Lose Weight Fast with Common Sense Diet

Common Sense Diet: Eating for Weight Loss

Curiously most people will stick religiously to the servings
guidelines when eating something like oatmeal, rice, or their
half cup of broccoli, yet when they eat chips, crackers, cookies
and ice cream they have as much as they want. It makes more
sense to eat all you want of the vegetables and fruit snacks and
limit the processed food treats though. If you want permanent
weight loss try the Common Sense Diet.

Eat As Much As you Want of Real Foods

Consider having as much “real” food as it takes to satisfy, then
limit the processed foods. Eating double the ingredients in your
sandwich is still better than having half a sandwich and a whole
bag of greasy chips. If you look at the box for hot cereal, it
suggests a pretty small serving size. Just ignore it. Fix as
many “servings” as you want, then eat a nice big bowl of hot
cereal. I usually cook enough for four and split it between two
of us. Am I as big as a barn? Hardly. But half that amount of
cereal would not satisfy me and I’d be looking for something
else to eat pretty quickly. Eating plenty in the first place
makes much more sense and I’m generally satisfied for several
hours.

So what if I eat more than the recommended serving size? The
suggested servings have nothing to do with you and everything to
do with what the manufacturer wanted to list as “calories per
serving,” or to be able to make a claim of “less than 2 net
carbs,” both of which are essentially meaningless. What matters
is how much food will you need to be satisfied? It makes little
sense for a 130 pound woman to be served and to eat the same
amount as a 200 pound man.

I eat as much as it takes to satisfy my hunger, and then no
more. That doesn’t mean I eat until I’m stuffed so full I’ll be
ill, or I have to lie down, it means I’m satisfied. I get busy
and forget all about eating when I’m well fed.

If you’re following a pre-prescribed eating plan and you still
want more to eat, it’s unlikely you’ll stay with that plan for
long. Everyone of us is unique in our food requirements, so
following a prescribed diet plan may just need to be modified to
better suit you. It’s okay to add another half cup of vegetables
and it could make the difference between success and failure in
your dieting efforts.

Add an apple or other piece of fruit a couple times during the
day to get you over those hungry times. Most fruit has less than
100 calories in a piece. You can get 100 calories eating a piece
of candy, but of the two which is going to satisfy you the
longest? I’d suspect real food would.

I like a certain brand of sandwich from the health food store.
At first I would eat a whole sandwich, then one day it struck me
that maybe half would be enough, so I tried and what do you
know, half a sandwich was plenty. Now I always eat a half and
save the rest for the next day. Is this a breakthrough? For me
it was because before I would use my eye to judge what I needed
to eat (Mom used to tell me, “Your eyes are bigger than your
stomach,” and I guess she was right!). These sandwiches I’m
referring to are big, and they are filling. They contain healthy
but oddball ingredients you may not have thought would be good
in a sandwich like shredded carrots and cabbage. They require
substantial chewing, and they are very nourishing and
satisfying. That’s what you want from a sandwich, right?

When eating good, wholesome foods I don’t crave chips and
cookies, but if I eat a regular grilled cheese or tuna sandwich,
I’m off looking for the chips and ice cream for later. The
association when you eat one food with another food is strong.
Consider, french fries with ketchup, apple pie with ice cream
(some eat it with cheddar cheese), peanut butter and jelly, ham
and eggs. Some things just seem right paired together, or so we
think, but what if you could shake up those associations? If
you’ve got a real habit of eating chips for instance, what else
is going on at the same time? Is it the TV show you’re watching,
the time of day, the other foods? Try switiching things up,
moving to another room to eat, changing the channel or try a
completely different type of chips.

For me, french fries without ketchup just isn’t the same so when
I broke my addiction to them I started by eating them without
the sauce. They weren’t half as good, but the point was, it’s
not the fries, it’s the ketchup (tomato candy to me). Sometimes
trying something new can help break those associations. Try
baked chips for instance, or just cut back how many chips you
have at a time if that works better for you.

Speaking of pickles; yes they have high sodium. So what? If we
would stop and think for just one minute that they stop
themselves from eating perfectly fine foods like a pickle (great
for an appetizer), but do eat all the junk they want, it simply
makes no sense. Start to limit the snacks and junk foods, and go
ahead and have the pickles and fruit snacks. Double up on the
amount of vegetables, even triple up. Eat hearty! Food is a good
thing. Watch the sauces though because other than enhancing the
flavor of the food they aren’t exactly nutrient powerhouse
foods. Have an extra bite of chicken and a bit less sauce.

Limit Processed Foods for Faster Weight Loss

If you grew up never eating anything but processed foods it may
be more difficult to try new things, but be brave. I suggested
having some sliced tomato with dinner and the kids (teenagers)
looked at me like I was crazy, but when I was growing up slices
of tomato from our garden were often on our plates. I love
tomatoes. I’ll eat a whole tomato for a snack (just like an
apple).

I Hate Vegetables

If you hate vegetables it’s probably because you were forced to
eat them as a child when they were over cooked, mushy, awful.
Try them again but this time lightly steamed so there is still
some give to the bite but never mushy or overly soft (unless you
have no teeth). I toss frozen vegetables in water, bring it to a
boil, then turn off the heat and by the time I get my plate
they’re ready. It takes no time at all to get them right, but
they’re easy to over cook, so don’t let them boil for 10
minutes. Frankly, directions for cooking vegetables are always
wrong, so cut back on the time to cook and taste them sooner.

This week go ahead and eat two slices of bread if that’s what it
takes to feel satisfied. Have two (or more) servings of oatmeal.
Eat enough to be satisfied. Have a full sandwich if half isn’t
enough, or if a whole is a bit much, cut back to half. Find the
quantity that works for you by adjusting here and there. Don’t
be afraid to try new things, vegetables and fruits are
inexpensive and a healthy addition to your diet! Above all, work
to modify what you prefer to eat now, and slowly make changes so
the changes will become permanent.

Even if you add a few hundred calories to your daily total, it’s
far better to be satisfied with what you’ve eaten than to feel
still hungry when you push away from the table. It’s always
worked for me. I don’t take whimpy portions, but I’m not a
glutten either. Find a balance and you’ll find your weight will
come off more easily.

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