Five-Tip Friday

Another successful week, another weekend to look forward to! Keep up with your healthy eating habits and don't let the weekend schedule sabotage your plans. Here are five more tips to keep you on track during your days off:

1. Count to your age before you indulge: This gives you a few moments to think before eating and become aware of what you are about to ingest. After you've counted--slowly--to your age, if you still want to eat your treat, go ahead! By then you know you've thought about it and it is now a conscious decision.

2. Drink plenty of water: The signals from your brain can get confused, and you may think you are hungry when you are really just thirsty. Have a glass of water if you have the urge to eat between meals, and see if this has any effect on your appetite. The worst that will happen is you will become well-hydrated!

3.If you have people over for a meal, send the leftovers home with them: I can't tell you how often clients tell me they overate 'because we had company so I bought a pie--there were 4 slices leftover, and I ate them monday, tuesday, and wednesday'. The list goes on with desserts, chips and dips, and other foods best not kept around the house when you are trying to keep your habit of eating low calorie, nutrient dense foods! Gift them to your guests and let someone enjoy them who is not working on watching their figure.

4. When having a snack, take pretzels, chips, cookies, etc out of the box or bag and put your serving on a plate. This way, the end of your snack is not defined by the end of the package!

5. Don't skip meals. Keep on the smart schedule, having a breakfast and a lunch and a dinner every day, even if you sleep in a little bit later. Focus on eating something nutritious--like fruit or cereal--if you're not very hungry for breakfast. Enjoying low-calorie, high-fiber foods earlier in the day will keep you more full and you'll be less likely to overeat at dinner time.

Keep up the great work and enjoy your weekend!

"Five-Tip" Friday to get you through the weekend

My clients often tell me they do so well on their diets all week, and then find the weekends difficult because they're out of their routines. Here are five tips you can learn now to help you get through this weekend without eating more than you'd like:

1. Plan your meals ahead of time: know what you're having for lunch and dinner before you finish breakfast
2. If you're going out for dinner, look up the menu on line ahead of time so you can decide what your best choice is before you get to the restaurant--and then stick with it. Using healthydiningfinder.com, you can check out the lower calorie items in restaurants within your own zip code
3. If you're already out and not sure what to eat, send a text message to 34381 (diet1) with the name of the dish and the restaurant... this website will text back the calorie content (for free!) This can help you decide that an afternoon iced coffee drink which contains 750 calories isn't really worth the calorie investment--you can have a zero-calorie iced tea instead, and enjoy a nice dinner later!
4. Plan a healthy dinner at home for one weekend evening--make it a fun one, whether you decide to grill out, invite friends over, or have a romantic meal with your loved one :)
5. Have an activity in mind so you're also burning off calories during your days off--go for a hike, a bike ride, or a new class at the local gym. Keep active and you'll keep right on track with your plan to balance your calories right up until Monday.

Don't let the weekend throw you off balance and lead you to regret your indulgences come Monday. Keep up with your plan every day of the week and, remember, the results will pay off both sooner and later!