Great Questions to Ask Youself

Today is the last day for nutrition! How do you think you did this week? Hopefully each day you're a little more conscience of what you're putting into your mouth.

Here are some things I got from the books, French Women Don't Get Fat, and Naturally Thin, which helped me decide what battles to pick on sweets. Here are some good questions to ask yourself:

1. Why do I want to lose weight?
2. What foods can I live without? i.e. sweets. What sweets would you be depressed to give up and what can you take away and wouldn't even care. I can live without ice cream, but I can't live without cake. So I've chosen to get rid of the things that I can live without, but kept those things that would send me on a binge if I went without them. Just think about it, if you only ate what truly hit the spot for you and cut out everything else, it really wouldn't be that bad for you.
   
3. What foods can I substitute a lower calorie or lower fat version and not taste the difference? There are some foods that if it's low calorie you don't even want to eat it because it's gross, but there are others that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. For example, I eat low fat cottage cheese and still totally enjoy it. But I cannot stand fat free salad dressings, so I just have a little less of that portion instead. I eat the lower calorie foods when I can still enjoy it, but I keep some of the foods in their full fattening state if it makes that big of a difference to me.
   
4. Am I overeating everyday? Remember that 500 calories extra a day = 1 lb of fat per week. I'm not telling you to count calories everyday per say. But it is important to remember that your diet is a bank account. If you've spent everything, there's nothing left. So try and distribute your meals out proportionately throughout the day, which is why I've given examples of how to eat snacks throughout the day. A rough guestimate for what women should be eating everyday is from around 1200-1500 a day.
   

No one has the time or energy to go on a diet, plus they don't work anyways because eventually we always come up for air. Just watch what you eat, eat smaller portions, only eat what you truly enjoy instead of eating junk food, and eliminate all the extra stuff you're mindlessly eating and not truly enjoying anyways. Try it and see how much more comfortably you'll fit into your pants :)