How To Eat Healthy In Restaurants

Most restaurant meals are absolute fat pills. You can eat an entire day's worth of calories in one sitting. Whether you dine out for work or leisure, there are a number of strategies that can help you survive eating in restaurants without blowing your diet.

Is your breakfast cereal making you fat? Probably. 
Try these healthier breakfast options to help you stay full longer.

The Best Diet Advice You Will Ever Read

I found a breath of fresh diet-advice air recently. It happened in the form of a New York Times article written by Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana State University School of Medicine titled "Simple Rules for Healthy Eating".

Carroll advocates the smart, simple approach to eating that helped me lose 50 pounds and keep it off for more than a decade. Here's the condensed version:

Negative Calorie Foods: Fact or Fiction?

Are there really miracle foods that are negative in calories? In theory, yes. In reality, it's a bit more complicated.

10 Healthy Foods That Can Cause Us To Gain Weight

While certain foods are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and healthy fats they also contain carbs and calories. No matter how healthy, if you eat too much that can lead to weight gain.

A Brief History Of Fad Diets

Image via Wellcome Trust

Perhaps it's because I have a tried a slew of fad diets (and failed) but I love diets. I enjoyed learning the history of them, the science behind them, the failure rate behind them. You get the idea. There's even a fun, new book by New York magazine writer Rebecca Harrington chronicling her adventures in celebrity dieting titled "I'll Have What She's Having, My Adventures In Celebrity Dieting". This book is heaven for a diet lover like me.

The History Of Fad Diets
The LA Times had a great feature this weekend on the history of fad diets, starting all the way back in 1825 when French gastronome Jean Brillat-Savarin introduced a low-carb regime called "The Physiology of Taste".

Since then fad diets have included eating all caribou and whale blubber (GAG), bananas and skim milk, food combining, the grapefruit diet and the Drinking Man's Diet (which is exactly what you think it is). They also include more popular ones like the Paleo Diet, the South Beach Diet and the Zone Diet.

The thing is that many of these so-called "fad diets" don't work because it's almost impossible to adopt these habits permanently. Think about it: can you eat only grapefruit forever? Or caribou? Can you go Paleo in perpetuity? Probably not.

You can do almost anything for a few days. That's why many of these fad diets take off initially. You drop a few pounds at the start and start feeling like a million bucks.

Then, reality sets in and you realize you can't eat only skim milk and bananas or diet bars or cabbage soup for the rest of your life. That's why "diets" don't work. 

If you read this blog, you know how I feel about dieting: eat well, mostly real food (produce and lean meats), get moving most days of the week and enjoy it. That's a recipe for success. As for dietary approaches, I love the Mediterranean philosophy which emphasizes plant-based food, replaces butter with healthy fats like olive oil, uses herbs and spices to flavor foods, limits red meat, advocated red wine and dark chocolate in moderation.

Your Fad Diet Experiments
Have you experimented with fad diets? I would love to learn about your crazy diet experiences, what worked and what didn't. Please share your diet disasters and success stories in the comments section. Don't worry. This is a judgement-free zone.

When I was fat, I tried the Zone & Atkins (hated them both).  It wasn't until I made permanent changes, like closing the kitchen after dinner, that I experienced real weight loss. Want to learn how I did it? Get my free guide "The 10 Easiest Diet Tips: Simple Secrets To Help You Lose Weight & Maintain Your Weight Loss For Good". It's yours when you sign up for the The Real Skinny, my weekly newsletter that features simple diet and fitness tips designed for busy people who live in the real world, not fantasy-diet-land.

Send Me The 10 Easiest Diet Tips!

Shop Diet Books

Is Our Breakfast Cereal Is Making Us Fat? Maybe.

There are few things I love more than a huge bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Seriously. The cinnamon-y sugar goodness on top of those little squares is better than, well...you know...a lot of things.

The thing is, a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or just about any other cereal, for that matter) can do more diet damage than good.

