about what it contains. Bread, tomato sauce, cheese. Drink a can of V8 or eat a tomato. If you still want pizza, have a rice cake or a few crackers or some other starch. If you still want pizza, have a piece of cheese. Or if you're craving peanut butter, have a handful of peanuts and avoid the added sugar and oil contained in most commercial peanut butter. If that doesn't work, eat a spoonful of honey for the sweetness overload. Same net effect, fewer total calories, no wasted empty added crap.
• Fidget, take up a new hobby, find something to focus on. Find something with which to distract your hands and / or mouth. Chewing gum works for many people, but check for calories. Sewing or stringing beads is good, detail-oriented and monotonous. Keep yourself occupied.

Here are a few tips I've picked up...
 
*Drink a LOT of water.

Personally, I'm TERRIBLE at this.  I recently bought green tea to-go packets, as well as Crystal Light to add to my water--now I'm drinking 10-12 8 oz. glasses a day)

*Eat carrots or celery and hummus or salsa every day

I've started eating carrot and celery pieces with salsa or hummus every day as a snack, or with lunch.  It fills me up super quick, and it's tasty too... A HUGE serving is on the verge of 100 calories.  Not bad, eh?

*Exercise in the morning.

If you're like me, you plan all day to go to the gym or pop that exercise DVD into the player as soon as you get home from school or work... and it never happens.  By exercising in the morning  I've gotten a workout in every day and I've been able to make use of my time in the afternoon (or simply relax) without feeling guilty for not exercising.

*DON'T WEIGHT YOURSELF EVERYDAY!!!!!

I used to be an everyday weigher.   I didn't lose more than 5 pounds before I gained it back.  A research study in  Minnesota found that teenage girls who weighed themselves frequently actually gained more weight over a period of time than girls who seldomly weighed themselves.  If you dwell on your weight, you'll only be frustrated with a lack of results (because you expect to lose too quickly).  Be patient.  Be kind to your body.  Focus on feeling good and healthy rather than the numbers--they will follow.

*Love yourself.

I cannot stress how important self love is when it comes to losing weight.  I have hated my body and my self for years.  I finally made a change.  I decided to love everything about me, and respect it.  It only made me want to care for my body in a better way--to lose weight to be healthier, not to be super skinny.  I'm on my way.  I believe in myself.  I love myself.  And that makes all the difference.

***Good luck to all of you.  May all of your health and fitness dreams come true.  :-) ***

<3 Meg

Here are some I found at a health site

1. Drink Water! Water doesn't just help quench your thirst. All metabolic processes within the body utilize H2O and drinking plenty of it helps your body function optimally. It also helps you feel your best---many of the common daily headaches and fatigues we experience can result from a lack of water intake.

2. Eat Breakfast! Many Americans fail to realize the true value of a morning meal. It not only boosts energy for the long day ahead, but keeps your metabolism regulated. Skipping a meal can put the body into "survival mode" which means that it actually begins storing and saving fat as opposed to burning it.

3. Exercise! There is no easy way around it: successful and sustained weight loss requires a commitment to physical activity. The best way to be loyal to physical activity is to work it into each day. Take a small part of each day to go for a walk, do aerobics, do yoga, or whatever other type of activity you enjoy. Mix it up so that you don't get bored with it. Soon, you will not only get used to it, but you will feel better too!



4. Choose Variety! Don't let popular dieting trends fool you: Carbs are good for you too! In fact, carbohydrates are what your brain run on and are very important for proper body functions. Following a high-protein diet over a long period of time can not only cause headaches, but also places considerable stress on the kidney. The important thing is to eat a variety of foods. This includes fruits, vegetables and even carbs. Just remember to be smart about the types of carbs you eat:: whole wheat instead of white.

5. Eat Slowly! We all get in a hurry from time to time, but it is important to take the time to listen to our bodies. Eating quickly doesn't give our bodies time to tell our brains that we have eaten enough. Consequently, we continue eating and are left filling stuffed and bloated. Eating more slowly allows us to recognize when we actually have eaten enough and stop'it also helps us savour and enjoy the food we do eat.

When you have a craving  chew a piece of sugar free gum. It works if you are trying  to quit smoking also.

Serve plates of food in healthy portions. Don't put bowls  and platters on the table, this only encourages taking 2 and 3 more helpings.

