Day 4: Tweak Your Diet | 30-Day Weight Loss-athon
Here we are at Day 4 of the 30-Day Weight Loss-athon. Today we turn to that dreaded downfall of wannabe-weight-losers everywhere – the diet.
Read the steps first, then take 10 minutes to complete them.
We only have 10 minutes, so move fast, act quickly and stop over-thinking. Just throw yourself in. Ready?
What You Need:
- Blank stickers, or post-its, or paper and sticky tape
- A pen.
Step 1
Most people with weight to lose are eating more food than they need. Or more of certain types of food.
So our first step is to choose a couple of ways we’re going to eat a bit less for the rest of the month.
You don’t need a strict diet that makes you crazy and is ultimately counter-productive in order to eat less. There are many smarter, saner and more achievable ways to do it – ways that don’t require psychological self-abuse.
For instance, you could:
- Reduce your portions by, say 10%
- Reduce your portions by using smaller plates
- Switch to low-fat milk/dairy
- Halve or cut out the sugar in your tea and coffee
- Skip the syrup in your coffee
- Cut down on desserts – skip it, skip on alternate days, share dessert, halve dessert
- Drink fewer alcoholic beverages – alternate with water, dilute with ice, substitute with lime and soda
- Find something you eat most days but could do without, and stop eating it
- Stop putting butter on sandwiches
- Add less (or no) mayonnaise, gravy and sauces to your food
- Cut down on snacks – skip them, skip on alternate days, share snacks, halve snacks
- Use less fat when you cook
- Switch to lower-fat cooking methods like baking and roasting versus frying
- Use less butter or a lower fat spread.
For some people, just giving up alcohol or desserts could make a huge difference to your daily calorie intake – and your weight.
For others, several smaller changes – like switching to low-fat dairy, cutting down on sugar and reducing portion sizes by just 10% – could combine to pack quite a weight-loss punch.
You need to find actions that you can make for the long term – so don’t go too drastic. Better to aim low, have some success and then use that to bolster your efforts, than to aim too high and give up because it’s too great a sacrifice. Pace yourself – you will get there.
So choose a couple of tweaks to your diet that you can live with for a month – tweaks that won’t drive you or the people you live with crazy.
Step 2
Depending on the tweaks you’ve chosen, now take whatever action you need to take to cement these tweaks in place.
For example:
- Find smaller plates and put the larger ones away
- Put a ‘10% Less’ sign in your kitchen
- Go buy low-fat dairy products
- Put ‘Use less’ stickers on your sugar, oil, butter, alcohol or whatever
- Find smaller bowls for your snacks or desserts and put them in front of the bigger bowls
- Cut your treats in half or portion them into baggies.
Check in!
And you’re done!
Be sure to leave your comment below to check in and stay accountable. If you’re reading this by email or in a reader then please click here to leave your comment.
See you tomorrow!
Just cleaned the fridge. Now the challenge…fill it with fresh foods.
I have a set of smaller plates at home that I will try and commit to using, maybe try and cut out the snacking as well!
Snack size ziplocs work well…..and I may have to make a habit of the smaller plate. Thank you! Done
I have a meal plan that goes with the boot amp that I’m doing right now. So that makes this a simple task 🙂
doing most of these already, post it notes will be a good reminder, BUT won a 3kilo easter egg today mmmmmmm 10% less of that wow I can eat heaps ONLY joking.
I didn’t do so good at lunch but I used a dessert plate at dinner and had a huge salad to fill me up. Need to get more water today.
I’m following another program diet and exercise as well as this.. has me eating the right things more often since I never ate till dinner.. so my tweaking is well under way..
Portion control! This is a huge problem for me, so the sticky notes will be so helpful!
Smaller portions, less fat, and less snack—- DONE!
I am a big chocky fan and the last few days I have made one block last and shared it with the family and there is still some left so pretty pleased with myself.
I actually need to eat more… more often and stop skipping breakfast! Because by evening, I’m ravenous and over eat. So eat small meals and when I do get to the evening meal, I’m sticking with less fat and 10% less!
Perhaps I need to pack and plan ahead for my “after school snack” time. That is when I tend to load up on carbs.
Tweaks:
Halve after dinner snacks.
Alternate wine with lime and soda.
Alcohol free days Monday, Wednesday & Thursday (increased by 1).
I must have read your mind! Just got back from grocery shopping and read Day 4 – just bought some small crackers for my evening snack.
Joine Fat Secret great tracker.
For some reason I feel the need for a small piece of chocolate right after dinner. Even when I’m full. I’m going to stop going for that, waiting until I’m really hungry to enjoy the chocolate.
Got an app for my phone that helps me keep count of calories in and out. It really makes me aware of how every little bite adds up. As well as how every extra movement made also adds up. Thanks Michele!
I stopped drinking sodas about two months ago and I don’t miss them at all! But this is so true! You have to make changes you can live with in order to make weight loss permanent. Smaller portions here I come!
One cup of coffee a day…not two. That’s where I start. Sticky note on the butter and my husband’s candy stash. Hopefully, the sticky notes with remind me to buy less of those things in the future.
I read this post yesterday, but am a day late commenting…I’m cutting back on carbs – grains & refined sugars.