Real 4 Week Diet: Think Small

When I was working on my psych degree, one of my instructors, who had been in the navy, made the comment that if a ship left new york for England but got off course by just 1 degree it would end up in northern africa. Any change no matter how small sustained over a period of time will produce a cumulative effect in the long run.

One of the problems most people face when trying to lose weight is that they try to make huge changes which are hard to sustain. They try to eliminate entire classes of food or cut their calories in half or start running a mile a day. But if you make a few small changes and then add other changes as you go along it might help.

I was watching something on television (PBS) and I saw a number of the suggestions were these type of things. Here are a few things I saw there and have heard elsewhere. If you have others add them to the list. I also challenge you if you are just starting a weight loss program to choose 2-3 of these and do them for 2 weeks and see what the results are.

1. Change from Regular to Diet Pop. Consider this: 8 ounces (a small glass) of Pepsi has 100 calories. If you drink two cans (16 oz) a day that's 400 calories a day or 2800 calories a week. If you reduce calorie intake by 450 calories a day you will lose about a pound a week (all things being equal and you are in good health). So, just by making this one change you could lose a pound every 8-10 days. Even drinking iced tea with three teaspoons of sugar in a 16 oz glass is half the calories of regular soda. Or if you buy say a 32 oz pepsi a day, buy a 16 oz instead and drink it more slowly. Sip, don't gulp.
2. Take three 10 minute walks a day. A nutritionist on PBS pointed out that just taking three 10 minute walks a day the average person could burn enough calories to lose 20-30 pounds a year. And the good news for those who are heavier is that the heavier you are the more calories you will burn. Of course, you must not eat more to make up for your walking. A variation on this is to do any exercise for just a few minutes a day which you are not doing now. For instance, at 7:30 a.m. on the Lifetime Network is a 30 minute exercise program. If you just do the warm up and the aerobics portion (about 15 minutes) a day you'll see results. If you do all the exercises in the program you 'll see even more. Frankly, I tape the program and do the exercises later in the day.
3. Walk to the Restaurant. Eating shortly after exercise burns more calories than eating before or hours after it. So, walking say 8-10 blocks to the restaurant will give you an edge on metabolizing what you eat. Variations on this theme would be to do an exercise routine and then eat afterwards.
4. Record your Food Intake. Keep a food journal. Write down in it what you ate and when. It's amazing how simply being aware of your eating patterns can stop you from eating. My Dad who was very thin often said, My mom and I ate more accidently than he did on purpose.
5. Get rid of the Cookies. If you don't want to eat it don't have it in your house. Obviously, this works best for those who live alone. But have some healthier substitutes for your sweet tooth. Fruit works well. Also there are a lot of sugar free goodies out there. I have a sugar free angel food cake in my kitchen right now. It's half the calories of regular angel food and I'm going to put some fresh peaches over it sprinkled with equal for a wonderful peach short cake tommorrow.

Now, it's your turn, what kind of small change can you make this week that you can build on next? Try it and see what happens.