Many of us can be quite disciplined about our eating during the day, only to completely sabotage our efforts with after-dinner snacking. Once we are ensconced on the couch, even with a good dinner in our bellies, we tend to reach for the ice cream, the chips, and the remote control. TV watching and snacking just seem to go together like macaroni and cheese.
After-dinner treat
After a day of eating your veggies, you do deserve an after-dinner treat. Otherwise, you will feel deprived and this will affect your long-term effort to lose weight. One of the best treats that you can use to reward yourself is an ounce of dark chocolate and a small glass of wine. As long as you keep your after-dinner treat to 120 calories, you won’t undo your fine efforts during the day.
After a day of eating your veggies, you do deserve an after-dinner treat. Otherwise, you will feel deprived and this will affect your long-term effort to lose weight. One of the best treats that you can use to reward yourself is an ounce of dark chocolate and a small glass of wine. As long as you keep your after-dinner treat to 120 calories, you won’t undo your fine efforts during the day.
Other good choices for after-dinner treats include individually-portioned snacks. For example, cookies in 100-calorie portions are a good choice. Another great choice is sugar-free fudgesicles, which are usually under 60 calories a piece. These types of treats will satisfy your sweet tooth without adding pounds.
Get Your Beauty Sleep
The final tip for weight loss may surprise you. It has nothing to do with what food choices you make or what you actually put into your mouth, yet is has everything to do with it. It involves the amount of time you sleep. Study after study has shown that people who don’t get enough sleep weigh more. Why? People that don’t get adequate sleep tend to reach for sugary, high-calorie foods to give them an energy boost and help them make it through their day. Highly caffeinated coffee drinks with sugar and whipped cream, donuts, candy bars–all of these increase energy for short amounts of time but they will also pile on unwanted pounds. You won’t need to grab that latte or do nut if you make sleep a priority. Simply realizing that thin people get adequate sleep should help you to turn off the TV an hour earlier and get at least eight hours of sleep.
Summing It All Up
As this set of three posts have demonstrated, you can lose eight pounds a month fairly easily. Start with breakfast–don’t skip it, and use it as a time to get lots of fiber, which will help you to feel more full and give you energy throughout your day. Add a serving of fruit for flavor and its handy disease-fighting anti-oxidants. Reach for healthy snacks throughout the day: nuts, fruit, and string cheese. For lunch and dinner, remember the food pyramid of vegetables on the bottom, protein on top, and carbohydrates as the smallest, triangular portion. For many of us, this is a total reversal of the way we normally eat. There is nothing wrong with carbs in small portions, but remember that they should be the smallest part of the meal because they are the highest in calories and have the least nutrition.
As this set of three posts have demonstrated, you can lose eight pounds a month fairly easily. Start with breakfast–don’t skip it, and use it as a time to get lots of fiber, which will help you to feel more full and give you energy throughout your day. Add a serving of fruit for flavor and its handy disease-fighting anti-oxidants. Reach for healthy snacks throughout the day: nuts, fruit, and string cheese. For lunch and dinner, remember the food pyramid of vegetables on the bottom, protein on top, and carbohydrates as the smallest, triangular portion. For many of us, this is a total reversal of the way we normally eat. There is nothing wrong with carbs in small portions, but remember that they should be the smallest part of the meal because they are the highest in calories and have the least nutrition.
In addition, don’t derail your efforts to eat healthy and lose weight by denying yourself all treats. After dinner is the perfect time to indulge in a small glass of wine, some dark chocolate, or some other seemingly decadent treat. Just choose wisely; there are many individually portioned treats on the market that will keep your snack to around 100 calories.
Finally, don’t forget that getting enough sleep is an important tool in your weight-loss arsenal. People that get adequate sleep eat better during the day and have the willpower to refuse sugary snacks and high-calorie caffeinated drinks because they do not think that they need a pick-me-up at various times. By following these tips, you can lose those holiday pounds and get back to the body you love.
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