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Home » Diets that Work » 5 Reasons Diets Dont Work and What to Do Instead …

1. Cook Your Own Meals

Sure, its more time consuming, but making your own food instead of going out to eat is a super-easy way to eat healthier (and, as an added bonus, save money). Restaurants load their dishes with sugar, salt and other unhealthy ingredients. Plus, the portion sizes are usually massive. Cooking at home ensures you know exactly whats going into your meals and gives you a better handle on how much youre eating.

2. Eat Mindfully

Picture it: Youre sitting in front of the TV with a giant takeout dinner you meant to spread over two meals. Youre fully engrossed in whatever youre watching and before you know it, youve mindlessly plowed through your entire order. To avoid unintentionally overeating, try practicingmindful eating, which basically means being in the moment while you calmly eat with intention. It also turns the act of eating into a really pleasant, not-stressful experience.

3. Fuel Up with Protein

The reason for this is threefold: Loading up on protein reduces your appetite, increases fat-burning and helps you gain muscle. Basically, the trifecta of health goals. Note that protein doesnt have to been chicken or red meathere areseven fabulous meatless sources, from chickpeas and lentils to quinoa and tahini.

4. Allow Yourself to Snack

When you eat small quantities throughout the day, youre less likely to be ravenous at traditional meal times. But when we say snack, were talking healthy options, people. Here arenine filling foodsto munch all day that wont wreck your diet but will still keep you firing on all cylinders.

5. Stop Drinking Your Calories

When we imagine the things that are making us hold onto excess pounds, we typically imagine cake and chips and French fries. We often overlook the sheer amount of calories (and sugar) in the beverages were drinking. To drop pounds without counting cals, limit soda (regular and diet), fancy coffee drinks and alcohol. We know that iced caramel macchiato is tempting, but try training yourself to prefer black coffee.

6. Use Smaller Plates

A little visual trickery never hurt anyone, right? By eating on smaller plates, youre essentially fooling your brain into thinking youre eating more. It sounds kind of outlandish, but in practice it has definitely worked for us. (Note that this might not work as well if youre super hungry.)

7. Stay Hydrated

Consistently drinking water is one of the best things you can do for your health and also one of the easiest. In addition to keeping your skin clear and your energy up, staying hydrated boosts your metabolism, makes you feel full (per a2015 studyfrom the University of Oxford) and keeps you from drinking the not-so-great-for-you beverages we mentioned above.

8. Read Labels for Ingredients, Not Calories

Just because were advising against intense calorie restriction doesnt mean you should ignore nutritional information altogether. Its more about knowing what to look for on a label. A product could have just 100 calories per serving and seem virtuousuntil you look a little lower and see that it also contains a whopping ten grams of sugar. Heres asuper-helpful primer on labelreadingwego back to again and again.

9. Dont Incentivize Food

Instead of rewarding yourself for hitting the gym three days in a row with a pizza and milkshake (which pretty much negates the work you put in on the spin bike), get a manicure orbuy a new bookyouve been eyeing.

10. Get Enough Sleep

You, like us, are probably more miserable in general when you havent gotten enough sleep, but did you know that being tired can also spell disaster for your weight loss goals? Studieslikethis onepublished in theJournal of Nursing Scholarshiphave shown that a lack of sleep can increase hunger and cravings, as well as cause weight gain by messing with levels of the hormones ghrelin and leptin.

11. Be Patient

Rome wasnt built in a day, and weight doesnt fall off your body after you eat a single salad. If weight loss is your goal, its crucial to be kind to yourself and your body. You might be someone who loses weight at the drop of a hat, but you might not, and thats OK. Cut yourself some slack and dont quit when, after a week, you dont look like a Hadid sister.

RELATED: 8 Things a Nutritionist Always Buys at Aldi

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5 Reasons Diets Dont Work and What to Do Instead ...

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Home » Diets that Work » 5 Reasons Diets Dont Work and What to Do Instead …