7 Tips To Help You Stick To A Diet

We recently finished testing the 3 Week Diet (read our three week diet reviews).  It's basically a low carb diet in 4 phases which aims to provide the largest possible weight loss in the shortest amount of time.

Whether you are trying to lose weight quickly or more gradually, sticking to a diet is never the easiest thing to do.   So here are the 7 most helpful tips we found from our experiences as we slimmed our way through the 21 days.

1 – Taste  Make meals as tasty as possible as bland and boring food is the enemy of dieters.  We use herbs, spices, Worcestershire sauce, chilli pepper, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, anything in fact which had very low sugar or fat but which added flavor.  Flavorful meals which smelled good were the ones which kept us feeling full longest.

2 – Water  Drink lots of water preferably cold water, it helps stave off hunger pangs.

3 – Cut Down on Preparation  One of the big problems with dieting is the time it takes to prepare meals from scratch – especially if the rest of the family are not eating the same as you.   So if you have a microwave or cooker available at lunchtime, cook extra at dinner time and simply reheated for lunch. Saves effort and a hot meal seems more satisfying than a cold one. Reheated pasta has also been shown to be more beneficial for weight loss than when it's freshly cooked.

4 – Plan Activities  Plan your days and where possible arrange appointments for lunchtime.  Being busy, working out or doing an activity – especially with other people helps to distract from feelings of hunger.  Try Yoga, Pilates or get an early start on your beach body!

5 – Eat Soup  This was actually a cheat from the letter of the diet, but really worked for us. Make a big batch of soup for lunches. Not only is there plenty of research showing that soup fills you up for longer and can generally help in aiding weight loss, but I never feel deprived if I’ve had a warming mug or bowl of soup. It’s a hug in a mug as the advert says.

6 – Cheat  There's no getting round it, dieting is tough especially during the first week while your body is getting used to eating less, but it really does get much, much easier. And you can cheat, just a little, without affecting the end result too badly.

7 – Only Have One…  If you crack and simply must have chocolate or a cookie, just have one. It's not the end of the world, just stick at one. Don't write off the day and wait until the following day to start again. Start again straight away.

All these tips are useful regardless of which diet you are trying.  If you have your own top tips for dieting success, please let us know.

http://www.weightodiet.com brings you the latest dieting research and thinking to help you on your weight loss journey. We sort the fact from the fiction and find the best diet plan to help you achieve the figure you desire.