What to Do When Faced With Temptation #91
Posted by Terry | Tagged as: weight loss tips
Here is the 91st article in this great series of the Top 100 Weight Loss Tips. Each new article will bring you another great new top tip on how to successfully lose weight. The last tip looked at why olive oil is so good for you from both a health and a weight loss standpoint.
This article looks at one of the problems faced by almost all dieters at some stage or another. Its that if being faced with something you badly want to eat but know you shouldn’t. What do you do when faced with temptation for something you know you really shouldn’t be eating? Read on…
What to Do When Faced With Temptation
To eat or not to eat…
When you’re actively trying to lose weight fast, what ever your reasons may be, situations are going to arise when you’ll come up against one of the foods that are banned from your diet. In these cases you are likely going to be overcome with a desire to eat them. So what do you do when you find yourself stuck in a dilemma of whether to give in to your sudden craving to eat it or not.
The diet books and podium thumping diet experts will probably tell you to be strong and resist temptation. That the craving will go away of its own accord an a short time, especially if you can walk away from the food and drink a glass of plain water instead. Sure, this is the textbook thing to do, but is it the right thing to do?
Modern dieting techniques are beginning to question this approach and instead are saying, if you really want it so bad, then cut off a small piece if possible and treat yourself. This way you satisfy your cravings by eating a small piece of what you want and putting the rest away for another day. It follows the school of thought that if you’re hungry for something, then go right ahead and eat it and don’t go stressing yourself by denying yourself simple pleasures every now and again.
The way to gauge how effective this is for you is to start by taking a single mouthful of what you desire and making a point of chewing it over really slow and concentrating on the flavors, the textures and everything about the experience of enjoying that mouthful to its fullest extent. This works whether its a diet meal you prepared yourself, or you got from a diet food delivery program like Nutrisystem or Bistro MD and the like. When you finally get around to swallowing, tell yourself “My craving is completely satisfied now” and make it your intention to believe it totally.
That way, you have had your treat and satisfied your mental craving to taste the treat (whatever it was) by making full use of concentrating all of your senses on enjoying that moment and dragging it out for as long as possible to get the maximum satisfaction from it. When you do that, you’ll realize you don’t want any more and are quite happy to get back to your diet.
As an aside, when you do succumb to treating yourself, make sure you do it on a full stomach, sometime after eating a meal that is within your diet’s guidelines. This is extremely important, because by treating yourself when you are already full, you only have to satisfy a craving for the taste and experience of eating the treat. You do not have to also face the added prospect of satisfying hunger.
If you are hungry and you have your eye on a treat, then you must walk away from it. There is no way you will be strong enough to take only one bite of a treat when you are hungry, because in that case you have two very powerful urges to satisfy instead of just one. The urge to satisfy the craving for a taste and experience of enjoying a treat can be dealt with, but try to overcome the addition load of the urge to satisfy hunger and you will most likely fail and eat the whole thing!
Why is this? Because hunger is an imperative that must be satisfied before all else.
That’s why your meals should consist of a balance of foods that will fill you up, such as plenty of freshly cooked vegetables, meat (if you are not vegetarian) or fish, potatoes (rich in fiber and vitamins) and/or brown pasta or brown rice. Once you are full up, then you can have your treat because the hunger imperative has been satisfied with the meal and you will be much more able to resist taking a second bite!
All in all, when you know that there is room for a sneaky treat every now and then, a diet becomes much more doable and even enjoyable, especially when you are aiming to lose a few pounds for a forthcoming event that you have bought a special outfit for and you need to fit into it comfortably!
100 weight loss tips number 90 will follow in the next post!
Free Weight Loss programs-The race to fitness is on and a lot of people are getting into the band wagon. Some people do it to achieve a sexy body, some people just do it because they are embarrassed with the body they have now, while others do it simply to remain fit and heatlthy. As such, many fitness programs are out in the internet, in gyms, spas and fitness centers all over. Some are too expensive to afford that one may even lose weight just by trying to work out the money needed to pursue these fitness programs.One may not have to go to the gym or the spa or any fitness center and spend much just to slim down to obtain that longed for sexy body. There are many books available in the bookstore which offer weight loss programs which are convenient and for free, of course the books are not though. These weight loss programs, or diet plans are gaining immense popularity with so much publicity, testimonials and reviews that one may be confused which exactly to follow. So before choosing which weight loss plan to follow, try reading these summaries about the most popular diet programs out today.Atkins’ New Diet Revolution by Dr. Atkins. This weight loss program encourages high protein diet and a trim down on the carbs. One can feast on vegetables and meat but should fast on bread and pasta. One is also not restricted against fat intake so it is okay to pour in the salad dressing and freely spread on the butter. However, after the diet, one may find himself lacking on fiber and calcium yet high in fat. Intake of grains and fruits are also limited.Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet by Drs. Heller. This diet plan advocates low carbohyrate eating. Approves on eating meats, vegetables and fruits, dairy and grain products. however, warns against taking in too much carb. “Reward” meal can be too high on fats and saturated fats.Choose to Lose by Dr. Goor. Restrains fat intake. One is given a “fat” budget and he is given the liberty on how to spend it. It does not pressure the individual to watch his carbohydrate intake. Eating meat and poultry as well as low-fat dairy and seafoods is okay. A go signal is also given on eating vegetables, fruits, cereals, bread and pasta. This weight loss plan is fairly healthy, good amounts of fruits and vegetables as well as saturated fats. Watch triglyceride levels though; if high, trim down the carbohydrates and tuck in more of the unsaturated fats.The DASH Diet. Advocates moderate amounts of fat and protein intake and high on carbs. Primarily designed to lower blood pressure, the diet plan follows the pyramid food guide and encourages high intake of whole wheat grains as well as fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy. Some dieters think it advocates too much eating to procure significant weight loss.Eat More, Weigh Less by Dr. Ornish. Primarily vegetarian fare and strictly low-fat. Gives the go signal on the “glow” foods but warns to watch it on non-fat dairy and egg whites. This diet is poor in calcium and retricts consumption of healthy foods like seafoods and lean poultry.Eat Right for Your Type. Interesting because it is based on the person’s blood type. recommends plenty of mest for people with the blood type O. Diet plans for some blood types are nutritionally imbalanced and too low in calories. And for the record, there is even no proof that blood type affects dietary needs.The Pritkin Principle. Focused on trimming the calorie density in eating by suggesting watery foods that make one feel full. Eating vegetables, fruits, oatmeal, pasta, soups, salads and low-fat dairy is okay. Although limits protein sources to lean meat, pseafood and poultry. Although it is healthy by providing low amounts of saturated fats and rich amounts of vegetables and fruits, it is also low on calcium and limits lean protein sources.Volumetrics. For low-density calorie eating. Recommends the same foodstuff as Pritkin but restricts fatty or dry foods like popcorn, pretzels and crackers. This plan is reasonably healthy given the high amounts of fruits and vegetables as well as being low in calorie density and saturated fats.
The Zone. Moderately low on the carbs yet moderately high on the proteins. Encourages low-fat protein foods like fish and chicken plus veggies, fruits and grains. It is also healthy but lacking in grains and calcium.Weight Watchers. High carbohydrates, moderate on fats and proteins. A very healthy diet plan and very flexible too. it allows the dieter to plan his own meal rather than give him a set to follow.