Keeping Dieting Simple

We often turn our diets into a huge, complicated mission.

We try, in vain, to absorb all the (conflicting) nutritional advice out there.

We obsess over details, and get caught up in trying to achieve perfection – berating ourselves when we don’t quite manage it.

It’s very easy to get paralysed by indecision when we’re trying to lose weight. Perhaps we can’t decide what diet we should follow. Maybe we have limited time and attention, and don’t know whether it’s better to exercise or to prepare elaborate raw-food meals.

Rather than getting tied up in a web of details, try focusing your diet around a few key points. Here’s some you might like to try:

1. Keeping a Food Diary

This is an incredibly simple habit – write down everything you eat – which can, without any other deliberate change, result in you losing weight.

If you’re on a diet and you’re not already keeping a food diary, you’re missing out on a vital tool to help you to succeed. It’s easy to make excuses to avoid writing down what you eat – because you know that it’ll show up all those little “cheat” moments.

A food diary doesn’t need to be complex or time consuming. You can use a notebook, make a spreadsheet, or even buy a piece of software to help you record items more easily and calculate calories.

2. Eating Five Portions of Fruit and Veg

If you’re not already getting your five-a-day, make that a priority. Not only will you ensure that you stay healthy, you’ll also be filling up on fruit and vegetables – which tend to be much lower in calories than foods from other food groups.

Ideally, go for three portions of veggies and two of fruit. Try to mix up what you eat, too, rather than just sticking to the same few choices – that way, you’ll be introducing a range of nutrients to your diet, and also staving off boredom.

3. Buying Half-Fat Products

Making small changes to what foods you buy can make a big eventual difference to your waistline. If you pop half-fat butter, milk, cheese and cream – rather than your usual full-fat versions – into your basket, you’ll have no option but to eat these when you’re at home!

Dairy products can contain a lot of fat, so a few simple switches here make a big impact on the number of calories which you consume over the course of a week. You can also look for lower-fat versions of other foods: everything from ground beef to pesto.

4. Eating Without Doing Anything Else

This might not seem like a particularly significant change – but making a habit of sitting down to eat can really help you lose weight. If you’re used to snacking at your desk, or grabbing a sandwich which you scoff down whilst catching up with emails, or eating dinner in front of the TV, then you’re probably taking in a lot of food without really registering it.

By making a point of sitting down and only eating when you eat, you’ll be more in touch with your own hunger – able to tell when you’re full – and you’ll also enjoy your food more because your attention isn’t on the television or your work.

5. Going for a 30-Minute Walk

Rather than worrying about having a perfect exercise routine, keep things very simple. Set a basic target like going for a 30-minute walk each day (or cycle ride, etc). There’s no rocket science involved – but simply boosting your daily activity in this way will help you reap many of the benefits of exercise.

Once you get this habit established, you can always add in more vigorous exercise (jogging, swimming, going to the gym) – but start small. If you aim for a time-consuming, high-energy routine from day one, you’ll probably find yourself giving up after a week.

None of the above is necessarily easy – but it is simple. Getting to a healthy weight doesn’t need to be complicated, so stop fretting over your details, and save your energy for enjoying your new, healthier lifestyle!