Tips for a Successful Weight Loss Plan

We'd all be in great shape if dieting was easy. Since we are not, here are some methods that successful people use to lose weight so that others can better themselves, too.

First Tip :  Drink 64-80 ounces of water every day to stay hydrated

Okay, for many people this is a big dilemma. Water doesn't taste all that good generally because water really has no taste. Drinking water 8 to 10 times each day gets easier to do the more you actually do it. It is simply a matter of conditioning your brain, and yourself, so that it becomes more bearable to do. Once you get started, you will start to enjoy water.

To start with, you should drink a glass of water in the morning first thing, before you exercise. This is sure to be the easiest glass you will drink all day and it will assist in helping you remember to drink water all day long. Better yet, why not drink 2 glasses?

If you really cannot endure the taste of water, try using a water purifying filter or pitcher. You can also add a few drops of lemon or lime to your water to taste but no sugar or sweetener! Ice also helps too.

Check out flavored waters in stores, too. Just keep an eye out for additives.

Second Tip : Have Breakfast

Do not avoid breakfast. If you need to go to bed a little earlier so that you can get up 30 minutes sooner in the morning do it! Breakfast is so critical to your good health and to weight control. According to Dr. Barbara Rolls a professor of nutrition at Penn State University, "Your metabolism slows while you sleep, and it doesn't rev back up until you eat again."

Eating breakfast is not only good for overall weight loss, it will help you stay on track with your diet the remainder of the day. You are more likely to binge on something sweet if you do not eat breakfast.

You can always keep a couple of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge or some high-fiber, low starch fruit around. If you plan to eat fruit at all during the day, breakfast is the perfect time to do it.

Tip #3 : EAT AT LEAST 3 MEALS AND 2 SNACKS EACH DAY

This can be one of the most arduous adjustments to make. After all, you are busy! You already have a full-plate. When do you have time to worry about filling your plate with more frequent meals?

Just like eating breakfast will boost your metabolism, so will eating more frequently. This will also help you curb your bad-carb intake by making sure that your nutritious snacks are planned and take place regularly throughout your day.

Really, it will just take a nominal expenditure of planning time at the grocery store and at home each morning before you head out for the day to make some healthy food choices and make a few healthy snacks and meals. For suggestions, just see the handy list of snacks and appetizers listed later.

Fourth Tip : Stay away from White Foods

This is one easy method to remember what to avoid. If it is made from sugar, flour, potatoes, rice or corn - just say no. Remembering this rule will make it more easy to recognize those rice cakes as an unhealthy high-carb snack.

Always look for colorful fruits and veggies to substitute for the white ones. Buy broccoli, lettuce, bell peppers, green beans and peas, brown rice in moderation, leafy greens like kale and spinach, apples, melons, oranges and grapes.

These foods are not only colorful they are also high in fiber, nutrients and important antioxidants. Eating colorful fruits and vegetables will give your diet variety as well as give you added health benefits.

5. : EAT YOUR VEGGIES

It is so easy to use a low-carb diet as an rationalization for poor nutrition. Resist this attraction. If the only vegetable you have eaten in the last 5 years has been the potato, now is a good time to start experimenting with other veggies. This is important for your overall health and to avoid some nasty side effects of not getting enough fiber in your diet.

If you try hard enough, you will find vegetables that you really like. Experiment with grilling veggies and cooking with real butter to add flavor. You can also search for new recipes on the Internet or in cookbooks.

Remember, if you are only eating 40 grams of carbs a day or less, two cups of plain salad greens contain only about 5 grams of carbohydrates. You have no excuse not to have your vegetables.

Tip #6 : Prepare your own meals

While more and more restaurants are offering low-carb friendly menu items, many of them are still not ideal low-carb fare. There are many recipes for quick and easy meals that you can prepare yourself at home. Try to do this as much as possible.

If you cook your own foods, you know exactly what the contents are and you will be able to better control for hidden sugar and otherwise processed foods.

Another benefit is the cost savings over the long haul. Even if you must go to the grocery store more often, you will save a notable amount per meal as opposed to eating at restaurants and fast food joints.

It will also be easier to maintain your diet with your own favorite fresh food selections on hand.

Tip #7 : INVEST IN A GOOD SET OF FOOD STORAGE CONTAINERS

Having food storage containers of various sizes on hand will make it so much simpler for you to plan your meals and snacks. When you buy nuts, fruits and veggies in bulk you can simply prepare, separate and store them for easy use later.

For instance, you can pre-slice your apples and snack on them over several days. Simply cut them, rinse them in pineapple or lemon juice and store. This will make a quick and easy snack for later.

Fix your lunch and take it with you to work. Better yet, fix your lunch and 2 snacks for work.

Eighth Tip : Have Protein for snacks and meals

In addition to everything that we've talked about earlier, eating protein helps you burn more calories. Jeff Hample, Ph.D., R.D., a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association says that, "Protein is made up mainly of amino acids, which are harder for your body to breakdown, so you burn more calories getting rid of them.

Just think eating a protein rich snack can help you lose weight. How about a few slices of turkey or ham?

Eating protein will also help you feel full so that you are less likely to crave unhealthy snacks.

9. : After each snack drink 8 ounces of Water

This will help you get in your 64-80 ounces of water each day but it can also have other advantages. Ever feel hungry after eating a handful of nuts? Try drinking water afterwards. The water will help you feel full and prevent eating too much.

Drinking water after a snack will also help remove the aftertaste from your mouth and can help curb your desire for more.

