Top 5 Ways to Make a Diet Work
1. Make Changes Slowly. One of the biggest ways to make a diet fail is by making changes too quickly. If you’re used to eating hamburgers and drinking soda all day, trying to change that overnight will almost certainly lead to failure. You need to make these changes slowly so that you won’t be overwhelmed by your new eating habits.
2. Count Calories. Yes, counting calories seems like a pain but it’s one of the most accurate ways to gauge how much you’re actually eating. When most people estimate their caloric intake, they tend to underestimate how much they’re eating. If you think you’re only taking in 2,000 calories, you’re probably close to 2,500 or even 3,000 calories. How does counting calories make a diet work? Intake versus expenditure is the equation that will allow you to either lose or gain weight. When you eat more than you burn, you’ll gain weight. When you eat less than you burn, you’ll lose weight. If you have no idea how much you’re eating, and you aren’t losing weight when you think you should be, your problem is that you’re eating too much. Start counting your calories and it will make a difference.
3. Cook Your Own Food. If you’re on a diet you should not be eating out on a regular basis. Foods that you cook yourself are a lot healthier and contain less calories than those you eat in a restaurant. By learning how to cook, you will save money, lower your caloric intake and lose weight faster.
4. Eat Frequently & Snack. One enemy of weight loss is hunger. When you get hungry, you get cravings and unfortunately, you usually don’t get cravings for apples or salads. A good way to beat hunger is by eating smaller more frequent meals or snacking throughout the day. If you eat a small snack before you get hungry, you’re a lot less likely to get a craving later in the day and binge on unhealthy food choices.
5. Replace Drinks With Water. A simple way to cut down on your calorie intake is to replace sugary drinks (sweet tea, soda, fruit juice) with water. These drinks are all filled with empty calories so they won’t leave you satisfied for very long; they are high in calories but low on giving you any form of satiety, the exact opposite of what you should be looking for. Water is free of any calories and will quench your thirst better than most sugary drinks.