5 Dos and Don'ts of Weight Loss

Here are 5 DOs and DON'Ts of weight loss that everyone should be focused on if losing weight and getting into better shape are top priorities. You will find the most difficult part of all this is consistency, but the more often you stick with the process, the more rapidly you'll develop healthier living habits to guide you through each day. Here are the 5 DOs of weight loss:

DO Drink Lots of Water
 
This is one of the healthiest habits you can start doing on a daily basis. Replace that soda, energy drink, or Gatorade with 0 calorie water. Not only does water add absolutely nothing to your daily calorie total, but it aides with digestion and helps flush out impurities from the body. Try to drink water with every meal/snack and strive for 6-8 glasses a day.

DO Eat Appropriate Portion Sizes
 
This is often the most overlooked aspect of the weight loss process. Eating an appropriate portion size will help ensure you are not taking in more food than your body needs. If you are eating to the point of being stuffed, you ate far too much. Serve an appropriate portion size on your plate and eat slow to give your body time to register the amount entering. Combine your appropriate portion size with a large glass of water and you will find yourself eating much less than you used to.

DO Cook For Yourself
 
If you have been a regular connoisseur of fast food drive thrus or if you know the pizza delivery man on a first name basis, it's time to make some changes. Healthy eating starts in your kitchen, so don't fear the stove, oven, or your refrigerator. They are actually your best allies when put to proper use. Find recipes that seem appealing to you and try them out. You will soon see why it's a great healthy habit to start cooking for yourself as often as possible.

DO Pack Leftovers For Travel Lunches
 
Another benefit to cooking for yourself is that you can purposely prepare a little extra so that you will have leftovers to take with you to work the following day. Even if you aren't working, you can still eat the leftovers the next day which will save you from having to cook anything. So in actuality, if you cook one meal you may have prepared enough to last for 2 or even 3 meals.

DO Exercise 3-5 Times Per Week
 
One of the best ways to burn off calories from your body is to workout. Once you develop this healthy habit you will actually start looking forward to your exercise time. That may sound completely foreign to you right now, but once you get past the two month hurdle if you are enjoying the exercises you've chosen then you will truly come to enjoy this time to let off steam. Find an activity/sport you enjoy doing, or you can even take classes from an instructor for something you've wanted to learn. Take it slow, but be consistent
Try and stick with these important DOs as best as possible and you will find yourself losing weight consistently week after week. Keep in mind that even losing one pound per week will have you losing 52 pounds in only one year's time. Would you like to be 50+ pounds lighter a year from now?
Now for 5 important DON'Ts of the weight loss process. Try and make sure you avoid doing these things as you work towards creating and maintaining healthy living habits.

DON'T Overeat
 
Overeating is tied hand in hand with portion size. Often at meals we get lost in conversation or distracted watching something on the television and we can easily overlook how much food we are putting into our bodies. Healthy eating habits means you eat an appropriate portion size, drink lots of water, and move on to other things. Don't overeat to the point of being stuffed because by then the damage is done and it's too late. In other words, you shouldn't' have to be completely stuffed to finally release your grip on the fork and knife.

DON'T Order Fast Food or Pizza
 
If you've ever stopped to check the nutritional content of your favorite fast food meals you will be shocked to know that calorie totals can range all the way past the 2,000 mark. That is more than enough food for an entire day unfortunately found in many fast food meals! Don't pack that much food into your body at one time. This is one additional reason why it's so important to start cooking for yourself on a regular basis AND serve appropriate portion sizes at those meals.

DON'T Eat Late At Night
 
It's not going to do your body any good if you eat a large meal moments before going to sleep. Try to make it a habit to not eat less than 3 hours before going to bed. You need to give your body time to burn off some of that food which won't happen if you go to sleep shortly after eating.

DON'T Snack While Watching TV
 
Try never to eat/snack while watching television or any other leisure activity such as reading a book or using the computer. It's in moments like these that our mind is preoccupied and hand and mouth go into automatic mode. Anyone who has done this before has most likely found themselves staring at an empty box of cookies or bag of potato chips thirty minutes later wondering where it all went. This type of snacking is extremely detrimental to a healthy life.

DON'T Starve Yourself
 
For those that think that by starving their bodies they will lose more weight are actually completely wrong. Your body needs fuel in the form of food each and every day. Many people think that starving their bodies for a day or two will help them lose a bunch of weight, however this is hardly the case. Usually what happens is once the starving period is over, the individual is so hungry that they start overeating, cramming anything and everything into their body. Since the body can't utilize all that food at one time, the rest will just be added to your fat storage. Don't cause this unnecessary stress on your body. Feed your body healthy, appropriately portioned food and you won't ever have to starve yourself to try to lose weight.

Gregory L. Gomez, a LAUSD teacher who's also on journey to develop a healthy life in an effort to lose weight and get in shape. Follow his progress on http://HealthyChoicesInLife.com as he strives to lose nearly 100 pounds by eating healthy and maintaining a consistent exercise routine. Get a FREE monthly Healthy Choices Newsletter along with a Healthy Eating eBook just for stopping by at http://healthychoicesinlife.com/programs.

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