Diet Tips that you can use to keep YOUR HEART strong and healthy!

Tips –Take a Fresh, New Start on your Situation

• Analyze your current situation; recognize obstacles (both real and in your thoughts).  Develop positive solutions and work toward modifying your lifestyle to make effective changes.  This can be as simple as packing healthy snacks each day to take with you to work or on long commutes.
• What represents inner strength to you?  Visualize this whenever you need help in tempting situations.  This will help you maintain your focus.
• Be aware of your self-talk and listen critically to what it is saying. Rephrase negative self-talk with a positive message. Instead of thinking “I cannot eat those fries”, think “I can enjoy a fresh side salad with my sandwich!”
• Set reasonable, realistic, and measurable short- and long-term weight-loss goals.  These should look like weekly action steps that you can do to achieve the long term success.
• Write your goals in a weight-loss diary to make them real. 
• Keep a food journal.  This is very effective in holding you accountable in your efforts.
• Pay attention to what you are eating now and why. Identify the sources of your personal “hidden” calories, such as eating your child’s leftovers.
• Reassess your progress every six weeks and make changes accordingly.
• Anticipate situations, such as office birthday parties or dinner at a neighbor’s house, which can present bumps on the road to successful weight control.  Create a plan on how you want to react in these situations so you’ll be prepared.  One client I have drinks a V8 and eats an apple before every party or dinner out.  It helps her to stay full, chose healthy options and limit the portions of the treats.
• Learn lessons from the tortoise!  Be persistent and practice new behaviors until they become habit. Slow and steady progress is what is needed to achieve long term success and maintenance of your goals.
• Take action to cure procrastination. Don’t let fear of failure keep you from starting toward your weight-loss goals. 
• BECOME a student of nutrition!  Learn how to read labels.  Products labeled “low-fat” can be high in calories. Always pay attention to ingredients.
• Include high-fiber foods, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, in your diet. They take longer to digest, so they make you feel full longer. In addition, many fruits and vegetables contain water, which provides volume but not calories.
• Identify the nonessential, high-calorie foods you buy out of habit. Stop buying them! If they’re not in your pantry, you won’t eat them.
• REMEMBER – if it isn’t good for you, it isn’t good for your kids!
• Make extra amounts of your favorite low-calorie foods and freeze individual portions. It’s an easy way to control portion size and have handy options available for last-minute meals and snacks.
• Refer to my blog on “Dining out Tips” for guidelines when eating out.
• REMEMBER – you are going for lifestyle changes – make this the last diet you ever go on.

Reference:  American Heart Association No-Fad Diet: A Personal Plan for Healthy Weight Loss, Copyright © 2005 by the American Heart Association.