Here are 3 reasons why cereal makes us fat:

1. 1. We don't stick to one serving size. Who does? I don't. A serving of Cinnamon Toast Crunch is only 3/4 of a cup. Really? NO ONE eats only 3/4 of a cup. It's more like two cups. That's serious damage: 325 empty calories and 22 (!) grams of sugar, without even adding the milk. Try eating your cereal with a teaspoon, instead of a tablespoon and out of a coffee cup instead of a bowl to trick your mind you're eating more. (Tweet this).
2. 2. We add too much dried fruit and other crap. Craisins, raisins, dried apricots and the like can all be fat pills. They have barely any water which means they're dense in calories. While nuts are great, don't go too far. Add a few, not a handful. Use fresh fruit to get the benefit of more fiber and water content to help fill you up. Try higher-fiber and lower calorie berries. Half a cup of raspberries, for example, have 4 grams of fiber. 
3. 3. We eat kids cereal. There's a reason I don't keep Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the house: I would eat the whole box. These children's cereals provide a ton of sugar but little nutritional value. Kinda scary, actually. Look for cereals with fewer than 5 grams of sugar. Or make this oatmeal with peanut butter, apples and cinnamon. Delicious. 

Why I Gave Up Breakfast Cereal 
I gave up breakfast cereal about 15 years ago. Not coincidentally, I believe, I lost weight. I have no "off button" when it comes to breakfast cereal. I can't stop eating it, that's why I rarely eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Even when I'm trying to be "healthy" and have something like Fiber 1 or Kashi Go Lean, I usually end up eating two bowls of it and, you know what, I'm hungry a few hours later. Cereal is not a satiating food. In my opinion, it's a fat pill (Tweet this).

When you're eating breakfast, get some protein in the mix, whether it's eggs, whey protein powder, nut butter, low-sugar/high-protein yogurt or lean meat. Protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates and keeps you full longer. 

I love two scrambled eggs with salsa and spinach with a side of berries or a green smoothie with whey protein powder (make it with two handfuls of spinach or kale, half a banana and whatever berries you or other fruit you have on hand). When all else fails, I'll grab a few hard boiled eggs (boil a half dozen of them at the beginning of the week).  If you can't give up your cereal, here are some low-sugar cereal options.

Do you like cereal or are you like me and try to keep out of the house? I'd love to know what your favorite breakfast is. Let me know in the comments section. 

Want Smart, Simple Diet Tips?

Get my free guide HERE.

Get my free guide, "The 10 Easiest Diet Tips: Simple Secrets To Help You Lose Weight & Maintain Your Weight Loss For Good". It's yours free when you sign up for The Real Skinny, my weekly newsletter that shares super simple diet and fitness tips like this one.

Send Me The Real Skinny & My Free Guide!

More Coffee & Eggs, Please! The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Explained

Eggs and coffee can be part of a healthy diet. Whoo-Hoo!

Coffee and eggs are hip. In a big, fat healthy way.

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services assemble experts every five years to study and recommend dietary guidelines. Why? Because it's a dynamic thing. Scientists and experts are continually studying and learning new data. New dietary guidelines will be released at the end of 2015 but preliminary recommendations were released on Thursday.

Among the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's recommendations:

• Eggs Are Ok - experts say that dietary cholesterol is "not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption". In English - don't be so worried about the cholesterol in egg yolks or shrimp, for that matter. 
• Coffee Is Cool - between 3-5 cups of coffee per day can be a part of a healthy diet and can actually reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Don't add extra calories with tons of milk, cream or sugar. Out on coffee? Drink green tea. 
• Watch Added Sugar - added sugar should be no more than 200 calories a day. Average Americans are getting about 268 calories from added sugar right now. These are completely empty calories.
• While You're At It, Watch The Salt - stay under 2300 milligrams per day. This can add up quickly. 
• Eat A Plant-Based Diet - duh. We know we need to do this. 

Read the full 571-page 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report HERE.

