Change Your Approach, Not Your Diet

Let me go out on a short limb here and say: dieting works . . . at least for the near term. But you can improve the effectiveness of many diets and improve your long-term chances of success by employing several easy diet changes.

Over the years, I've put together a lengthy list of simple lifestyle modifications that combine to form a practical, long-term approach to dieting. Add a few of these changes to your present routine individually until they become habit. In a short while, you'll notice better, more lasting results if you truly absorb these changes. Plus, they'll help kick-start any diet designed to help you loose weight fast.

Ice cold water: drink an ice-cold glass of water (16 ounces) first thing in the morning and prior to every meal. Your body will be forced to raise the water to your body temperature, burning a few extra calories in the process. Plus, it will make you feel fuller when you eat and help keep you properly hydrated.

Add negative calorie foods: there are a handful of foods out there that require more energy to burn than are contained within the foods themselves; i.e. they have a net negative caloric impact. Try adding asparagus, broccoli, blueberries, beets, radishes, cucumbers, strawberries, tomatoes, and similar foods.

Evening lockdown: don't eat for at least two hours before bedtime. Preferably, make your final "meal" of the day a light salad to tide you over until bedtime. There's no sense feeding your body calories that will not be burned efficiently as your metabolism slows (this is especially true in the winter time).

Move your workouts: move your evening workouts to the morning. Not only are you more likely to complete your workout, but your body will burn only fat (and a little muscle) if you don't eat before you workout. Plus, you'll feel good all day and jump start your metabolism! Just make sure you exercise. Muscle burns calories, so build muscle to help achieve quick diet loss.

Eat more beans: beans are wonderful diet foods that many avoid because of their high carbohydrate count. But they are also very high in fiber, high in protein, and produce a negligible short term impact on blood sugar!

3:1 deficit-to-normal ratio: after three days at a caloric deficit, add a higher-calorie day. If you're dieting at a 30 percent deficit for 3 days (e.g. 2400 calorie diet dropping to 1650 calories), make the fourth day a 10 percent deficit. That is, in this example, consume an extra 510 calories on every fourth day. This will keep your body guessing.

Remember, for maximum effectiveness, add these lifestyle changes into your current diet plan if you want to loose weight quick. When you stop dieting, retain these changes for the long-term to help you keep off the weight it took so much effort to lose. It's always easier to maintain than to lose!