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Are You Getting All Of The Nutritional Supplements You Need

Nutrition Diet

Are you certain that your body is getting all the nutrients it needs? while you’re dieting? Chances are that if you’re following any restrictive diet plan, you may be missing some important vitamins or minerals. Any diet that heavily emphasizes one food group while completely restricting others is, by nature, lacking in some essential nutrients.

Isn’t that part of the idea, though? The popular conception of healthy weight loss is that when we feed our bodies less calories than it needs, it will begin to take nutrition from the fat that it has stored. While that’s true, there’s a basic fallacy in thinking that your body can derive all the fuel it needs that way. Part of the problem with that assumption is that there are many nutrients that your body can’t store. It simply uses what it needs and excretes the rest. Those nutrients must be consumed daily in one way or another, and if your diet doesn’t allow for that, your body will show the effects.

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Five Things To Reach For Instead Of A Snack

Diet Snack

We all do it. Even when dieting or not. When we’re bored, lonely, frustrated, uncomfortable – just about any negative feeling at all – we reach for a snack. It may be habit, it may be ‘socially acceptable’ or it may be the result of years of conditioning, but there it is. We’ve grown to equate food with

comfort. There are some situations that are more likely to provoke us to reach for a snack – can you watch a movie without popcorn, for instance? Recognizing some of them in advance and heading them off can take a little planning, but you CAN reprogram the conditioning that has you reaching for a candy bar when someone hurts your feelings. Here are five situations that almost scream for a snack – and things you can do instead.

Instead of popcorn at the movies, reach for your date’s hand. He’ll never guess that you’re holding his hand to keep yours out of the popcorn.

Always reach for a bag of chips midmorning at your desk? Your body does need a mid-morning pick-me-up to keep you going, but chips aren’t the way to go. Instead of a walk to the candy machine, grab the mail and walk to the post office, or take a walk to the copy machine. A brisk walk does wonders for your energy level, and if you can get outside that’s all the better.

Can’t watch television in the evening without snacking on whatever’s handy? Give your hands something to do. Take up knitting or crocheting. It can keep your hands to busy to dip into the snack bowl. Added bonus? A new sweater, afghan or a very special gift for a favorite niece.

What’s a carnival without fried dough? Less fattening! Instead of the cotton candy and popcorn, reach for more fun. Head for the nearest ride you’ve been afraid to climb aboard.

Are late-night snacks your downfall? If you find yourself craving food in the middle of the night when no one else is around, you may just need a little company. Try an online game or chat room to keep your mind busy till you’re sleepy enough to head for bed.

Do you reach for a candy bar or the tub of ice cream when you’re feeling hurt or angry? Instead, reach for the DVDs. Pull out your favorite tear-jerker and have yourself a good cry. Even better – instead of sublimating, face your anger. Reach for a pen and write a nasty letter, or spill it all to your LJ.

Finally, don’t forget that sometimes, when your body wants a snack it’s because it needs a snack. Keep a variety of healthy snack foods around so that when the cravings hit, you can fill up on something healthy.

Don’t Go It Alone !

Diet Program

There’s an old story about a child trying to move a heavy stone while his father looks on. The child works and works, but is just not strong enough. Finally, he tells his father, “I can’t do it. It’s impossible.”

His father responds, “Of course you can. You haven’t used all the strength you have available to you yet.” The little boy answers that he has tried his hardest, and still can’t do it, to which the father responds, “You haven’t asked me to help you yet.”

Even You have a lot of diet tips, sometimes dieting can seem like moving that heavy rock. You struggle and fight, exercise and sweat, but it’s so hard to stick to a diet and exercise schedule that you give up. There comes a time to recognize that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Enlisting the aid of friends, family and a good weight loss support group can bolster

your efforts and help you overcome setbacks that threaten to derail your weight loss efforts. Instead of trying to go it alone, try a few of these suggestions to help you stay on track with the help of friends and family.

1. Hook up with an exercise buddy. Making a date and a commitment to help support someone else’s efforts will help you stick to yours as well. Think you don’t know anyone you can exercise with? You might be surprised. Several years ago, I was commiserating with an online friend about another failed effort to lose weight when she proposed a novel idea. We each got a cell phone with the same calling plan, and every afternoon at 2, we ‘met’ for a walk. She did her walking in Seattle, and I did mine in Boston – but by keeping each other company, we helped each other lose 25 pounds each, and cemented a friendship that will last a lifetime.

2. Get your family on the right page. Husbands, wives, children and siblings can offer support in unexpected ways. Something as simple as a sincere compliment at the right time can be all you need to nudge you onward. By the same token, refuse to let them sabotage your diet efforts. When you recognize it, point it out but keep in mind that they probably don’t think of it as ‘sabotage’. If your husband habitually brings you a bowl of ice cream when he gets one for himself, for instance, he probably thinks he’s expressing his love. Let him know that you appreciate it, but you’d rather have a kiss than ice cream anytime.

3. Join a weight loss group like Weight Watchers.  There’s a lot to be said for seeking out the support of others who are fighting the same battle you are. Whatever it is that motivates you, you can find it in a weight loss support group. Healthy competition, companionship, encouragement, applause and practical, common sense advice from others who are also fighting to take off pounds can all make reforming your eating habits considerably easier.