I have learned through my business as a Newport Beach Personal Trainer that dieting is the number one obstacle most people have trouble overcoming while trying to get fit. Even people who are diligent exercisers, who hit the gym with full intensity and always make sure to get enough rest to recover, somehow usually find themselves a bit confused as to want constitutes a good diet. Even in cases when people feel confident that they know how to eat right, most have difficultly actually following a good diet.
Don’t Be Too Strict – If you decide that you are going to eat nothing but unsalted egg whites, carrots, and rice cakes until you reach your goal weight, you are setting yourself up for failure. A diet for weight loss should strike a good balance between food that is good for you and food that you can be happy with eating on regular basis. As a Newport Beach Personal Trainer, I have seen more diets fail because they are too strict than because of any other reason.
It’s a good strategy to designate a “cheat meal” every week. For one meal a week, you should allow yourself to eat whatever your heart desires, whether it be pizza, a cheeseburger and French fries, or a big meal of takeout Chinese food. One meal a week isn’t going to ruin your fitness plan, and a usual cheat meal can help you be on a regular diet without feeling deprived.
Purchase Foods that are both Healthy and Convenient – When given the choice between a pizza that they can pop in the microwave and eat in three minutes and a vegetable medley that requires one to break out the knives and cutting board to make, most people are going to choose the pizza. There are just not enough hours in a day to be able to dedicate a significant chunk of time to preparing food.
So you aren’t tempted to sacrifice your health for the sake of convenience, make sure there are lots of ready-to-eat healthy foods in your cupboard and freezer. Stock up on canned soups that have a lot of good vegetables in them. Buy whole-grain wraps that you can use to make a healthy burrito. And frozen vegetables are fantastic because they only require a couple minutes of pan-frying to be ready.
Handle Stress without Food – A surprisingly large number of people turn to food when trying to deal with stress at work or home. The desire to deal with stress with fatty or sweet foods usually intensifies when someone switches to a healthy diet. Head this off by finding ways you can handle stressful occurrences without food. Try to engage in your favorite hobby when you feel stress creeping up on you. Or you can try drinking flavored zero calorie tea.
Limit Booze – It’s pretty common for people to diet smart all week long, then cut loose on the weekends, have a bunch of drinks, and wonder why they aren’t making much progress.
Excess alcohol can disrupt a diet a number of ways. First of all, alcohol usually comes with a bunch of calories. A bottle of Heineken has about a hundred and fifty calories. So if you down four of those in the course of an evening, it’s like eating an entire large meal. Secondly, your body has to burn off all the alcohol in your body before it can go back to burning fat, so it can delay the weight loss process. And thirdly, alcohol can interrupt protein synthesis, which can delay the muscle building process. There’s nothing wrong with a drink now and then, heck, I’m a Newport Beach Personal Trainer, and I like to imbibe now and then. But binging too often can cause serious interruptions in your fitness progress.
Chris McCombs is a personal trainer in Newport Beach At one time Chris was extremely overweight. Chris lost the weight and started his own fitness business Positively Fit Inc. which services personal training in Newport Beach You can learn more about Chris at http://www.socalworkout.com/personal_fitness_trainer_newport_beach.html
