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Easy Proven Tips for Reducing Weight
while still enjoying life

Will power just isn’t enough as most of us have already proved.  Even so here are a few good, easy, practical tips … that help … which I actually use all the time (or at least with relatively few exceptions :).

At least limit your daily consumption … most easily done by getting soft drinks out of the house

* Restrict yourself to only eating the best of all that unhealthy stuff you now unconsciously devour.  Don’t just eat any dessert that appears in front of you … eat only the best that you especially like.  Never order average stuff … I’ve done this for years with very little will power.  E.g., Cheap store bought cookies don’t interest me at all now though years ago I ate plenty.

* If you don’t seriously want it all then leave your plate half full (unlike the way I was trained as a child :).  Now almost every time we go out I bring home a doggie plate which is actually for the dogs; most restaurants give far more than I truly want to eat.  By the way, at home use small plates and small portions (take seconds later if you must but don’t initially fill a big plate that you will unconsciously empty).

* Keep unhealthy stuff out of the house.  Keep fruit around instead. If you really want unhealthy items then make it an effort to get them rather than have them “accidentally” hanging around. We all know how that works out.

* In particular, definitely keep salty snacks and soft drinks out of the house or even the garage in my case :).  Store them at the grocery store rather than handy to your TV.  Millions have been spent chemically designing such snacks to keep you unconsciously imbibing them and to “hook” you permanently.  E.g. notice how the color of a Coke can attracts your attention every time you look in the refrigerator.  Buy only one bottle or one bag if you must; I still do buy a few but notice that my taste for such things has decreased substantially over the years.

* Artificial sweeteners do not help people lose weight or prevent sugar-related diseases like metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.  After time researchers eventually prove that every new artificial chemical sweeter does not work.  Real sugar is safer.

* Get rid of the salt shaker and the sugar bowl. In our house we’ve done that for years with no effort. If you do this then you will eventually lose your taste for it.  Throughout my childhood I put sugar on my morning cereal; now I can’t stand eating sugar on my cereal.  We get far too much salt & sugar in processed foods already (see next item).

* When buying processed food always check the salt content. Often just one can of soup contains more than the entire daily adult allowance of 1500 mg. I’ve also noticed that different brands of the same item, all of which are roughly equivalent in taste, can include much different quantities of salt.  That makes your choice easy.

Of course, as we get older, these tips will probably just help us gain less weight rather than actually lose weights. It takes serious calorie restrictions over a long period of time to actually lose 1-2 lbs/week.  Too bad, so sad but that’s life.

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