Here are ten mostly painless tips to help you become the thin person you have hiding inside you.
1) A tip my doctor gave me: Don’t drink anything while you are eating. He told me this will make you have to chew longer, fill you up faster, and make the meal more satisfying than if you are washing your half-chewed food down with liquid. I’ve been eating that way for about a month now and it really works. I have found that I eat much less but feel as though I’ve eaten more.
2) You’ve all heard this one. DRINK 6-8 GLASSES OF WATER EVERY DAY – It washes down metabolized fat.
3) Limit your fat intake to 20-50 grams per day.
4) Try using skim or 1% milk. Did you know regular milk is only 3-4%? Try weaning yourself from whole milk by first switching to 2%, then 1%, and finally skim.
5)Buy low-fat yogurt and cheeses. Try freezing the yogurt until it’s frozen solid. When ready to eat, microwave for about 1 minute to soften it enough to use a spoon, then eat it as a substitute for ice cream. It will take longer to eat that way, too, and doesn’t taste much different than ice cream.
6)Cut off excess fat from meats and limit portions to about 3-4 ounces per day. A piece of meat the size of a deck of playing cards is all you need. Concentrate on lean meats such as wild game (except bear), water packed tuna fish, and poultry.
7)Try to avoid nuts. Most contain a high level of fats.
8)Eat up to 6 veggies and up to 3 fruits a day.
9)Limit the servings of bread to one per meal.
10)Try avoiding or eliminating sweets. Substitute fruits when you have a craving for something sweet.