Top 10 Nutrition Tips for Easy Weight Loss

1. Stop the guessing game
You need to know how much you're eating. Read labels. Get a calorie counter book. Measure your foods. Write down the calories in everything you eat or drink. You don't need to keep a food journal forever - just until you develop caloric awareness and you're steadily losing weight.

2. Cut your portions in half
If you're overweight, it means two things. You're eating too much and moving too little. Cut your portions in half. Doing this should result in two pounds lost per week. Add exercise to tone and firm your body. In Lose the Lies Lose the Weight, you will learn portion control without feeling deprived.

3. Eat more often
Instead of eating 3 big meals, eat 3 smaller meals and 3 healthy snacks every day. In Lose the Lies Lose the Weight, fitness lifestyle expert Laurie Bell provides 3 caloric ranges and eating schedules for 1,200, 1,500, and 1800 calories per day. Eating more often will maintain your energy and blood sugar levels so you won't experience intense cravings.

4. Don't starve
Starvation diets don't work. Stringent dieting sends your brain the message food is in short supply so your metabolism slows to conserve calories. With stringent dieting, your body begins to burn lean muscle tissue for fuel. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, fewer calories burned, and little or no weight loss.

5. Watch what you drink
Don't believe that liquid calories don't count! Wine, beer, juice, soda, plus cream and sugar in coffee or tea all add up. Instead, try drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. In addition to properly hydrating your body, water helps you feel full. If you can't live without coffee, make your own so you know exactly how many calories it contains.

6. Choose your carbs wisely
Avoid simple carbohydrate products like sodas, candy, cake, cookies, white bread, and pastries. These low quality carbohydrates quickly digest and store as fat plus spike insulin levels, causing a drastic drop in your blood sugars, leaving you craving more sugar. Instead, eat more high bulk, high fiber foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. You'll have less cravings, feel full longer, and have more energy.

7. Eliminate trashcan food
If you seriously want to lose weight, toss all the trashcan foods like cake, candy, pastries, cookies, and ice cream. If you believe you can keep those foods in your home and not be tempted, you're lying to yourself. Read Lose the Lies Lose the Weight by fitness lifestyle expert Laurie Bell. This book eliminates every lie that prevents weight loss.

8. Slow down
Eating slowly is another strategy to avoid overeating. Stop inhaling your meals. It takes the brain about 20 minutes to signal feelings of fullness. Eating quickly means you'll consume way more calories than your body needs. Take smaller bites. Set your fork down between bites. Savor every morsel!

9. Reverse your thinking about goodies
You want to get fit yet continue eating trashcan food. That doesn't work. To get fit, you must drastically change the way you eat and think about food. You currently believe certain foods are goodies or treats. That thinking is false. What kind of goodie promotes poor health and endless weight gain? Instead of treating yourself to cake and ice cream, treat yourself to better health and fitness by eating nutritiously.

10. Prepare mentally for weight loss setbacks
We all blow it occasionally! Simply cut back on your diet intake at your next meal or burn off those extra calories by exercising. As long as you don't let one indulgence derail you mentally, you should be fine. Resolve to make better weight loss choices at your next meal.

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For more information and great weight loss tips, read Lose the Lies, Lose the Weight by Laurie Bell.

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Copyright 2007 Laurie Bell, Lose the Lies Lose the Weight: The Ultimate Guide to Permanent Weight Loss, http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com