Drink more (water, that is) This will help you cut back on sodas, beer, and wine, saving thousands of calories over the summer. But there are safe ways to lose weight relatively quickly in a manner that is sustainable long-term. A quick way to jumpstart weight loss is to cut the stuff that's not good for you, specifically sugar and alcohol. Drinking a soda with lunch and two light beers in the evening can add an additional 400 calories to your day. That's like eating an extra daily meal and hoping you still lose weight. Sadly, that's not how weight loss tends to work. However, getting rid of those junk calories will go a long way toward creating the calorie deficit you need to slim down.
If you're still feeling confused about how to manage your portions and how much of which types of food you should eat, a nutritionist can help. A nutritionist will give you information specific to your body and your dietary needs. Nutritionists are also great for telling you what foods you should absolutely cut out all together and where you might have room to cheat a little for favorites once in a while. They can also direct you on moderation. Dark chocolate and red wine, for example, have health benefits when consumed in moderation, even though chocolate and alcohol in general aren't very conducive to dieting. If you spike your blood sugar then when it crashes you will once again be hungry quickly. This is one of the reasons many nutritionists recommend low glycemic index diets with limited carbohydrate consumption.
All of these interventions included dietary changes, and the added weight-loss benefit from activity was small. Far too many people, though, can manage to find an hour or more in their day to drive to the gym, exercise and then clean up afterward — but complain that there's just no time to cook or prepare a healthful, home-cooked meal. If they would spend just half the time they do exercising trying to make a difference in the kitchen, they'd most likely see much better results.
There's no shortage of cookbooks full of healthier favorites, from mac and cheese to turkey pot pie. Try Diet Simple: 192 Mental Tips, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations by Katherine Tallmadge, RD (LifeLine Press, 2004); The New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life by the American Institute for Cancer Research (University of California Press, 2005), and The French Culinary Institute's Salute to Healthy Cooking: From America's Foremost French Chefs (Rodale Press, 1998).
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