5 Easy Diet Changes That Can Help You Lose Weight

By Paul Kayne

Many people feel that to lose weight you have to go on a big diet and change everything that you eat. But there are many simple things that you can do to help lose weight. Here are 5 pain free things that you can do to help shed some pounds.

1) Eat from a smaller plate

Research has shown that people have an internal concept of what a serving is. A smaller plate can help reduce that serving size. You can eat all of the regular foods, just eat from a smaller plate as it helps limit your portions. But watch out! There is a gotcha here. If you chose a plate that is too small, it may appear to your subconscious as half of a normal serving, making you crave a second plate!

2) Switch to whole grains

This doesn’t involve changing the food you eat, just mixing it up a bit. Whole grain baked goods are more filling and will increase your dietary intake of fiber. Take this change slowly, don’t go out and buy all new rice, pasta, and bread all at once. Because you may find that you’ll need to make some compromises for flavor, or because the family doesn’t like some of the changes. Just replace things as you need them.

3) Rediscover Soup

Soup is an excellent low calorie meal. Having soup a few more times a week can make a large difference to your caloric balance and is relatively pain free. But there are a couple of things to watch out for. There are some wickedly high calorie soups out there, watch those nutrition labels! A good cream of your favorite vegetable can have as many calories as a burger. Soup is good on occasion, but not all the time. Don’t get carried away with it.

4) Switch to diet / light / skim

These are simple changes that may be difficult to make initially, but give it a week, and you won’t even notice. Drinks are a significant source of calories that don’t contribute to our feelings of fullness. I’ll eat the same amount of food if I have eggnog or skim milk, but the eggnog adds a significant number of calories. Instead of a cup of chocolate milk, you can eat 1 cup of spaghetti and still consume fewer calories.

5) Eat Breakfast

Don’t follow the sumo wrestler habit of skipping breakfast to gain weight. A healthy nutritious breakfast will prevent your metabolism from slowing down (ever feel cold when you skip breakfast in the morning?). Wake up a little earlier or prepare the night before to make sure you get in a good breakfast.

Long term weight loss requires long term changes. Simple changes like these can be easy to implement and painless to maintain. Good luck on your weight loss journey!

Paul Kayne is a writer on issues related to weight loss, health and fitness. You can find more articles by him at weightlosspath.com.

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