I know you are excited to get started. I’m excited for you! In fact, I want you to have the best possible experience. Here are a few strategies to ease your way:
Acknowledge and avoid your “trigger” foods. Everyone has a few specific foods that are difficult or impossible to resist. These foods trigger uncon- trolled eating. I know people who can eat a perfectly healthy diet until they are around their trigger foods, and then they lose all control. Who knows
why this happens. It’s like a bout of temporary diet insanity. For me, cook- ies are a trigger food. I know this, so I try to keep them out of the house (or, when I buy cookies for my kids, I only buy the types I like least). Acknowl- edge your own trigger foods—I’m sure you know what they are. Then . . . avoid them. They are a bad influence on your diet and your health. Don’t buy them, don’t take a single bite.
Purge or separate out unhealthy foods. As you begin my LIFE Diet, you’ll discover which foods are good for you, and which will keep you from your weight-loss goal. If you live alone, or if everyone in your household will be following the diet with you, clean out your refrigerator and pantry. Start with a clean, healthy palette. Stock your kitchen with the good stuff so that everywhere you turn, you are surrounded with encouragement.
Keep “Unlimited Foods” available and ready to eat. On pages 41–42 is a list of the “Unlimited Foods” you can eat whenever you like, as much as you like. But if you don’t buy them and make sure they are ready to eat, you may reach for something less healthy when you get hungry. Many of these foods can be purchased in ready-to-eat packages, or can be washed and prepared in advance. Explore some foods that are unfamiliar to you, learn which foods satisfy your snacky taste buds, and keep those foods on hand.
Pre-plan meals. It is easier to make familiar meals than unfamiliar ones. When you come home from a stressful day at work, you will be more likely to stick to my LIFE Diet menu if you plan and shop for all meals at least a day in advance. Make sure all ingredients are on hand and as ready to go as possible. You can pre-chop vegetables and store them in the fridge for a day or two. And—even easier—you can buy frozen chopped vegetables that can be defrosted (and drained) before use. Yes, frozen veggies are just as healthy as fresh, as long as there is no added salt, sugar, cheese, or other additives.
Eat breakfast within 90 minutes of waking, and try not to eat after
9:00 p.m. Food does a whole lot more than just make our stomachs happy. Every time you eat, it sets in motion a cascade of physiological effects, from release of enzymes and hormones to delivery of nutrients wherever they are
needed. Your first meal of the day helps to fire up your metabolism and regulate your appetite for the remainder of the day, so it should be eaten relatively close to waking. On the other hand, our bodies naturally wind down at night. As digestion slows, your last meal of the day—even if it is a snack—is more likely to sit in your stomach and affect your sleep. Late-night eating is a common reaction to the day’s stress, which almost guarantees over-eating and bingeing. You’ll never lose weight that way. I know there are times when late eating is unavoidable, but make that the exception rather than the rule.
I realize that some people have atypical schedules and are therefore unable to eat dinner before 9 p.m. (for example, people who work graveyard shifts or late at night). That’s okay. Simply adjust my LIFE guidelines to your per- sonal schedule, no matter what time of the day or night. In other words, eat your three meals and one planned afternoon snack. With those guidelines, you should be eating something every four to five hours. And use the Unlimited List whenever you need it.
Make the TV room a NO EATING ZONE. Too many people indulge in mindless snacking in front of the television, and that’s a particularly dan- gerous habit. It becomes automatic, like buying popcorn at the movies. It doesn’t matter what you eat—mindlessly eating even healthy foods can rack up the calories. Try to remain conscious of everything you eat. If you train yourself to eat at the kitchen table, you’ll be less susceptible to constant munching. Of course, this assumes that you don’t have a television in the kitchen—if you do, keep it turned off while eating.
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