• Exercise in the morning -  This really helps me, because if I start off my day really healthy I am more apt to continue to be healthy.  It just makes you feel really great when you start your day (and it gets your metabolism going).  My doctor told me that you get "double benefits" by exercising in the morning.  Something about the metabolism and blah blah blah.
• Pre-measured snacks/meals - I know this was posted before, but it really helps.  I also do it with home cooked meals.  If the cookbook says its six portions, then six portions it shall be.  Makes it a lot harder to over eat if you can already see the portion sizes split up. 
• Find an activity -  On this one, I really agree with Dr. Phil.  If you're a boredom eater (like me) it's hard to cut out all of the little snacks throughout the day.  Find an activity that can take its place.  For me it is usually sewing, reading, or cleaning.  While these may not sound fun to some, it keeps me from eating a snack I don't need.
• Remember you might just be thirsty -  While most people here are drinking enough water, it took me a long time to get there.  Sometimes I would think I was hungry when all my body really wanted was hydration.  So, try drinking some water or tea or juice (whatever helps you) and then wait a few minutes and see if you're still hungry.

This is a great thread.  I'm glad I found it.  Little tricks are always nice and you can never have too many!

If you can't keep your hand out of the cookie jar, buy foods that are 1 serving per package (like the 100 calorie cookie, popcorn and chip snack packs, pre-measured fruit cups or juice, yogurts, string cheese, eggs, chocolate, no sugar added hot cocoa).

Indulge yourself once a day with a sweet treat like 1 piece of dark chocolate if you exercised.

Cook up an extra large fresh batch of vegetables so you can grab a bowl for a snack, mix with low fat or heart healthy dressing or salsa.

Cook up a big pot of vegetable soup to have on hand for snacks.

Here are some more from http://eatinglesscrap.com

• Goal:  You need to set a realistic goal, like losing 30 pounds over a six month period.  Put that one in writing in a visible place so it can constantly remind you of your goal.   

• Making Time:  If you want to be successful, then you need to make time for exercise.  Half an hour of exercise a day is enough. It is absolutely necessary that you work out, otherwise don't even bother trying to lose weight, because you'll only end up wasting your time.  

• Figure out what kind exercise you like:  As I've stated before, to lose weight steadily and effectively,  exercise is the most important part  if you want to achieve success.  Pick an exercise that you enjoy and that won't bore you during that half hour.  It can be walking, jogging, running, swimming, riding a bicycle, anything that gets your heart pumping for at least thirty minutes.  For me, it's jogging. I enjoy it very much, since while I'm jogging I also take the time to think about the things I will do throughout the day. 

• Clothes and shoes: Get something comfortable, you don't need a huge sweater that suffocates you, a short sleeve T-shirt will do, as will short or large pants (Actually, this depends on where you live and the weather).  A huge misconception is that the more you sweat the more you lose weight.   Wrong.  Sweat is just water and you will gain that weight back the moment you drink more of it, and you will be drinking a lot of water.  But, the good side effect of sweating a lot is that you will also lose sodium (and several other minerals you need to replenish), so if you suffer from high sodium, then using a huge, warm sweater could help you regain healthy sodium levels.   Use sneakers, or any brand of comfortable and sturdy running shoes,  otherwise you will end with horrible, horrible back pain. 

• Reason: Why do you want to lose weight?  Is it for your health?  Is it because you want to be prettier?  Is it because of a boyfriend/girlfriend?  If the reason is one of the first two then you are ready to the next item on the list, but if you just want to lose weight because a boyfriend/girlfriend told you so or because you want to impress someone, then you need to stop right now and re-check your priorities.   You should do this because YOU want to feel good about yourself, not because you want someone else to feel good about you. 

• Motivation: I was pretty straightforward on the last point because when you lose weight for another person, and it turns out that said person is not interested in you after you lose all the weight, then you will not just lose your motivation, your whole mental well being is going to suffer and in the end you will most probably gain all the weight back, even more.  To stay motivated you need to keep it real, don't measure your weight every day, do it every other week instead, and even then if it doesn't go down the way you expect it to, you should know that you are growing muscle mass now, and that muscle mass tends to weigh more than fat does.   You could also measure your waist, since it can be a more precise indicator of how many pounds you've lost. 

