15 Weight Loss & Nutrition Tips to keep you on Track

Written By PFC Fitness Camp • 4 min read

1.  Eating healthy should be a lifestyle that you enjoy, not something you do every Monday out of guilt and disgust.  All this does is create a vicious cycle of self sabotage out of guilt which leads to binge eating.  Be good to yourself and take care of your body! Balance is key.

2.  Any time you feel your healthy diet has spun out of control, start journaling what you are eating so that it no longer is mindless eating and you will realize all of the extra calories you have been taking in while being under stress or eating in front of the TV.  This will help you get back on track. Come up with 5-10 things that you can do to de-stress instead of eating.

3.  Bring healthy snacks to work to keep in your drawer so that when hunger hits, you won’t be tempted to hit the vending machines for a candy bar and ruin your great results.

4.  Any time you have a complex carbohydrate, combine it with a protein.  This way, your insulin levels stay balanced and you will stay satisfied longer.

5.  Sneak in vegetables every chance you get.  Cut up tomatoes, green peppers and zucchini to your egg white omelet.  Add extra tomato and lettuce to your sandwich or have a chicken salad for lunch.  Have turkey with carrots and celery for a snack. And of course have a nutrient filled vegetable like broccoli or asparagus with dinner! This is what we call Volumetrics. Low calorie foods with high fiber and nutrient value that makes you feel more satisfied with less.

6.  Memorize what a portion looks like for all of your favorite carbohydrates.  For example, 1 piece of wheat bread or ½ cup of brown rice is one portion.  This way, when you go to a restaurant, you’ll know how much to eat and how much to set aside and leave on your plate. All restaurants go overboard on carbohydrates and can cause havoc on your waistline.

7.  Eat grilled fish as much as possible. Especially salmon or sardines.  They provide your essential fatty acids which are essential to the body. Be careful of swordfish and tuna due to high mercury levels.

8.   If you don’t eat fish on a regular basis, you should definitely get the entire family on an omega fatty acid supplement.  This is going to not only help increase your metabolism and help burn fat, but it will also help reduce sugar cravings, balance your hormone levels, increase the elasticity in your skin and work to help lubricate your joints!  We recommend a brand called Udo’s oil or Barlean’s Flavored Oil

9.   Try to stop eating after 7PM.  Any snacking after dinner is usually out of boredom and is wasted calories.

10.  If you end up eating late because you had a long day at the office, don’t fret.  Just make sure it is a healthy dinner and try not to go directly to bed right after.  Try going for a walk around the block or do things around the house so that you don’t go to bed on a full stomach.

11.  Whenever eating a dessert, try to omit the carbohydrate from your meal and make the desert your carbohydrate.  If it is something that you weren’t planning on having, get the desert and spoons for everyone to share. This way you are only having a couple of bites instead of the entire dessert yourself.

12.  When drinking alcohol, try to omit the carbohydrate from your meal.  If you are having many drinks, it helps to have egg whites when you get home from the evening. This will not only help you feel better and less hung over the next day, but it will also help stabilize your blood sugar levels so that you are not craving fat and sugary foods as well.

13.  If you have had a really bad eating day with a lot of sugar and bad carbs, make up for it the next day by having a high protein day.  This will help subside the sugar cravings from continuing and get you back on track..

14. When you are stressed out and want to say “forget it” to the healthy eating plan, go for a walk, take a bath or call a friend.  Get your mind off the stress and off of food and do something nice for yourself rather than sabotaging your results.

15.  If and when you do give into a craving, don’t beat yourself up about it. Think of it as a reward or something that you are “allowed” on an occasional basis and in moderation.  Guilt is a vicious cycle that will ruin any kind of results you hope to achieve. The harder you are on yourself the more likely you will have another dessert or binge just because you are mad at yourself. The more guilty and mad at yourself you become, the less you feel good about yourself, the less you want to go to the gym to workout. Soon, you find yourself right back in the spot you were in when you began your healthy program and have no motivation to start over again.  Don’t sabotage yourself this way! Let yourself have a treat here and there and get right back on track. It’s OK! You aren’t going to ruin everything you have worked hard for in one sitting. But, if you keep doing it over and over again, it’s hard to start again. Be good to yourself!