Tips and Tricks for Weight Loss

·         Drink at least 64 ounces of water daily, more if you are exercising.

·         Get 30 to 45 minutes of moderate intensity exercise MOST days of the week.

·         Eat 3 meals every day, do not skip meals.  You may even want to try 6 smaller, more frequent meals daily rather than 3 large meals each day.

·         Eat breakfast every morning.  Make it higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates.

·         Eat AT LEAST 1200 calories daily.

·         Limit refined sugars and simple carbohydrates in your daily meal plans.  Add more fresh fruits, veggies, and low fat proteins to your daily meal plan.

·         Have small snacks between meals that are low fat and protein based.

·         Try not to eat meals after 6 pm but a very small, healthy snack 2 hours after dinner is ok.

·         Switch simple carbohydrates for complex carbohydrates.  Examples are switching white rice for brown rice or quinoa, white bread for whole grain bread, regular pasta for whole grain pastas.

·         Swap soft drinks and sweet tea for water or unsweet tea.  AVOID diet soft drinks.  If you want flavored water, try adding lemons, limes, or other fruits to your water.  AVOID alcohol.

·         Limit your intake of fast foods and make healthy swaps when you must eat out!  Swap a salad with grilled chicken for the Big Mac.  If you want a hamburger, eat it without the bun!

·         Instead of choosing ice cream, choose fat free or low fat frozen yogurt.  Swap whole milk for skim milk.  Swap regular cheeses for fat free or low fat cheeses.

·         Choose lean meats that are grilled or baked rather than fried. Remove skin from chicken before cooking and drain fats from ground beef after cooking. Try swapping ground beef with ground chicken, turkey, bison, or venison in chili, spaghetti, burgers, and lasagna. 

·         Make your own salad dressings with low fat ingredients: Ex.  Swap regular ranch dressing for ranch dressing made with fat free or low fat plain yogurt, use olive oil based vinaigrettes rather than those made with vegetable oils. 

·         Remember, you can eat larger amounts of foods that are healthy and filling rather than small amounts of foods that are high in fats and sugar.  For example, you could eat a large grilled chicken salad with 4 ounces of chicken (about 370 calories) for the same amount of calories as a McDouble Hamburger (380) calorie (that is without the fries and coke!).

Remember......weight loss with a friend is always going to keep you on track because you can be accountable to each other for you dietary changes and exercise regimen.  Also, stick to a grocery list and purchase only the items on your list, no grazing the grocery store shelves!