So much of what they are promoting is good, old-fashioned common sense: eat more produce and lean protein, enjoy saturated fats and sugar in moderation. The news on cholesterol in eggs is a reversal of what the government told us for years.

Sounds A Bit Like The Mediterranean Diet, Doesn't It? 
Their recommendations sound strikingly similar to the principles that make up the Mediterranean Diet which focuses on produce, lean protein (fish primarily), nuts, olive oil, wine and chocolate. Learn more about the Mediterranean approach to eating (and why it's my favorite) HERE.

Want Smart, Simple Diet Tips?

Get my free guide HERE.

Get my free guide, "The 10 Easiest Diet Tips: Simple Secrets To Help You Lose Weight & Maintain Your Weight Loss For Good". It's yours free when you sign up for The Real Skinny, my weekly newsletter that shares super simple diet and fitness tips like this one about the wonders of, what else, coffee.

Send Me The Real Skinny & My Free Guide!

As always, take all this advice to heart but check with a trusted medical professional if you plan on making significant dietary changes.

Image via Justin Leibow

How To Diet On A Date

If you are dieting and happen to have an avid dater (first of all, Lucky You!), the marriage of the two can be a bitch, though. You don't want to be that person who orders a salad with no dressing or pulls out your Weight Watchers app to calculate your point total for the day.

So how can you date while you're on a diet? It's not that difficult. You can still find love without losing control over your eating habits. Here are a few tips:

4 Tips To Diet While Dating & NOT Be High Maintenance

1. Don't Hesitate To Recommend The Restaurant - pick a place whose menu you know and trust.
2. Plan Ahead - when you know where you will be dining, check out the menu online so you can  figure out what to order and what works within your diet.
3. Give Yourself A Break - this is perhaps my favorite tip. When you eat a quality, well-balanced diet, you don't have to be that high maintenance chick on a diet. There are so many ways to incorporate dining out into an overall healthy eating strategy.
My Bonus Tip: Order two appetizers for dinner: select the smaller one as a starter and the larger one as your main course. The portions are smaller while the options are generally more interesting. Plus you can always nibble on your date's dish.

U.S. News & World Report has more. 

Want More Simple Diet Tips?
Get my free guide, "The 10 Easiest Diet Tips: Simple Secrets To Help You Lose Weight & Maintain Your Weight Loss For Good". It's yours free when you sign up for The Real Skinny, my newsletter sharing diet and fitness tips designed for the real world.

Send Me The Real Skinny & My Free Guide!

Is Your Skinny Latte Making You Fat?

For the first time in about a year, I had tall a Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Latte on Monday. It tasted like a warm hug on a cool Beaver Creek day. It was the perfect balance of sweet and toasty with a nice touch of cinnamon. It was heaven in a cup. 

There's a reason, though, it was the first one I had in a long time: consuming lattes regularly, even skinny ones, can be a fat pill. 

Ridiculously Easy Diet Secrets To Help You Lose Weight For Good

Learn how I lost 55 pounds and kept it off for more than a decade! 

80% of my friends, girls AND guys, are on diets at any given time. They hate them. They stress over losing weight. They're miserable. They're making their spouses and significant others miserable, too.

Dieting doesn't have to be hard. Really.

By implementing simple changes, like the two-bite rule, you can save calories which will help you lose weight and maintain your weight loss for good. These tricks are designed for the long haul, not losing 10 pounds in a week. They're ridiculously easy tricks you can do the rest of your life without going crazy.

How do I know? I use one or two of them every day. They helped me lose more than 55 pounds and keep them off for more than a decade.

Learn The Secrets To Effortless Weight Loss & Maintenance
So I wrote an ebook: "The 10 Easiest Diet Tips: Simple Secrets To Help You Lose Weight And Maintain Your Weight Loss For Good".

There is no food combining, disgusting diet powders or whacky MLM scheme involved in this book. It's simply a list of the easiest diet tips that can help you reach your goals whether you want to lose five pounds or 50.

