I was searching for some more diet tips and I found more that I thought I would share.  Some are the same tips I’ve touched on before, but with a little bit more information that I forgot to put into those posts.  So read these and see what you think!

 

1. Make exercise part of a weekly routine – at least 3 times a week.

There’s no questioning that exercise is extremely important when you’re trying to lose weight.  But the idea of it for most people just leaves a bad taste in their mouths.  It’s just a routine that needs to be established, and like all routines you must push through it at the beginning.  If you are just starting to work out, try to go to the gym every day for 5 days.  Don’t over exert yourself!  What I did was some light to medium cardio and some weight lifting.  Just enough to feel the burn but not to get sore!  If you get too sore when you’re first starting out, you aren’t going to want to continue on day 2 and 3.

 
2. Don’t drink your calories – stay with water and low fat milk.

Look, I’ll be the first to admit that I love some Dr. Pepper.  When I was younger, I pretty much only drank sodas.  Probably like a lot of young American boys!  As I got older and started realizing what I was drinking and how detrimental it could really be, I stopped drinking them.  Don’t try to stop drinking them cold turkey.  Not that sodas are addictive, but I hear a lot of people complain that they don’t like water because it “tastes too bland”.  Try to go to unsweetened tea, or use some of the packets that you put into water to give it some flavor.

 
3. 3 fruits and 3 vegetables every day.

The fruits part I am good on, but the vegetables part I really need to work on myself.  I am not very big on most vegetables.  I am coming around nicely on some, but it’s a tough battle.  I force myself to eat them for a few weeks and usually by time time that’s over I actually enjoy them and start to crave them.  I tend to only try one or two at a time, so I don’t overdo my taste buds.

 
4. Lean meats, poultry, and fish.  Make sure to bake, broil or grill.

I talked about this in a previous post but I didn’t really touch on the subject of making sure not to fry it.  It defeats the weight loss purpose if you fry chicken or fish.  There are many recipes out there for chicken and fish that you bake and it will taste very similar to fried, so I would suggest starting there for all you fried fish lovers.

 
5. Limit alcohol intake

I watched a video where the recommended amount of alcohol was 1 a day for women and 2 a day for men.  I do love alcohol, but I don’t think I could really sit down and drink every single day, so this one isn’t an issue for me.  Most of the time that I feel like having a beer I am cooking out some chicken on the grill or having a few people over.