Diet article for slow controlled weight loss

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Baby Steps to Big Changes

Written by The DietsToday Team

Embarking on a new you doesn’t happen over night unless you have will power made of iron! Positive and long-term changes come about from gradual modifications to daily routines and regimes. No one is saying stop eating this or doing that,just take baby adjustments to kick start the process of a better you.

I drink far too much coffee...

Drink one cup less and replace one with a green tea, full of antioxidants and lower in caffeine. And you’ll enjoy your next coffee all the more. 9 cups a day instead of 10 it’s a start.

I like a lot of sugar in my drinks and on my cereal...

If you don’t like saccharin (and many don’t’) try half spoon sugar, part sweetener (which is much sweeter than sugar) part sugar, it’s generally sweeter and so you use less anyway thus lowering sugar intake.

I like a drink on an evening but feel I should cut back...

Then have one but not every evening. A reliance on an alcohol drink every evening is a sure recipe for being labelled a binge drinker by current government standards. Recent reports suggest that 6 to 8 units for men or 4 to 6 units for women of alcohol in one go is classified as binge drinking and to give you a rough idea of what that means, a small glass of wine or half a pint is 1.5 units.

I hate the gym I only manage a 10 minute workout anyway...

Then do 10 minutes! Many people sign up for a yearly gym membership and start a gruelling regime only to burn out in body and spirit after a few weeks. I have spoken with many a person whose yearly membership has gone to waste. Promise yourself a trip to the gym with a goal of doing at least something, and if that is 10 minutes walking on the treadmill on a modest incline, then so be it. Baby steps remember!

I need to drink more water...

Research shows that many of us don’t drink enough water, and end up dehydrated. We are advised generally to drink 8 glasses a day. Many people take advice quite literally and to go from drinking mostly tea and coffee on a daily basis to squeezing in an extra 4 pints of fresh water is a big change. So you recognise you need more water, try having an extra glass a day to whatever drinking routine you currently have and work from there.

I’m too lazy to take my glucosomine supplement...

Good for the joints and helps against arthritis. Use the above glass of water as an opportunity to gulp down a daily supplement to whatever your needs are.

I’m 17 stone I want to be 10

No you are 17 stone and you want to be 16 stone and 13LB. One huge goal is fabulous and admirable but sometimes practically unrealistic. Sometimes a big goal needs to be broken down in many smaller goals, which amounts to more occasions of achievement and ultimate success. Hit your target and move onto the next one. Your confidence will spiral.

There may be many examples in your life where you wish to make a change. Well start today even if it’s 4 chocolate digestives for breakfast instead of 5. It is a start and a commitment to making change, and who knows where it will lead!