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First important steps to lose weight The best way to go about losing weight – and, most importantly, maintaining that weight loss – is to completely revise your eating habits so as to change your basic diet. Don’t think of dieting as a temporary project to get you in shape for a specific occasion – something you do short term and then let go to pot. With this attitude you might be able, with any number of faddy diets, to reveal the ‘new you’, but once you return to old eating habits you will quickly pile all the weight back on, plus more. Think instead of healthy eating becoming your way of life for good.
Think positive
Having the right attitude is essential for losing weight. Always remember that you are doing this for yourself – no else is going to suffer if you eat to many chocolate bars or cream cakes! It is you who wants to be slimmer and more confident. Make promises to yourself such as ‘Every time I am tempted by chocolate I will imagine myself in my bikini’.
Getting started
Clear out your kitchen and throw out any food that is high in fat or sugar. Stock up with healthy, low-fat low-calorie foods instead – if you have only healthy food in the house you will be less tempted to stray.
Keep a food diary
It can be helpful to keep a food diary in which you religiously record all the food and drink that you consume each day. You can use it to keep a tally of your daily intake of calories and chart your progress. It is also a useful record to which you can refer when the weight is not coming off as you had planned – you can check where you are going wrong and make the necessary changes.
Avoiding temptation
Try to avoid going food shopping too often to reduce the chance of being tempted by fresh smells from the bakery or fattening foods on display. Certainly, never go shopping when you are hungry. You can even give the supermarket a miss completely by ordering via the internet an having your groceries delivered or by getting someone else in the family to do the shopping.
Food for thought
It is important not to let food take over all your thoughts when dieting. Having to plan meals, shop for and cook with ingredients you do not usually use means that food can become an obsession. In time, however, these ingredients should become a way of life rather than a novelty, and you can still allow yourself the occasional glass of wine or bar of chocolate as a treat.
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