A dieter’s guide to easy weight loss

If Aladdin’s Lamp found its way into your hands, would you include losing weight in your list of three wishes?

We are usually better at wishing for slimness than attaining it. And sometimes we even try too hard, going on rigid reducing regimen that eventually leaves our resolve limp as a rag. Here’s a suggestion with a lot less potential for backfiring: “Take it easy. Your extra weight is the final result of many small behavioral acts, things like eating between meals or during driving to places only two blocks away,” explains Kelly Bownell, Ph.D, co-director of the Obesity Research Center at the University of Pennysylvania. “So you can lose weight by making many small, clever changes  -  in diet, exercise and attitude.”

For slow but sure weight loss draft into your daily habits as many of the following little ways to lose weight as you can. They can change your behavior just enough to get you eating better, moving more – and losing more!

1. Go grocery shopping on a full stomach, doughnuts and biscuits won’t have half the allure they would if you hunted through those aisles hungry. Shop from a list of necessities. Take only a limited amount of money to the grocery store as an extra reinforcement against buying high calorie foods
2. Invite your spouse or housemate into the kitchen with you when you are preparing meals and cleaning up to keep you from sampling as you go.
3. Don’t eat foods out of their original containers. You will probably consume more than if you had dished it out in a measured portion.
4. Don’t keep food stashed in inappropriate places; eat at scheduled times in scheduled places , have someone serve you and ask for smaller portions while he or she is at it, would help a great deal.
5. Police your eating speed by pausing between bites. Chew each bite at least ten times to really taste it and to make yourself eat more slowly. You will have eaten less food by the time you feel full.
6. Don’t skip meals. You will only over eat later – Use the stairs and not the elevators. Do most of the work yourself. Depending on your body weight, studies show you can burn 195 to 305 calories for each hour you spend washing windows, mopping floors and doing other chores. Learn that it is okay to say “no thank you” when other people offer you food, and set a realistic goal for yourself.
7. Most importantly, exercise.

From the book of Everyday Health Tips.