Tenth Tip : EAT SLOWLY & ENJOY YOUR FOOD

You will feel full and more satisfied if you take the time to savor your food and chew it slower. Don't get in the habit of eating while standing or eating quickly. Sit down and chew.

Eating slower will help you enjoy your food more, pay attention to what it is you are actually eating and get a better sense of when you are actually full. It takes a little time for your brain to get the message from your stomach that you have had enough.

Tip #11 : Eat Your Largest meals Early in the Day

You will feel more healthy and lose weight faster if you eat an oversized breakfast and eat a smaller dinner. You may also wish to eat the majority of your carbs earlier in the day, and then eating a salad and lean meat protein for dinner.

Eating bigger meals during the part of the day when you are most active will help you to feel satisfied throughout the day and curb cravings for harmful snacks.

12. : CONSIDER EATING SALMON OR MACKREL FOR BREAKFAST

Yes this may seem irregular, but it is one way to work in Omega-3 fatty acids that are good for you and add some change to your daily diet. After a few months you may grow tired of eating eggs and bacon for breakfast. Substituting fish will give you the protein and healthful fish oils you need.

You can try canned salmon or mackerel in croquettes for a healthier sausage substitute. Or you could simply eat cold leftover salmon the next morning with dill sauce.

Thirteenth Tip : Instead of Bread Try a Lettuce Leaf

This tip can seem a bit odd at first but if you try it you might grow to love it. Instead of eating white bread with your burgers and sandwiches, why not use leaves of lettuce?

You can make a double cheeseburger with onions, pickles and tomato wrapped in a whole lettuce leaf. Or you can make tasty wrap sandwiches with lettuce instead of tortillas.

This will help augment your good carb and fiber intake while providing you more assortment in your diet.

14. : EAT A FRUIT DESSERT

Okay, we all want a little dessert on occasion, but how do you have your dessert and your low-carb diet too? You could try cheese with fruit slices or berries? Better yet, do cream with berries? You could even try sweet pineapples or strawberries with cottage cheese?

Berries are sweet and high in fiber and nutrients and dairy products are high in protein. If your low-carb plan will allow it, this is a sweet and tasty substitute to more sugary desserts.

An added advantage is that the protein in the dairy products and the fiber in the fresh fruit will make these desserts more filling.

Fifteenth Tip : Have Fresh Fruit Instead of Squeezed

Fruit juice can be very inviting as a stand-in for soda, but just how beneficial is fruit juice? If you read the labels you will find that in many of the commercial juices available at your grocery store there is very little fruit juice.

What you will find is lots of sugar water and other ingredients. Why not skip the juice altogether and eat a fresh piece of fruit? Not only does fresh fruit contain less sugar than juice, fresh fruit has fiber that is good for you and will help you feel fuller longer.

16. : Meal Replacements Should be used only once in a while

New meal replacement bars and shakes go on the market nearly every day. These shakes and bars may claim to be nutritious, but almost all of them contain hydrogenated oil and sweeteners.

So be careful. The bars especially may be only slightly more nutritious than a Snickers candy bar. Every now and then, they may not be that bad for you but as a rule you probably don't want to indulge in a meal replacement shake or bar on a daily basis.

SUCCESS TIP NO. 17 : Is It Too Good To Be True?

Low carb doughnuts and muffins? You can find these prepackaged low-carb labeled goods at your local stores and at a number of low-carb lifestyle specialty shops. That does not mean that you should make a habit out of eating them.

While low-carb pastries may be tempting, keep in mind that they still contain all of the usual carbohydrate suspects: sugar or a sugar substitute and flour.

They may be healthier than your typical pastry as an occasional treat, but remember to stick with the basics for continued low-carb success.

18. : Browse the Outer Aisles of your Local Grocery Store

It will be easier to stick with your low-carb lifestyle if you take note of the one common thread in all grocery store designs: the healthful foods are on the fringe aisles.

Think about it, when you enter your local grocery store all of the health-enhancing stuff, fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products are arranged around the outer edges of the store. You only rarely need to enter the center aisle areas in those few stores that stock butter and cheese in the center near the frozen foods. For the most part all of the foods that you need for your low carb diet can be found on the outer aisles of your local grocery store.

Train yourself to start on one end of the outer aisle and work your way around. It will be much easier to avoid carb cravings and fill your basket with nutritious items if you do so.

19. : INVEST IN GOOD COOKBOOKS

Can't decide what to eat? Need some variety in your diet? Turn to a cookbook. Granted, not all recipes in a cookbook are low-carb fare, but you will be astounded at the number of low-carb and low-carb friendly recipes you can find in your standard Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Cookbooks are great reference tools that often contain handy tips on purchasing cuts of meat and preparing meats, fruits and vegetables in new and exciting ways.

Plus, new low-carb cookbooks are becoming available all the time. So be sure to take advantage of these assets to try something new, different and delicious.

Twentieth Tip : A Good Multivitamin Does Wonders

We can't all do it right all of the time. Even the most thorough food combiner may miss some healthful vitamins, minerals and trace elements in their diets. To help make sure you get everything that you need, contemplate taking a good multivitamin.

Check with your doctor first for recommendations and you should be tested for anemia to see if you need a vitamin with iron. However, the longer you eat low-carb and the more red meat you eat, the less anemia will be a problem and you should be able to take vitamins with less iron.

Your success is exclusively up to you. Assuming that you are an otherwise healthy individual, your body will do its part. Just remember to adhere to the low-carb diet plan that is right for you and add some assortment to your meals to help you stay faithful to your health and weight loss goals.

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