It's yours free when you sign up for The Real Skinny, our digest of diet and fitness updates designed for people who have real lives in the real world. No trainers or personal chefs required (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Get Your eBook Here:

Send Me A Copy Of "The 10 Easiest Diet Secrets" & Sign Me Up For The Real Skinny!

Is This The Week New Year's Resolutions Die?

The third week of January is critical when it comes to New Year's resolutions. It is the week most of them die, according to the Wall Street Journal. Gym attendance declines, that commitment to eat better weakens, you know the routine.

The thing is, three weeks is barely enough time to give a resolution a chance to stick. A 2009 study by University College London found it takes about 66 days to develop a habit (Tweet this).

How can you stay committed to reaching your 2015 goals? 

• Stay Focused. Being focused on a goal can help you reach it. How do you do that? Read blogs, websites, magazines and news articles about the particular area in which you're interesting in improving. Want to get in better shape? Read Shape or Women's Health. Want to cook healthier meals? Make Eating Well part of your regular reading. Shameless plug: sign up for The Real Skinny, a digest of diet and fitness tips for the real world, like this one. Or check out my blog every Monday for News To Help You Have A Healthier Week. Reading about it, helps you think about it and keep those goals present in your mind. 
• Write It Down. Research repeatedly shows that writing down your goals helps you reach them. Failing to write your goals means you will forget them or won't focus on them. Put them somewhere you will see them every day. Here's a 2015 goals worksheet.
• Be Specific. Don't be vague in your goals. For example: "I will wake up by 6am five days a week" is one of my goals for 2015. That's a better and more specific goal than "I will wake up earlier this year".  In fact, according to experts, being specific about when, where and how you will take action can set you up for success. 
• Be Realistic. You probably won't lose 25 pounds in one month. Five pounds? That's doable. Don't set goals that are completely unattainable. Take it a step further and create that specific action plan (see above) for you to achieve this. 

So if you do abandon your 2015 goals this week. Don't stress it. You can always start again next week.

How You Doin'?
How are you doing with your 2015 goals? Are they too tough to attain or are you rolling along? Please share in the comments section.

Me? I am struggling with the wake up at 6am thing. I am getting up about 6:30am which is at least a step in the right direction.

News To Help You Have A Healthier Week

Image via Cell.com

I hope you had a great weekend. Full disclosure: I have been dieting like a mad bitch for a photo shoot today. The nice thing about the diet (which I will detail in an upcoming post) is that I really haven't craved anything. I have been a bit of recluse, though, and avoided going out to dinner all week. I am a night eater and didn't want to be tempted.

Here are a few things that caught my eye. Hope they help you have a healthier week!

Fasting 12 hours a day can help you lose weight. I try to do this most days of the week (think 5) and it is so much easier than you would think. Eat dinner before 7pm, have breakfast after 7am. That tends to be the most manageable window in the real world. If you need to eat a bit later, try to do it before 8pm and eat your breakfast after 8am.

Writer Andy Leeks tried 10 different diets in 50 days and lost 25 pounds. He lost the most weight on the 5:2 Diet and the Special K Diet.

Dr. Oz has a new diet plan: the Total 10 Rapid Weight Loss Plan. On it you ditch coffee for hot lemon water (the bitterness of the lemon stimulates bile flow which helps emulsify and remove fat-soluble toxins, according to Dr. Oz - Tweet this), eat protein in the morning (smart!) and two healthy snacks a day are allowed (think kale chips, lentils and almond butter quinoa balls).

Need more motivation to exercise? A sedentary lifestyle can be twice as deadly as being obese, according to a new study. 

Still not moving most days of the week. Here are three ways to find your exercise sweet spot.

Get The Real Skinny 
Looking for more diet and fitness news? Sign up for The Real Skinny. It's my email newsletter featuring diet and fitness tips for the real world, like this one.

