Eat Smart - Progressive Diet Goals

Eat Smart
A key to successful weight loss is not dieting but eating the right quality and quantity.

Pick one goal each week that you feel confident you can modify in your diet for years to come. Every week, record date of commitment by goal. Share your goal with those close to you and put a note of your goal on your refrigerator so you are more likely to succeed.

  
1. Eat smaller meals throughout the day

• Eat a snack during the time you are without food the longest during your waking hours
• Eat small meals every 2.5 or 4 hours throughout the day
• Plan 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks distributed throughout the day, every 2.5 to 4 hours
• If eating less than 3 meals, eat an additional meal
• Introduce breakfast by drinking milk, fruit or vegetable juice
• Add an additional food to breakfast
• Eat cereal for bedtime snack instead of a high fat snack food
• Prepare extra for meals so leftovers are on hand
• Plan time for preparing a nutritious lunch or snack for hard to get away times
• Slightly decrease portion sizes of your largest meals

2. Eat more fiber

• Eat 100% whole wheat instead of white bread
• Add beans or steamed or raw vegetables to any meal
• Eat a green salad every day
• Eat fresh fruit for dessert or a snack
• Eat oatmeal or other higher fiber cereal for breakfast
• Stock up on frozen vegetables and fruits so they are always available
• Add raw spinach leaves to salad for more nutrients
• Add a vegetable to a meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner
• Add vegetables to omelettes, pizza, sandwiches, stir frys, and other recipes
• If you find it hard to eat vegetables consider vegetable juice or gazpacho
• Purchase pre-cut veggies and salad mixes for convenience
• Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily; keep a tally of servings eaten

3. Eat healthy fat foods

• Substitute meat with fish high in omega-3 fatty acids
• Instead of spreading butter or margarine on bread, dip 100% whole wheat bread in the equivalent amount of olive oil
• Substitute other saturated fats for polyunsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats for monounsaturated fats (See Fats Exchanges and Fat Comparisons)
• Eat ice milk, sherbet, or non-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream
• Choose lower fat salad dressings (low fat, no fat) or olive oil and lemon
• Substitute plain yogurt for sour cream
• Substitute plain yogurt for mayonnaise in your chicken or tuna salad
• Decrease sandwich spread or salad dressing by progressively adding plain yogurt
• Eat lower fat cuts of meat (See meat exchanges)
• Choose milk with lower fat (2%, 1%, 1/2%, Skim or non-fat)
• Choose lower fat cheese (mozorella, low fat cheese)
• Eat whole grain cereal with milk for bedtime snack instead of traditional snack food
• Plan to eat healthfully 6 days a week and only eat sweets and higher fat foods one day a week

4. Appetite control

• Eat a snack before lunch or dinner to reduce the tendency to overeat
• Keep a food journal of the quantities of all food eaten
• Rate appetite after each meal or snack: 1) Very Hungry, 2) Hungry, 3) Satisfied, 4) Full, 5) Very Full
•   Eat just until comfortable (rating of 3)
• Check your diet periodically using computer diet analysis software
• Weigh food and serve pre-determined portion before sitting down to eat
• Limit the number of times you eat out at restaurants
• Eat before being around processed snack foods (eg: party, shopping, etc.)
• Agree to do extra exercise if you eat more than you had planned using a caloric expenditure and calorie content database or table.