• Food: I am not a fanatic of diets that exclude certain food types, instead I am a fanatic of moderation.  In fact I hate the word "diet". That implies that you are going to forcibly eat something for a determined period of time when you should be doing the opposite.  The term I like is "behavior modification".  You should modify your eating habits and keep them for life.  Instead of focusing on a low carb or high protein diet I focus on calories.  I should be eating around 2450 calories a day to maintain my current

A few more good links:

http://www.changeone.com/gen-con/fr_article.j html?articleId=1246&wtgroup=c1_ntscp& wtid=c1_artcl_18&trkid=c1_artcl_18

http://www.changeone.com/gen-con/fr_article.j html?articleId=1301&wtgroup=c1_ntscp& wtid=c1_artcl_18&trkid=c1_artcl_18

http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/hom erealestate/feature.jsp?story=CO_50habitsofth inpeople

My favs

Eat with a smaller spoon. I have a wendy's ice cream spoon I love. Its not that small, but its shallow, stopping me from gulping down my cereal, or pigging out if I eat dessert
Use chopsticks. Its fiddly and makes you eat slower.
Eat a little of a lot - variety. For brekkie I have heaps of differnt types of food eg. 1 weetbix, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 tub yogurt, small apple, 1 slice toast with vegemite = 300 cal. My limit is 350 so I still have room, but dont want to eat anything else. If I'd just had weetbix, I may have a toast craving later
Share. I always share food. I bought a packet of 99% fat free biscotti as a treat for myself, but already got rid of half the pack, by sharing it with friends. If you have a dieting friend, you can share you treats, so you cant indulge in a late-night binge fest.

We have a bread machine and I make most of our bread. I use a whole grain mix that is heavy and easy to slice very thin. This way I can have a 2 slice sandwich using only half the amount of bread. Because there isnt as much bread you can spread the filling thinner as well. For some reason, a half sandwich or an open faced sandwich just isnt the same as two slices. I know its all in my head, but it works for me.

This is not a dieting trick just a Public Service Announcment........

Never, I mean Never take a laxative and sleeping pill at the same time.......................

Roy ;-)

another exercise trick: sneak in little routines throughout the day. For instance, when you brush your teeth, do ten leg lifts each side as you stand there. When you take a can of soup out of the cupboard, hold it like a barbell and lift it above your head ten times. During commercials do ten situps. Dance in your living room while dusting it. When you make your bed, hold on to the side of it and do ten squats.

I did this a few years ago and effortlessly started losing weight.

Also, if you have trouble drinking enough water ... get a big, thick straw from a neoprene water bottle, and drink your water through it.

It helps in the beginning to guzzle a glass down in "one go" whenever you drink it.

Within just a day or two, your body will start to demand that you drink more water, and it won't let you forget.

Yeah, Laxitives aren't the way to go and can seriously mess you up. DON"T DO IT!

A small but great idea came to me from watching "The biggest loser" last year. Jillian took her contestants to a subway restaurant, and asked the person serving to "dig" the bread out from the middle of the bread roll, so it was sort of hollow inside.

This works great-you can barely taste a difference, it saves you around 50 calories worth of bread, and your salad fits inside more easily.  

Remember, any movement of your body is better than not moving at all.  If you're stuck behind a desk all day at work, try standing while you work.  Or if you can't, fidget a LOT.  I listen to music and keep my legs and toes tapping while I sit there, and take several breaks to take a quick walk around the building.  I also squeeze and release different muscles, like my stomach muscles.  

I too recommend exercising in the morning.  It gives you more energy to start your day, and it gives you great motivation to make healthy choices during the day because you've already told yourself that you're committed to your plan. 

Another great tip for when you don't have the motivation/energy to work out - commit to just 10 minutes at the gym, on the treadmill, or whatever your exercise of choice is.  Chances are, after 10 minutes you'll have the energy to go longer.  If not, 10 minutes is definitely better than 0 minutes! 

I also highly recommend walking!  Aim for walking at least 30 minutes each and every day.  It makes a huge difference in your weight loss, and it gives you time to clear your mind and thank your blessings!

As

for

This may seem obvious, but it's great to SPLIT AN ENTREE at a restuarant... save money and calories!

I always do this, and I have never once regretted it!

Here's something I discovered on my own that helped me SOOO much: If you're starting to feel a food urge/craving coming on but are still rational and not hungry, DECIDE what you're going to eat next instead of waiting until you're starving to decide. Moreover, one of the tests of true hunger versus a food craving is whether you want to eat something wholesome or junk food.

For example, I would say to myself: "OK, I'm starting to feel the munchies. The next thing I'll have is an orange, followed by that batch of steamed broccoli I have in the fridge." So until that orange starts to sound really good (in other words, real hunger coming on), I don't eat. And by the time I eat that orange, I'm rational enough to decide i f I really want that ice cream after  all.