The Best Diets Of 2015

DASH Diet meal planner/Image via www.nhlbi.nih.gov

When you're a former fat girl like me, you're always interested in diet news. U.S. News & World Report's diet rankings are out for 2015 and once again the DASH Diet tops the list. The DASH Diet which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, (Tweet this) was designed to combat high blood pressure but it gets high marks for its nutritional value and ability to prevent and/or control diabetes. Weight loss is a nice side effect.

How To Own 2015...And Keep Your New Year's Goals

Make 2015 the year you make it happen. Whatever your "IT" is.

For many of my friends and family, gaining control of their weight and overall health is a priority. For me, staying the course is the goal but that's never easy. I am a recovering a fat girl and and am always a Golden Corral buffet away from my orca phase.

The thing is, whether you're at your ideal weight or fitness level or still trying to get there, your health should be one of your top priorities. If you do not have a healthy body and spirit, nothing else matters (Tweet this). Simply put:

If you don't have your health, you don't have anything.

Click HERE to download this worksheet.

We know that resolutions, many times, fail. I prefer not to think in terms of resolutions for a new year but in goals. It's scientifically proven that writing down goals helps you achieve them.

So to help you do just that, I have created a simple download that you can print and write down your goals to help you rock them. Click HERE to download your 2015 goals worksheet.

Be Realistic
Don't put too much pressure on yourself. We're all human. There will be days that we eat too much candy or miss a workout. We will yell at people we love and feel fat. We WILL get off track. The key is to jump right back on when we do get off track. Little missteps are a part of life. It's how we rebound from them that help define us.

Get Easy Diet & Fitness Tips In 2015
Looking for extra motivation this year? Sign up for The Real Skinny. You will receive smart, practical advice that you can use in the real world (like THIS ONE) to help you reach your diet and fitness goals.

Share Your Goals 
Please share some of your 2015 goals in the comments section. I would love to learn what you have in store this year. Check back on Monday. I will share my 2015 goals worksheet.

Happy 2015! 

Make it your best year yet! 

 

Resolving to Lose Weight In 2015? Start NOW With This Simple Diet Tip

Are you resolving to finally lose that unwanted weight in 2015? Don't wait until January 2015 to begin. Start now to jumpstart your new year's resolution. It serves two purposes:

1. It gets you mentally ready to prepare for your weight loss journey.
2. It works. You WILL lose weight. Bonus! 

This is one of the world's easiest diet tips and you won't even feel like you're dieting. You don't have to starve, over-exercise or avoid certain foods. All you have to do is this: leave two bites on your plate at lunch and dinner.

Here's How To Do It
Enjoy both lunch and dinner but leave two substantial bites on your plate during those last two meals of the day. Don't leave baby bites. Leave two solid, full-fork bites.

Simple is that. The thing is, this works.

By leaving two big bites on your plate at lunch and dinner, you will save roughly 100 calories a day (Tweet this). If you start today you can cut about 700 calories by January 5th. Not a ton, but it's a step in the right direction and helps you get ahead of the game when you start that weight loss journey for real.

Now, if you're eating spinach and broccoli for lunch and dinner, that's a different story. But if you enjoy a sandwich and chips for lunch and pasta, steak or some other big meal for dinner, this tip is for you.

A Few Calories Here & There Add Up To Serious Weight Loss
Those little caloric savings add up. If you do this every day, you will shave about 36,000 calories over the course of the year. That's 10 pounds, friends. Without even trying! If you do it only five days a week, you will lose about seven and a half pounds in a year.

Get Simple Diet & Fitness Tips In 2015
This is one of the easiest diet tips ever. There are more. Tons of them. Do you want them? Looking for extra motivation this year? Sign up for The Real Skinny. You will receive smart, practical advice that you can use in the real world to help you reach your diet and fitness goals.

