Moderation is one thing that you should be looking for when you are considering which healthy eating plans are the best. To put it another way, if the plan has extreme restrictions or makes wild claims, then the chances are good that it’s unhealthy. The best diets will focus on moderation in the types of food you eat, as well as the portions it recommends.

If you have been considering various plans, then you have probably seen those that make claims that can tip you off to why they may not be so good. A common example is a diet that says you can eat as much of one food as you want, but then severely limits how much you can eat of other foods. Low carb diets may be the most popular example. They let you eat all the protein and fat that you want, but try to get you to cut out as many carbohydrates as you can.

While these so-called “healthy eating plans” say you can eat all the meat, fish and eggs you want and lose weight, you need to realize there are also risks. First, people are designed to eat a whole range of foods. Yes, you may be able to lose weight on a low-carb diet, but it could have negative impact on your health if all you’re eating is meat and eggs. Second, the idea of eating all the bacon (for example) you want sounds very appealing at first, but the craving for carbohydrates is more than most people can handle, and they end up binging on carbs…and weighing more than when they started.

Any type of diet that makes similar claims should be looked at with suspicion. A diet that tells you that you can eat all of the fat you like is just as bad as any diet that tells you to eat as much sugar as you want. It just doesn’t make sense. To be fair there are also diets that tell you to cut out all fat. Surely these must be healthy eating plans, right? Not really. Again, they are too restrictive for certain foods, and that’s your clue that they may not be good for you. The truth is that there are healthy fats. Again, the key here is moderation.

Of course the appeal for all of these types of diets is the same. What happens is that a person may try a reasonable diet, but then they find they crave certain foods. Say the diet says you shouldn’t eat cheeseburgers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but then you start wishing you could eat a big, juicy cheeseburger and go off the diet. Then later on you decide you’d like to lose weight again. But here’s the catch: you look for a diet that allows you to eat the cheeseburgers you missed on the last diet. You start off doing great, but even though you can eat your burgers, the new diet doesn’t let you eat pasta. So, you go off this diet and look for one that lets you eat pasta…and you keep repeating this cycle over and over again.

But real healthy eating plans let you eat just about anything you want, but only in moderation. In other words, they make allowances for the occasional treat, but they offset it in some way; they balance it out. Such a plan is much easier to stick to and will give you long term results.

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Instant weight loss, hmm, really? When I read this, do you know what immediately went through my mind? Things like instant pudding or instant rice. Where all you do is mix it up and in 5 minutes you have pudding or rice that you can serve your family. We all know that weight loss is not like that unless, of course, you are willing to cut off a limb.

If that is the decision you have made, may I make a suggestion that you start at the top and work your way down? This is the only way you will achieve instant weight loss.

Weight loss is a process, and depending on the amount of weight you have to lose, it could even be quite a lengthy process. You must make a commitment to yourself to change the way you eat and live. You have to eat a lot less than you do now and get regular exercise everyday for the rest of your life. I am never one for pulling punches so, listen up. If you do not get up off your lazy butt and get moving, you will die. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but your life expectancy is getting shorter and shorter every minute you sit and veg in that recliner or on that couch.

Losing weight is not rocket science. All you need to do is burn off more calories every day than you take in. Simple. If you haven’t got a clue, and I think if you think that weight loss can be instant you really don’t, here’s what you do. Put on a pair of shoes, tie ’em up, get up, walk to the door, open it, step outside, and go for a walk around the block. Again, simple. The sooner you start, the sooner you will accomplish your goal. People do it all the time. There is no reason you can’t do it, too.

I know you, you are the type of person who will sit there week after week watching The Biggest Loser hoping that if you watch it long enough you will go to bed one night and wake up skinny. If it was that easy no one would be fat now would they? Or you think that by watching every week you will automatically lose weight by osmosis or something, right? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Along with the exercise you need to learn how to eat right. Did I just hear you say you think that you do not eat that badly to begin with? Once again, you are wrong. If you ate correctly and in the right amounts you would not be fat, now would you? No, you wouldn’t be. So stop deluding yourself and get with the program. The next time you have a meal, dish up what you normally would then get another plate from the cupboard. Now, remove half of the food from the first plate and put it on the second plate, cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. Save it for your next meal. Then sit down at the table, with the TV off, and enjoy the food that is left on the first plate. Get a big glass of water to wash it all down with.

Yes, I said with the TV off. It has been proven time and time again that if you eat your meals in front of the TV you will subconsciously eat more than you think you do because you are not paying attention to what you are doing. So, start a new practice, clean off the table and before every meal, set the table with a plate, silverware and napkin for everyone in the household. Serve and eat your meal at the table. Have a conversation with your family and chew your food well. Instant weight loss, please…

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