Top 10 Twitter Diet Tips
After writing a post on Top 10 Tips For Keeping Up Your Fitness Regime, using my top tips from Twitter, I thought I would also share with you my top Twitter diet tips – to help you kick-start and maintain a healthy diet.
1. If it sounds to good to be true… it probably is!
Avoid diet and exercise scams that promise instant results. It takes time to put on weight, and so it will take time to lose it. Don’t look to find the magic ‘pill’ to lose the weight for you – it will take time and effort.
2. Make sure you get enough sleep.
There is a growing body of evidence for a link between a lack of sleep and increased weight. This is because being tired can make you feel hungry (because of imbalances in appetite regulating hormones) when really, all you need is some shut-eye. Everyone’s sleeping needs are different, but for most of us we need an average of 8 hours.
3. Identify the reasons why you eat and learn to deal with emotions without food.
All too often overeating is triggered by many emotions, such as depression, stress and boredom. Learning to deal with these emotions without food will aid in weight control. I recommend keeping a food diary for a week or so, to help identify why you eat. Record what and how much you ate, your hunger levels before eating, and what emotions you had just before and after eating. A food diary will help you identify what emotions and behaviours trigger you to overeat, and once identified, you can then develop strategies to deal with these emotions/behaviours without food. If you are an emotional over-eater, it might also be a good idea to speak with a dietitian or psychologist.
4. Don’t fall into the pattern of ‘eating amnesia’.
Don’t mindlessly eat your food e.g. snacking in front of the TV or eating standing up, as you’ll end up eating more than you really want. Staying focused on your food while eating will help you eat only what you need.
5. Don’t go fat-free.
A healthy diet, by no means is a fat-free diet. It is important to limit or exclude certain types of fat, but some fats are essential for good health – you should just enjoy them in moderation. You can read more about fats in my blog post: Fats, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.
6. Make hydration a priority.
Sometimes your body will mistake being thirsty for being hungry, so try to have a glass of water with each meal and snack to make sure you stay hydrated. Also, try keeping a large bottle of water at your desk while at work, as you’re more likely to drink water if it is right next to you.
7. If you don’t have it, you can’t eat it!
Limit buying unhealthy snacks e.g chocolate, cream biscuits when grocery shopping. If you don’t have these items in your house, you can’t be tempted by them. Also, avoid grocery shopping when you’re hungry as you’ll end up buying food you don’t need.
8. Get organised.
If you don’t have time to cook dinner during the week, make up some healthy meals on the weekend and freeze portions of it, or when making dinner, make enough for next day leftovers. It’s easier to eat well if you don’t always have to prepare it!
9. Don’t deprive yourself.
Don’t sacrifice your life for your diet – it’s ok to enjoy treats. Don’t deprive yourself of your favourite foods as you will only binge on them later. The key is to enjoy these treats occasionally, so not every day! If necessary, plan the days/meals you will have these treats to ensure you don’t feel deprived.
10. Have healthy snacks available at all times.
Don’t assume that you will make it through the morning/afternoon without a snack. Be prepared for hunger by having health snacks always in your bag or at your desk e.g. fruit, nuts, muesli bars etc, that way if you get hungry, you’ll always be prepared.