Me, circa 1999, close to 200 pounds

Why am I an expert? Friends, I'm a recovering fat girl. At one point in my life, there wasn't a Golden Corral buffet I didn't love. I have lost more than 50 pounds and kept it off for a decade. Most importantly, I know how to do it while juggling work, studies, parenting and other aspects of our chaotic lives that can derail even the most dedicated dieter.

I have been there....and am fighting to the good fight every day to avoid going back there.

Sharing 2015 Goals. What's Yours? 
Are you trying to lose weight in 2015? Share your goals in the comments section. Publicly stating your intentions keeps you accountable.

Me? I want bikini abs. That's all. A stomach that won't embarrass me while wearing a bikini. That's my goal. I'd love to hear yours.

5 Tips To Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

If your days are packed with office goodies and your nights are full of holiday parties, I feel ya. There is temptation at every turn. You don't have to gain weight during the holidays, though. A few simple tricks can help you start 2015 without adding a single pound.

RELATED: Which Produce Is Best For Weight Loss?

Do Juice Cleanses Really Work?

With the indulgent holiday season up on us, a number of my friends are planning juice fasts to "get rid of the toxins" they consumed in November and December. Heck, after having wine at just about every meal in Paris, Lord knows my liver needs a break.

I love a good juice fast as much as the next person. It can help you drop a few pounds quickly and are a good way to get a large amount of nutrients efficiently. I have a green juice three of four times a week. As for the whole "ridding our bodies of toxins" thing, I am not so sure. Scientists have repeatedly said that a quality, produce-heavy diet does the job.

Dr. Linda Lee, the Director of John Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center in Maryland, tells the Wall Street Journal that the term "cleanse" is nothing more than a marketing tool and there is no science to prove that fasting cleanses the system.

That marketing is working. Sales of "superpremium juice" was more than $1.4 billion in 2013, up from $1 billion in 2010.

This is a situation in which you need to do what works for you. Will your body be free of the damage caused by a month-long feast of champagne, cheese, steak and indulgent desserts with a 10-day cleanse in January? Probably not. Will you drop a few pounds? Likely. Will that make you feel better about yourself? If so, go for it but be smart and do your homework.

Finding Juice Fasts That Work For You

There are a TON of juice fasts to choose from. I have done the Blueprint Cleanse, Suja Juice and a variety of my own. Prepared fasts are expensive which is why I enjoy making my own juice. That, however, can be labor intensive and messy. Gilt City always has sales on juice fasts. They're currently offering deals on American Juice Company and Oui Juice. Bliss is also offering the Joule Body Cleanse, which I have done in the past, too. 

I use a Breville Juicer and make my own recipes adapted from a variety of books I have read over the years. The 3-Day Cleanse is a good one.

Are you a juicer? Are there any juice fasts you swear by and love?

Browse Juices, Juicers & Juicing Books

So Gradual Weight Loss Is No Better Than Crash Dieting?

A new Australian study publish in the The Lancet indicates that people who lose weight slowly are no more likely to keep weight off in the long run that those who crash diet.

I just want to scream "WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And here's the thing: those who crash diet and those who adopt the slow and steady approach are all likely to gain their weight back in the long run.

This after experts, for years, said that losing weight slowly is the way to go.

No wonder we're so screwed up when it comes to weight loss.

The Science
An Australian trial recruited 200 adults assigned to a crash diet or gradual weight loss program. The slow and steady group reduced their calorie intake by around 500 calories a day for 36 weeks. The crash dieters ate between 450 and 800 calories a day for just 12 weeks.

Researchers found that those who lost weight rapidly were likelier to reach their target weight. Duh....you see the scale move, you get motivated. Read more here.

What I know
The contradictory findings when it comes to weight loss news is one of the most frustrating for anyone fighting the bulge battle or trying to maintain lifelong weight loss.

Me, circa 1999, close to 200 pounds

Here's the thing: do what works for you. I have lost more than 50 pounds on one occasion (in the early 2000's) and then lost the baby weight after having Jordan. Eating real food, mostly produce while truly savoring indulgent meals works for me. I never feel deprived. Ever.

