Simple Steps to Fewer Calories

Gaining weight by eating too many calories is a problem that haunts many people. Let's face it–it is all too tempting to fill up a plate with a bit of everything, to fill up a plate until you cannot see any of it, or to go back for seconds. Leftovers are a food lover's easy meal to prepare. Now that people do not need to grow their own food, it is all too easy to overeat without exerting much effort at all.

Today, it is so easy to eat more than we need, to eat the wrong type of foods, and to keep eating. At first, the weight gain might not be noticeable. Then, it begins to become more apparent as the pants become a little tighter and the sweaters become a bit snugger around the waist.

Temptation surrounds people at every turn. The malls are full of fast food restaurants, ice cream shops, candy stores, pretzel places, and pizza joints. Almost every corner has a donut shop, a speedy market, or a fast food restaurant. Sometimes, it isn't even possible to get away from food temptations at work. People bring in donuts for morning coffee break or birthday cakes to celebrate someone's birthday.

Plus, temptation gets even more difficult to resist when you consider the types of restaurants out there to choose from. Just about every type of cuisine is available from American to Italian to Chinese to Japanese to Thai to Mexican and so on.

Additionally, a buffet restaurant is a food lover's dream come true. The only problem is that quite often, a visit to one of these is inherently connected to a gain in weight. This is particularly true if a visit to a restaurant serving unlimited buffet meals is a regular occurrence.

Fortunately, a few simple techniques can be used to help avoid some of these temptations. Try to incorporate a few of these into your daily life to help you continually lose weight over time. Even if you just follow a couple of these loosely, you could have some success. Even though you might not lose a great deal of weight that way, at least you shouldn't gain quite so much.

The simplest and easiest way to avoid fast food calories and all-you-can-eat buffets is to plan your meals at home. Limit eating out to once a month. That way, you still get to indulge, just on a smaller scale.

Incorporate a salad into several meals a week. You can either make your salad the star of the meal or you can plan it as the appetizer. As long as you don't load up on dressing, a salad can be quite low in calories. Plus, salads are full of nutrients and vitamins.

When you put the leftovers from dinner away, package them in single-serve portions. This way, instead of piling up your plate from the seemingly unlimited supply of leftovers, you can enjoy a correctly-sized meal with fewer calories.

Limit the accessibility of your binge-eating trigger foods. Instead of purchasing full size bags of chips and snacks, purchase single-serve packages and limit your snacking to one package. If chocolate candy is your weakness, purchase a single, individual-size candy bar rather than the larger bars.

Keep your energy level up with several smaller meals and snacks rather than one huge mega meal. Eating smaller meals also makes it easier to incorporate fruits and veggies as a quick pick me up. Quite often, eating a large meal leads to a slight sluggishness and lower activity level. Eating an apple or small salad limits your sedentary time and keeps your mind alert.

Plan your dinners differently. Use high calorie items as side dishes in limited quantities and prepare more of the lower calorie items. Aim for two vegetables instead of two starches. Plus, drink water with your meal instead of wine or soda.

Hide the seconds–no, not literally. However, instead of keeping the seconds on the table within easy reach, keep them on the counter top or stove top. This way, you have time to rethink your decision to eat more as you meander over to get more.

Finally, get a book on nutrition and learn what an individually-sized portion looks like. If you don't know how much you should be placing on your plate, it is easier to overeat.

It is so much easier to gain weight than it is to lose it. Try and watch your diet throughout your life in order to have healthier eating habits. Pay attention to what foods are beneficial for you and which ones are not. If you stray from your goals, don't worry about it. Instead, just continue from where you left off. Eating healthy is a step in the right direction for living healthy.

Weight Loss Diet Help > Articles > Simple Steps to Fewer Calories