12 Things You Can Do To Stay on Track (When Your Willpower is Fading)

12 Things You Can Do to Stay on Track (When Your Will Power is Fading)
By JJ Virgin

Tick-tock, tick-tock. We're approaching the end of January 2010. That means a few things are givens-- Valentine's Day is around the corner, spring clothes are coming out and your dieting resolution might just be hitting the skids.
Rewind to that Jan 1 resolution to FINALLY get in shape, drop pounds and become healthy in 2010. Maybe you're made some solid changes (congrats!), but the progress seems slow and your resolution is fading fast. Before you jump knee-deep into a bag of Doritos, I want you to try 12 easy ways to stay on track. The progress you see from doing these things will also help to motivate you again.

1. Stop the snacking. Every time you are eating that 100 calorie snack pack you are raising blood sugar and insulin and stopping fat burning. Why would your body need to burn stored fat for fuel if you just ATE???
2. Add some nut butters. Dieters who ate a tbsp of peanut butter a day lost more weight. You'll feel fuller from this healthy fat and eat less. Healthy fat also helps you burn fat better.
3. Add vinegar to your meals. It acts to sensitive insulin receptors like the diabetic drug metformin. This means that it can help you control appetite and blood sugar better
4. Lose the artificial sweeteners. Eat sweet, crave sweet AND they cause calorie dysregulation. This means you can no longer correlate the degree of sweetness with the amount of calories causing you to overeat.
5. Treat yourself. Give yourself PERMISSION to have three bites of a treat-ideally dark chocolate with berries to keep those cravings under control. Total denial will make you want to cheat and then give in. A little of a treat will go a long way in helping you feel like you can eat what you want...because you can.
6. Stop starving. If you cut your calories too much you will get irrational and cranky and overeat, be sure to eat enough of clean lean protein, healthy fats, high fiber carbs and non starchy veggies at each meal to be able to go 4-6 hours without getting hungry
7. Eat a big breakie. Research shows dieters who get up to half their calories at breakfast lose more weight than those who spread those same cals throughout the day. Go for 400-600 cals at breakfast – show some good FAST ideas here (and be sure to eat within an hour of waking up)
8. Start your day with a meal replacement shake. Research shows people who replace a meal with a shake lose more weight and KEEP it off, plus it is EASY FAST and you can throw in some great nutrition into it as well.
9. Do a dairy free/gluten free trial. I'm finding that roughly 50 percent of my clients are dairy sensitive and 30 percentare gluten sensitive which causes gas and bloating, cravings and “false fat”. Test yourself by yanking these from your diet.
10. Avoid the high fructose corn syrup. This is the worst of the sugars out there. It can cause leptin and insulin resistance which means it makes you hungrier AND a better fat storer. IF you eat it after exercise it can block fat burning. Don’t be fooled by fructose – save it for your fruit!
11. Make friends with fat. Coconut milk and oil can help you burn more fat AND crush your hunger by raising cholescystikin that signals your brain that you are full
12. Limit your fluid intake at meals. Drinking 4-8 ounces to avoid making as STEW of your stomach acid and impairing protein digestion.

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