The Healthy Fast Food Diet - Baby steps to a slimmer you

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Baby steps to a slimmer you

babysteps1 When it comes to weight-loss success, it’s far preferable to make small changes and stick with them than to make huge, sweeping reforms which are harder to keep and easy to ditch after a few days…

Behavioral psychologists know that if you want to make lasting changes in your life, you need to plan for success by making small steps. That’s hard for most Americans, because we want our magic-bullet solutions and instant results immediately. Like NOW.

Strange but true, though: When it comes to success, it’s far preferable to make small changes and stick with them than to make huge, sweeping reforms only to ditch them after a few days.

Why? Because by making grand attempts and failing, we’re training our brains to believe that we can’t succeed. On the other hand, taking modest baby steps one at a time sends our brains a more positive message: “Hey, this is actually going to work!” And when you think you’re succeeding, you actually tend to succeed.

So when it comes to weight loss, let’s think about something really simple, something almost everyone can handle: counting to ten. Try these tiny, do-able steps, starting a new one every week or even every month. You’ll be amazed at how it all, well, alls add up over time.

1. Weigh yourself 1 time a day. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? But studies indicate that folks who do daily weight-checks tend to keep the flubber off longer. So hop on the scale every morning (when you weigh least) to monitor the situation. You can expect some minor variation over time—but if you notice a clear gain of more than two percent of your total weight (3 pounds if you're at 150), contemplate what you’ve been doing (or not doing!) that might have caused the change.

2. Watch no more than 2 hours of TV a day. Um, and this is going to make me skinny? How? Well, for starters, if you’re glued to the tube you’re not moving around much. Instead, weed the flowerbeds, play tag with the kids, dust the tops of all the furniture, or groom the dog. Even standing aimlessly in front of the refrigerator burns more calories than being a target for the continual barrage of junk-food ads. An easy way to calculate your telly time? Rent movies (you can even do it through the mail now, with Netflix or GreenCiné), so you know you’re only watching for a couple of hours (with no commercials!).

3. Talk to a “Diet Buddy” 3 times a week. People who have solid support systems are more successfully at maintaining their weight. If you really can't hook up with a weight-loss group, try letting everyone know about your plan so they can cheer you on. And don’t rule out electronic friends: email or Internet groups can hook up “dieting buddies” as well.

4. Get 4 grams of fiber in every snack or meal. Grandma was right: a high-fiber diet does wonders, and can lower your total calorie intake without leaving you hungry. You’ll slow down when you eat, too (nothing like the jaw workout you get from chewing). To get the recommended 25 grams a day, try six snacks or meals that include four grams each. An apple or a pear gives you about 4 grams—so do four Triscuits, a couple of dried figs, a baked sweet potato or a whole-wheat English muffin.

5. Walk an extra 5,000 steps a day. The average person already takes about 3,000-5,000 steps a day just going to work, doing chores and running errands. When you double that number to 10,000, you increase your HDL cholesterol (that’s the good one) and lower your blood pressure—as well as lowering that number you see every morning on the scale. One study found that walking more steps per days also reduces overall body fat, in particular the stuff that clings so tenaciously to waists and hips. The even better news: just an extra fifty minutes of walking (about 2 1/2 miles daily) will do the trick.

6. Keep a mini-journal 6 days a week. Well, it’d be great if you did it seven days a week, but let’s be realistic here. Even if you only jot down your calorie intake and exercise six days out of seven, you can still look back at that info to check up on yourself. Are you reaching the 500-calorie daily cutback, and walking that extra 5,000 steps a day, that you'll need to shed that extra pound every week? Get a pocket-sized notebook you can carry with you, so no excuses!

7. Sleep at least 7 hours a night. Studies show that chronically sleep-deprived people have lower levels of the hormones that control appetite, and are at greater risk for obesity. Translation: After an all-nighter, don’t be surprised if you collapse face-first in the doughnuts. One sleep study found that those sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours a day had an increased incidence of diabetes.

8. Drink 8 glasses of water every day. Okay, we know that sounds like an ocean. But if you do it gradually, you’ll notice the difference. You won’t just be less thirsty, but drinking H2O actually burns calories. Eight glasses a day equals eight pounds of weight lost per year. Try keeping a water bottle at your desk, downing a half-glass right before meals and replacing sodas with sparkling water (add lemon or lime perk-ups, if you like—slices of orange and cucumber can be refreshing, too).

9. Stop working after 9 hours. Not only does overwork keep you chronically too tired and busy to exercise, but stress can literally cause weight gain by producing excess hormones like cortisol. If you pack up your briefcase and leave after an eight-hour day (including a lunch hour), you’ll have more pep to take a walk, do some chores (your spouse will love you) and prepare a healthy dinner—maybe even make breakfast for the next day. And your boss will be happy; those who work shorter hours are actually more productive.

10. Learn about the glycemic load, and knock off 10 points. The Glycemic Index (GI) measures the spike in blood sugar that you get when you eat carbohydrates (see page 24 of The Fast Food Diet). But not all carbs are equal. Some have a more balanced combo of sugar with protein or fiber (grapes, oranges, whole-grain veggie pizza) and some are the glycemic equivalent of controlled substances (all those refined-sugar creations that start with C: cake, cookies, candy…). When your blood sugar peaks, your body has to use insulin to bring it down again, and then, because you’re in a blood-sugar trough, you crave more sugar—kind of like an evil Ferris wheel. Break out of the vicious cycle by eating more fresh produce and fewer refined carbs. (If you just can't give up the C foods, certain brands of dark chocolate even claim to have a lower glycemic index, thanks to their fat and fiber content.)