Starting a diet with a specialist walking tour is not a very good idea. If we perform a few basic activities and tricks in advance, we will save on the length of the purchased subscription or the number of visits to the dietitian.
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Starting a diet, regardless of the chosen path, is a simultaneous stress, but also excitement. There is no point in cheating that the longer we lose weight, the more it costs us. However, we have methods to minimize costs and take part of the task on our shoulders.
1. Do some basic research. This will allow you to avoid later surprises, such as unexpected stagnation related to hormonal problems or choosing the wrong diet. Knowing any deviations from the norm from the very beginning, we can also make the dietitian aware of the existing problem or give up a service that does not offer diets for people with diseases.
What tests to perform? It is best to check the morphology, glucose level, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, TSH, CRP.
Be sure to share with a dietitian all information regarding your health condition, provide recent medical examinations and diagnoses.
2. Realize how much and what you eat. The easiest method is to keep a nutrition diary for at least a few days. Take a look at your meals, their times, quantity and quality. Perhaps this will allow you to make some key changes that will allow you to achieve initial results. Be sure to include every little detail, even the coffee with milk you drink. Include in the diary the times of eating, the situations related to the meal, the place of the meal. Such an analysis will help you indicate your preferences at the beginning of the diet, i.e. hot / cold meals, possible number of meals. In addition, it will also make you aware that perhaps some snacks are introduced in stressful situations or simply out of ‘boredom’. This can be corrected before going to a dietitian for help.
3. Prepare recently used diet regimens along with your feelings about them (well-being, ailments, effects). This will allow you to understand the nonsense of miracle diets, and will help the dietitian to choose the starting calorific value.
4. Start reading the labels. Skip those with the E-supplements, glucose-fructose syrup, trans fats, and palm oil to get you started.
I presented a list of food additives that are better to avoid in the article describing the dirty dozen of additives.
5. Cut down on sweets. Choose 2 days a month when you will allow yourself 2 pieces of homemade cake or a homemade dessert. If you can settle for one serving, eat a slice every week.
6. Try to eat 4-5 meals regularly. Eat the first meal up to two hours after waking up, the next one every 3-4 hours, and the last one no later than 3 hours before going to bed.
7. Start moving. It might just be a walk at first. It is important to develop proper habits and keep your body moving.
Introducing the above rules and analyzing your diet and health condition will certainly make the situation easier. Most importantly, we will already achieve the initial goal, get to know our body and understand the purposefulness of further actions.
The photo is from: with wind / Foter / CC BY
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