A while back I posted a question on my Facebook fan page “Come Be Fit With Me”. The question was regarding particular difficulties within every day people who were doing their best to maintain a healthy eating lifestyle. The answers that I got were very similar. That is, people in general find the most difficult weight loss impedances are those temptations that they run into each and every day that always threaten the very goals that they are working so hard to accomplish. They also run into problems with planning ahead when life never sees to slow down. So how do you tackle these concerns?

First and foremost the most important first step that you should take is the recognition and knowledge of what the sabotage foods are and what healthy foods are and what kind of food value each of them bring to your table. Take a week and without altering your eating plan, write down all it is that you are eating. Do not be “good” in this week. Eat what you would normally eat and write it all down from the description of it to how much you have ateen. Include drinks as well because soft drinks and coffee type drinks account for a major number of calories consumed in any given day. Make notes as to how you feel during the day before and after eating. After a week, look at the foods you ate and the quantity of what you ate. Did you eat fresh vegetables and fruits each day? How much “junk food” did you eat? What did you drink? Do you super size? Did you pick and nibble at the office donuts or go to the vending machine? Were there particular times when you felt energized or sluggish?

Next, do some online research of how many calories are in each item you ate and add them up. Fully recognize the nutritional content of the foods you are eating and make a note of how many of these items were items you intended to eat. If you did not intend to eat them or they were not in your food plan then find out how badly they were for you.

The second most important step in conquering unhealthy food temptations is to fill yourself up during the day on foods you enjoy eating. You must never feel deprived because food deprination or starvation is a big contributor to diet sabotage. Your body becomes so deprived and so starved that when you spot that donut or frappuccino you feel it’s OK to splurge because you have consumed very few calories that day. The problem with this thinking is that it becomes a never ending cycle of poor eating with no nutritional value or long term plans for success. Do you ever fall into this type of food cycle trap?

So now you know that you need to fill up on foods you enjoy eating but it is also equally important to consider the nutritional value of those foods that you select for your daily diet. Cookies over fruit or candy over vegetables or soda over water are not good food decisions. Make a list of foods you enjoy that are as close to their normal state as possible. Stay away from anything that sits on a shelf for long periods of time like bagged potato chips or processed versions of natural states of foods like frozen chicken nuggets.

Even though you may not be eating healthy fruits or vegetables your list should include any and all fruits and vegetables that you think eat would be able to eat on any given day. Write it all down. Once you have finished this list add to it with protein sources that you feel you would be able to eat on any given day. You can find many good examples of protein sources. Some of those include lentil beans or any other legume, natural peanut butter, canned tuna fish, hard boiled egg whites, chicken or fish. Include on your list any other foods that you feel have a healthy nutritional value like rolled oats, healthy cereal, quinoa, whole almonds, etc. Walk around a whole foods store or a health food grocery store and look at the items within the aisles. You might get some really great ideas there.

After you are done with your list you are ready to start devising a plan for successful eating. If you set yourself up for success the chances that you will allow the plan to be sabotaged are greatly lessened. This means that you need to choose a food plan for every day to suit your lifestyle. Some people can eat three square meals a day but some people can not wait that long between meals and therefore need snacks in between. If you choose the “smaller meals more often” route you must concentrate on selecting meals and snacks that are fewer in calories compared to the square meals because you are eating more of them. A good gauge for smaller meals are 200 – 300 calories per small meal. Ensuring that you are getting enough protein in your meals and snacks will also help you fend off the munchies.

Lastly, drinking enough water all day long also helps when it comes to eating healthy and curbing cravings. Buy a water bottle to carry with you and keep filling it with water. You might be amazed how much you learn about how much you are drinking through the day by the amount of times you fill the bottle.

If you take these steps and create habits from them you will see great results. Not only will you lose weight but you will find that your desires for sugary and junk foods will be greatly lessened.

Source by Terrys Miller