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Eat
your way slim in 20 simple steps
The
real secret to healthy eating? Good habits. Here’s how to start
right now.
From the instructions for some diets, you’d think losing weight
was more complicated than quantum physics. The food diaries you
need to write; the nutrition labels you need to read — and
pronounce and translate; the protein, fat, and carbohydrate grams
you have to add up. It’s time to try an easier way. No math,
no more squinting at the fine print and trying to decipher those
words with no vowels. Instead, just 20 everyday tactics that will
get you started on your weight loss plan and then help you stick
to it. Soon enough, your diet will simply become the way you eat.
1. Always eat dessert
Yes, always. “A small amount can signal that the meal is over,”
says Barbara Rolls, PhD, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan.
She ends her meals with a piece of quality chocolate — and
she’s a doctor. Other options include mini-cupcakes or fruit.
 2.
Blot out the fat
You can use a napkin to blot a teaspoon of fat off a pizza slice.
That may not sound like a lot, but multiply it by a slice a week,
and that’s more than a whole cup of fat you won’t eat
— or wear — this year.
3.
Take the beltway
When junk food beckons, tighten your belt a notch. Not so you can’t
breathe, but so you have a gentle reminder of the size you’d
like to be. “The scale isn’t the only measure of weight,”
says Roberta Anding, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic
Association.
4. Go public
Enlist the help of coworkers, friends, and family — and know
they’re watching. “The power of embarrassment is greater
than will-power,” says Stephen Gullo, PhD, author of The Thin
Commandments.
5. Get spicy with it
Capsaicin, the substance that puts the hot in hot pepper, temporarily
boosts your metabolism. Just make sure you’re drinking a yogurt
lassi with that searing-hot chicken vindaloo. Dairy blocks capsaicin’s
sweat-inducing signals better than water.
6. Milk it
Consuming 1,800 mg of calcium a day could block the absorption of
about 80 calories, according to a recent University of Tennessee
study. Jump-start your calcium intake by filling your coffee mug
with fat-free or 1% milk, drinking it down to the level you want
in your coffee, then pouring in your caffeine fix. That’s 300
mg down, 1,500 to go.
7. Go organic
That’s where you’re likely to find bread and cereal with
fiber counts that put the conventional choices to shame. Thought
you were doing well with your 3-g-per-serving Cheerios? Nature’s
Path Slim blows it away with 10 g. (And it really doesn’t taste
like a shredded shoebox.)
8. Splurge on precut veggies at the
supermarket
Sure, they cost more, but you’re more likely to eat them. “Make
low-energy snacks as easy as possible,” Rolls says. “Keep
vegetables as near to hand as you can. Make it so you have no excuse.”
9. Practice fine dining
Pick a restaurant where you’ll actually want to linger. “When
the meals are not hurried, the presentation is beautiful and the
portions are reasonable so you can regulate your attitude,”
Anding says. That means your body — not the empty plate —
will tell you when to stop.
10. Don’t skip your 3 pm feeding
“Have a 150 calorie snack [now], and it can save you 400 calories
later,” Anding says. An ounce of nuts or two sticks of string
cheese weigh in at about 170 calories.
11. Increase your a-peel
Speaking of fiber, a lot of it’s in the peel, whether it’s
potatoes, apples, or pears. Even oranges — don’t eat the
whole peel, but keep the pith, that white stringy stuff; it’s
packed with flavonoids. More nutrients, more fiber, less labor.
12. Drink with your dominant hand
If you’re circulating at a party, Rolls suggests keeping your
glass in the hand you eat with. If you’re drinking with it,
you can’t eat with it, can you?
13. Plate it
Whatever it is, don’t eat it out of the container and don’t
bring the container to the couch. “Part of satiety is visual,”
Anding says. “Your brain actually has to see the food on the
plate, and when you reach into the jar, or the box, or the bag,
you don’t see it.” If it’s worth eating, put it on
a plate. Eat what’s there, then stop.
14. Keep your hands busy
Find a way other than food to work off your nervous energy. “It’s
behavior modification,” Anding says. “Instead of grabbing
a bag of chips, you pick up your knitting. Art works, woodworking
works — anything that occupies your hands.”
15. Take 10
When your mind strays from your desk to the vending machine, it
could be hunger — or it could be boredom or irritation with
your boss. If you’re still thinking about snacking 10 minutes
later, then you’re probably hungry. Think of it as a chance
to have one of the nine servings of fruits and vegetables you need
each day.
16. Go out for ice-cream
Or an eclair. Or even guacamole and chips. Just go out. Don’t
keep your danger foods in the house. You can’t eat half of
a carton of ice-cream that’s not there.
17. Start with salad
It’s the holy grail of dieting — eat less by eating more.
Rolls’s research has found that eating a salad as a first course
decreased total lunch calories by 12%. Avoid the croutons and creamy
dressings, which have the opposite effect.
18. Just scrape by
Always order your bagel or burger with a plastic knife. Use it to
scrape off the excess cream cheese and mayo. You could shave off
as many as half the calories.
19. Send back the bread
All it takes is a wave of the hand, a smile, and a “No, thank
you.”
20. Go crazy — sometimes
Deprivation won’t make you thin — or happy. Designate
a meal or two a week when you can eat absolutely anything you want.
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