Food Lovers - How To Master Weight Loss

So you love food? The thought of losing weight by eating less probably traumatises you! But take heart. Use these hints to make it all less painful.

A well balanced diet is what we know we must have. But a well balanced diet is not necessarily a boring one. Look, it's really about planning. Buy some good low fat recipe books (there are plenty of these) or just surf the net for suitable healthy options and organise your menu for the week prior to grocery shopping. Then, armed with your shopping list, at a time you're not even a bit hungry, do your shopping and revel in the feeling of arriving at the checkout with a trolley full of mostly fruit and vegetables. Go on, try it, it feels great! Watch others admire you as they see the contents of your trolley!

Change your attitude to eating by using smaller plates. You can still eat adequate proportions of the right food, but you will feel like you're eating more. Don't laugh, try this: it really works! Another little trick is to eat your nightly meal several hours before going to bed, then brush your teeth immediately. This seems to deter those late night cravings!

Five servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit: this is what we all need every day. It helps me to put fruit on my cereal every morning because then I've already fulfilled one fruit serving requirement. Later I munch on an apple at a regular time (for me it's when I'm coming home from work every afternoon). Sometimes I eat a carrot around mid-morning, as it seems to take a long time to munch through and makes me feel like I'm eating more! Also it takes care of my first vegetable serving requirement.

Eat slowly and savour every mouthful. Think about the texture and flavour of the food as you chew. Enjoy the eating experience more. Drink water with your meals as a habit as it will help fill you up. Chop up your favourite fruit and leave it in a container in the fridge. It's amazing how we're all more inclined to eat fruit when it's already bite sized. It's amazing at a kid's party when you bring out plates of chopped up fruit how the kids won't generally complain and will polish off every last morsel!

Have you noticed how most of our social events with family and friends are built around eating? Why not be the one to change all this by suggesting a walk together instead of a dinner party, a ball game in the park instead of an All-You-Can-Eat restaurant, a card game instead of a coffee shop? The company will still be great, and you won't feel tempted to mindlessly eat lots of food.

Going out spells trouble for most people's diets. Bought food is usually fried and made for convenience, not nutritional value. Pack healthy food and take it with you. What a wonderful example you'll be setting for your children! Also, you'll be saving heaps of money. Your kids will stop asking whether they can buy hot fries and chips after your establish the habit. Occasionally, reward them by buying them a treat for a snack, but only after they've eaten the food you've brought.

The truth is that none of us manage to eat everything we should on every single day of our lives. In our busy modern lives there's bound to be days the 5 vegetables 2 fruit rule is not observed. That's where health supplements come in. You'll experience great peace of mind as you and your family consume your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals in the form of a shake or capsules. It's a safeguard so that you know your body is getting what it needs. It's even more useful after exercise as whey protein-based shakes help repair and tone muscle.

Losing weight is not as arduous as we sometimes think it is. If you can make some adjustments to your lifestyle, you'll never have to worry about fad diets or starving yourself again! Surely that's a motivation in itself!