Today, let’s have some fun and explore some tips to help you lose body fat, and stay healthy.
Tip 1) Eat more fruits and vegetables everyday. This one trick alone helps you lose more weight.
Tip 2) Spend the extra money, and buy your fruits and veggies already cut up. You’re more likely to eat them if you don’t have to prepare them.
Tip 3) Remember, vegetable soup, also counts as a vegetable.
Tip 4) If you’re at a party, don’t stand next to the food. You’ll eat less…no, really.
Tip 5) If you’re going shopping, walk around the mall three times before you begin.
Tip 6) People aren’t born with a sweet tooth, they create it. Try going two weeks without sweets. You’ll be amazed how your cravings vanish.
Tip 7) Cut out sweet drinks like cola, tea, lemonade, etc. This one little change will help you lose body fat. In fact, you could lose up to 25 pounds a year.
Tip 8) Going to a buffet? Don’t get a little of everything. That adds lots of calories. Choose just three or four things, only one of which, is high in calories. Also, at buffets, use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. You’ll tend to eat less.
Tip 9) Like raw spinach? Buy prebagged baby spinach, and use it everywhere. It’s great on sandwiches instead of lettuce, great in soups, and makes great salads.
Tip 10) Chew your food even more than the think you should, especially fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables have cell walls. These walls are made up of something called cellulose. Cellulose is microscopically like little bits of wood, and we can’t digest it well. By chewing longer, you break open more of these plant cells, which give you more of the plant’s nutrients. Also, it takes about 20 minutes to fill full, after dining, so chewing longer, keeps you from overeating.
Tip 11) Don’t ban certain foods or food groups. That will only make you crave them more. Instead cut back on portions, and don’t eat them as often. After a while you’ll see that your cravings aren’t nearly as strong.
Tip 12) Eat lots of greens. We all know how healthy red and yellow vegetables are, but, don’t forget green vegetables like kale, dark green lettuce, broccoli, mustard greens, spinach, asparagus, collard greens, Swiss chard, turnip greens and cabbage. They’re loaded with calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and vitamins A,C,E, and K. Greens are low in calories and high in fiber. Also, dark greens like asparagus, Swiss chard, spinach, kale, mustard and collard greens contain folate(or folic acid), which some studies suggest lower breast, lung and skin cancer risks.
Use these tips to stay healthy, have lots of energy, and make real progress in your weight loss program.
Diet or exercise question? Email me at dwcrocker77@gmail.com. Or visit fitness4yourlife.org. David Crocker of Landrum has been a nutritionist and personal trainer for 26 years.
He served as strength director of the Spartanburg Y.M.C.A., head strength coach for the S.C. state champion girls gymnastic team, USC-Spartanburg baseball team, Converse college equestrian team, lead trainer to L.H. Fields modeling agency, and taught four semesters at USC-Union. David was also a regular guest of the Pam Stone radio show.