There are times when restricting calories or doing a juice cleanse to jumpstart weight loss can be effective. It can serve as motivation to keep going. It has worked for me in the past.

If you're looking for a true "diet" to follow, the Mediterranean Diet is outstanding. I also like the principles of the Greek Diet (essentially the Mediterranean) and the whole French Women Don't Get Fat thing.

At the end of the day, educate yourself and do what works for you. A common sense approach to weight loss and maintenance is truly the best way to go: eat real food, indulge occasionally, enjoy it and exercise regularly. It works.

Promise.

What's the most frustrating thing for you when it comes to weight loss and diet news? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Get Your Daily Diet & Fitness Tip In 2015
Do you want more real world diet, fitness and healthy living advice? Sign up for my daily diet and healthy living tip HERE. You will receive smart, practical advice that you can use in the real world to help you reach your healthy living goals.

I have been there....and am fighting to the good fight every day to avoid going back there.

Shop This Story

Diets Tips That Actually Work

TRUTH! 

After being skinny, gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight, losing weight, having a kid, losing the baby weight and more, I feel like I'm a diet expert simply through practice.

After years of trying everything: Atkins, the Zone, the grapefruit diet, Cabbage Soup diet, I could go on. There are principles that I know work: eat well, eat real food, don't overindulge, exercise most days of the week.

There are certain "diet secrets" that work better than others, though. Putting down your fork after each bite, for example, is a gamechanger. I've featured them on the blog.

Fitsugar has a few more diet secrets that are truly effective:

• Eat clean - no white food, refined carbs, sugar, alcohol, etc.
• Don't diet - think of adopting an overall, longterm approach to eating, not a temporary "diet"
• Do more cardio - ramp up the intensity to get that afterburn.
• Drink more water - hydration is huge. Drink green tea, water with lemon or fruit added, any water-based drink without extra sweetener or calories added to it. 
• Make calories in less than calories out - if you eat more than you burn, you will gain weight. I gained weight while training for marathons. Even though I was burning hundreds, sometimes thousands, of calories it didn't make up for the extra cookies I ate at lunch. 
• Eliminate extras - all the little nibbles, sips and snacks add up. 

This is such a practical approach to maintaining your weight (notice I didn't say "diet). If you're looking for a particular dietary approach to follow, try the Mediterranean diet. It's simple, easy, delicious and calls for wine and chocolate. Win!

I love this Mediterranean Diet cookbook for recipe ideas.

Shop This Story

15 Weird Diet Tricks That Work

Earlier this year, we shared the 25 best diet tips of all time.  I stumbled across an article recently detailing weird weight loss tricks that work from Allure.

I found  this t-shirt online and couldn't help but smile.

There are some of the usual suspects like eat off small plates (a proven weight loss winner) and give up the guilt. The latter is a diet gamechanger. Turns out the stress induced by the guilt of overeating can cause you to eat more. Just enjoy an indulgent meal and move on. That has saved me in more ways than one.

Some of the other suggestions are fascinating and smart:

• When eating out, sit at the end of a table away from the center where the bread and chips are normally placed. Easy, simple and genius. 
• Sleeping in a chilly bedroom can help rev up your metabolism. It forces your body to heat itself up and, in turn, you will burn calories keeping yourself warm. 
• Researchers have found that drinking one to two glasses of wine a day helps keep your weight down. Why? Well researchers can't exactly explain but they have found that women tend to eat fewer calories when drinking wine and burn more calories after drinking than men do. The key? It's moderate wine consumption.
• Check your allergy meds, these can be a sneaky cause of unexplained weight gain because H1-type antihistamines like Claritin or Allegra block the histamine's in the immune which play a role in appetite and metabolizing fat. 

Read the rest here.

One More

I would add perhaps my most effective one: put your fork down between bites. It forces you to eat slower which allows your brain to signal your stomach you're full. It works. Promise.