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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007

The Ten Habits of Every Successful Dieter

There are 10 habits that every successful dieter must practice. How many are you struggling to master?

1. Listening to Your Body
Listening to your body means that you carefully observe yourself when you are eating to determine when you are physically satisfied. If you practice listening to your body, you can greatly decrease the amount of food you eat. Many people overeat because they feel like they have to clean their plate or because they want to feel stuffed. But these people aren't listening to the signals from their body telling them that they are physically full.

2. Hunger Management
Many people overeat because they don't properly manage their hunger. Some let themselves get too hungry and their hunger forces them to eat too much when they finally see food again. Or, they eat unhealthy food to quickly satisfy their hunger. The best way to manage your hunger is to strategically plan meals ahead of time so you don't get too hungry. The other trick is to carry around healthy snacks so your hunger never gets out of control.

3. Bouncing Back
Let's face it - indulgence is inevitable. If you don't indulge yourself, at least occasionally, you'll eventually feel deprived. And the fact is, you can't feel deprived your whole life. Besides there's no reason to feel deprived. You can lose weight without depriving yourself! You just have to be flexible. If you eat too much one day, you have to compensate for it later by eating less or exercising more. Being flexible and bouncing back is the name of the game. Don't let one little indulgence prevent you from managing your weight for a lifetime.

4. Keeping My Weight In Mind
Keeping your weight in your mind when you're choosing what to eat and what to avoid is a big part of winning the weight loss battle. If your weight loss goal slips out of your mind at the sight of your favorite foods, you'll find yourself sabotaging your own weight loss efforts. It's important to stay focused. You need to understand that weight loss happens in the present. If you tell yourself, "This time it's ok," and go overboard on your favorite food, what will prevent you from telling yourself the same thing the next time, and the time after that? Keep your mind on your goal, but always remember that what you do right now will determine how quickly you reach your goal, or whether you reach it at all.

5. Avoiding Junk Food
I don't have to explain why this is one of the 10 Habits because eating too much junk food is a surefire way of keeping your ideal weight out of reach-that's why it's called junk food. But junk food has a powerful hold over some people that can be hard to break and that's why it deserves special attention.

6. Exercising Enough
Exercise is absolutely essential to weight loss. It doesn't matter how few calories or carbs you eat, if you don't use up that energy throughout the week. Getting out there and getting your heart rate up at least a few times a week is key.

7. Using Portion Control
Consciously controlling how much you eat is important. It means you are in charge of what you eat, rather than food being in charge of you. If you know something's fattening, eat a smaller portion. Eat half of something instead of the whole portion. Cutting back on the portion means cutting back on the pounds. Eating smaller portions will also make listening to your body much easier.

Binge Prevention
People complain of their inability to control binging almost more than any other essential weight loss habit. No matter what they do, people just can't seem to stop the urge to binge. Whether they binge when they're frustrated, unhappy, or faced with their favorite foods, almost everyone who struggles with weight loss is faced with this foe. Conquering the urge to binge is a necessary step in lifelong weight management.

9. Savoring My Food
Eating slowly and attentively enables you to prevent overeating. Not only does it help you listen to your body and enforce portion control, it makes you take note of what you're eating. If you're eating donuts, you'll recognize that and be able to stop yourself before you eat too many, that is, more than one. If you eat quickly or inattentively, you might not really realize that you're eating too much until it's too late.

10. Choosing A Balanced Diet
Choosing a well-balanced diet is key to weight loss. There is plenty of information out there for you. It's not the ability to find a balanced diet plan that's the problem - it's sticking to it. Try to find a well-balanced diet that fits your personal tastes.

POSTED BY !MICHELLE! | 1:43:54 PM

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7 COMMENTS

michelle said...

Great tips. Thaniks. I have been working on hunger management and that is helping with all the other 9 keys. How? I am consciously eating smaller meals at more regular intervals. Sometimes I'm eating up to 8 times a day but I am eating much less than what I would normally. That is because I'm not over hungry. I have been a binge eater for over 20 years. This is the first time that I have gone nearly three weeks without a binge for as long as I can remember. It feels great. I even had some chocolate last night and only ate 4 squares. Didn't want to binge and felt satisfied. I also have more energy and I feel like exercising. Give it a try. I am eating what I want without guilt and it feels sooooooooo good.

Patricia said...

Right now much of this just seems impossible. The binge prevention is the key.

Paula G said...

This information is so helpful. Thank you My hope is that I can continue to do this for more than a week.

Erin said...

These are all great tips! My biggest problem is overwhelming myself and I have the mind set of All or Nothing. So of course I have to practice all ten habits at once and then get overwhelmed and fail.

Jamie said...

I could say all of the above. However, I am working on 1,3,4,7 10. I do pretty good on the rest, but that still only 1/2 of them !!

David said...

Bouncing back is my problem. I fall off for a week or more. I will try practicing this more.

Anonymous said...

Great list. I realized Im not practicing some of these.

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Last updated 4/11/2007