Small Tips: How to Lose Weight Without Being Miserable

I'm lazy, I lost 45 pounds, it was easy, and you can do it too. All you have to do is change the way you think about food. Millions of Americans are overweight, unhealthy, and unhappy. To survey the commercial environment, you wouldn't think they need to be overweight with all of the products available. Every few minutes, it seems there is an advertisement on a television or radio program promising fast weight loss, cure-all pills, fast muscle tightening and a quick way to a slimmer figure.

Even with all these options available, even your doctor still can't really help you. There are a host of diet pills on the market that promise fast weight loss, only to find out later that with drugs such as Fen-phen the side effects are dangerous, even deadly. Some of the pills on the market don't do a single thing, and only work because you think they will.

If you can find the willpower to make six simple changes to your diet lifestyle, you will find the weight slipping off without your even noticing, and you can still eat your favorite foods and satisfy your food cravings without feeling deprived. However, we can't do any of this unless you commit to taking the weight down slowly and comfortably. Remember how long it took for your current habits to build the body fat you wish to lose, and realize that this is a process of becoming a healthier person.

1.

Eat consciously. Eating is not an acceptable substitute for a hobby.

Don't eat in front of the TV, and definitely do not eat when you're bored. Learn to recognize when you're simply bored, and get a hobby, be it knitting, playing video games, strumming the guitar, or better yet, exercising or going for a walk with your family or friends. Be aware of what you're eating and how it feels while you're eating it. Chew your food.

If you're a lazy person who likes to get your food eaten as quickly as possible, you can use that lazy tendency to your advantage in a few different ways:

2.

Don't buy pre-packaged, snack-size stuff that's bad for you.

If you tend to eat the easiest thing in the refrigerator or cupboard to eat, make sure you fill your cupboards with healthy, bite-sized snacks that are rich in nutrients and high in fiber. Don't buy pre-packaged chips, french fries, hamburgers and cupcakes, or anything else you tend to snack on without thinking. Instead:

3.

If you're going to eat something naughty, make it amazing.

If you have to indulge in a less-than-healthy snack, really indulge in the tastiest version you can find. Instead of buying a box of pre-made Hostess cupcakes, find a recipe or mix for the most amazing cupcakes on the planet, and make it. If you have frozen pot pies in the freezer, bake them instead of microwaving them for maximum enjoyment. Cooking, or searching for better food if you can't cook, burns calories. If you cook, you can take credit for the delicious treat, and your friends will love you even more if you share. There's another weight loss bonus here: often, companies that make tasty treats put much more fat and sugar in their wares than is actually necessary to satisfy your food cravings. Just make sure you give away the extras so you don't eat them all.

4.

Make your unhealthy foods hard to get to.

Everyone lives in a household where someone else buys unhealthy treats; or maybe, just maybe, you slipped and bought them yourself. Not to fear! Put them someplace hard to get to, or only buy them in a form that you have to cook to eat. For instance, if you're short, put your Twinkies in the top cupboard above the refrigerator so they attract less of your attention. This can even mean buying frozen food instead of fast food; but don't microwave the food; that's too easy. In fact, if you can, throw out your microwave or lock it up for 6 months. Your waistline will thank you.

5.

How to Tell When Low-Fat or Fat-Free is a good thing

Another great way to cut calories without noticing is to switch to low-fat, low calorie or fat-free options whenever you can. There really is no tried-and-true way to tell when fat-free food will be good enough to actually eat, instead of throw out, when you are on a diet. Also, sometimes the healthy food version is not healthy enough to make up for the loss in taste. However, I have tried a few types of food, and can recommend starting with the following, as they were pretty tasty and significantly lower in calories and fat:

Light Cool-Whip

Neufchatel instead of Cream Cheese

Smart Balance Margarine

Nonfat or 1% milk instead of half-and half in coffee

I would like to save you all some time and heartily recommend that you never, ever buy low-fat or fat-free cheese. I consider low-fat cheese to be a punishment of some sort. The low-fat Kraft singles are fine to eat, but real cheddar and other cheeses are always grainy and unappetizing when they are low-fat or fat-free. Don't bother with the imitators; as I mentioned before, just control yourself and eat a small slice of real cheese.

6.

Liquids are essential.

If you want to lose weight, drink a lot of water. In fact, start out your day with a whole gallon of water, and sip it when you think you might be hungry. Don't chug the water or you could make yourself sick.

Sugary Soda-pop like Coke and Pepsi are empty, wasted, fat-building calories.

One 72 ounce sugary soft drink from your local Mini-Mart is, without ice, about a 6 pack of soda. If you're an averaged sized person, a six pack of soda supplies almost all of the calories you're supposed to eat in a day, and none of the nutrients. If you've ever seen a tooth dissolved in a cup of soda, you know that the stuff can't be good for you.

However, as Americans, many of us grew up on Grape Soda, Crush, or Coke. If you are one of the many Americans addicted to sugary sodas and your tastes are not used to water, try mixing a measure of diet soda or soda water into your soda to dilute the calories. Slowly taper away from the unhealthy sugary soda until you are drinking diet soda only, or better yet, water and juice only. There are other options available for sugar-free soft drinks, such as Crystal Light, but personally, I mix Splenda or Equal with a Kool-aid packet to taste and enjoy calorie-free sweetness in my drinks at about 45 cents a gallon; it definitely helps me save money. Regardless of your chosen drink, it's really important to get your sugar habits under control. I once knew a man who pretty much only ate one packet of Top Ramen and drank a 12 pack of Pepsi every day for a year. He gained 100 pounds in the span of 1 year, and his hair started falling out in patches in the back.

A summary of the tips in this article:

1. Eat mindfully. Learn to recognize when you're eating because you're bored. Develop a new hobby to replace food.

2. Don't buy premade unhealthy food. Buy packaged healthy food such as baby carrots, pretzels and high-fiber crackers instead.

3. Hide your indulgent treats somewhere out of sight and hard to reach, or keep them in a frozen or undercooked state where you must prepare them to eat.

4. If you're going to indulge, indulge with a little bit of the best treat you can find.

5. Switch to low-cal, low-fat, or fat-free when it's worth it. Don't bother with fat-free cheese, it will only make you want real cheese.

6. Drink lots of water, and not sugary soda pop.

7. If you stick to these simple changes, you should start to see a difference, not only in your weight, but in the way you feel and the way your clothes fit. As time goes on, you should start to see a healthier you, and your newly built self-esteem will help you carry you through your weight-loss goals.