We all know that losing weight is one of the hardest things to do.  One reason is because people focus more on what they are eating than how they are eating.  Although choosing healthier foods is the best way to lose weight and live a healthier life there are also some small tricks you can do to start shedding a few pounds before you are ready to give up those not so healthy snacks:

1.) Everything in moderation! If you eat something with lots of calories, fat and sugars only eat a few bites just to fulfill that craving.  If you lack the self control than buy those 100 calorie snack packs (although they aren’t the most substantial calories you’ll be much better off than eating an entire bag of chocolate or potato chips!)

2.) Eat small meals throughout the day.  This makes it easier for your body to burn off those calories instead of storing them as fat.  This means that you’ll eat throughout the day–the goal is to never be hungry and never be full–you always want to be satisfied.

3.) Eat a low sugar breakfast (and preferably low sugar all day.) Breakfast will jump start your metabolism early in the day and keep blood sugar levels low throughout the day.  This will help you avoid the feeling of hunger when you crash from your sugar high

4.) Try to eat slowly.  It always takes a bit to realize how full you are.

5.) Have dinner be your smallest meal.  If you are sedentary after dinner that means your metabolism is too.  This means that you are much more likely to store your dinner as fat.  If a big dinner is unavoidable, then just make sure you are active afterwards.  This doesn’t mean you have to go on a run, just do the dishes, take your dog on a walk, anything to keep your metabolism going for as long as possible.

6.) What you eat should depend on your activity level afterwards.  If you are being more active than you are allowed to eat carbohydrates (meaning whole wheat, fruit, vegetables, etc.) but if you are going to be more sedentary than eat more protein (chicken, fish, lowfat dairy).

7.) Drink lots of water throughout the day.  This will fill you up and keep your metabolism going all day.

8.) DON’T STARVE YOURSELF!!!  This will just stop your metabolism which defeats the whole purpose…

9.) Find out what your metabolism is! It helps if you know how many calories you should be eating each day… everyone’s metabolism is different there is no magic number of calories for weight loss…

And let us know if we can help!