5 little tips for big weight loss

You know that saying: "It's the thought that counts?" In weight loss it's all about your actions. Little things can add up to big weight gain. But, on the other hand, little things can add up to big weight loss. You may think that a few extra bites won't hurt, or if you just nibble while making dinner you won't eat as much at the table, but who are we kidding? It's never just a few bites. And those few bites have a lot of calories you don't need.

Little tip number one:

Train yourself to not eat until the food is on the table. It may take a week or so of cooking dinner to stop the nibble habit, and we all slip up every now and then, but in the long run you're going to help yourself. Nibbling does very little to help your hunger to go away.

Think about it: when you sit down to dinner at a restaurant and you're starving does your hunger go away after the first few mouthfuls? No. Why? Because it takes time for your stomach to get the message that you've started eating. Drink water or milk instead of nibbling. You're body gets that message faster. When all else fails chew a strong flavored gum or suck on a strong mint. The taste won't mix with whatever you're tempted to nibble on.

Little tip number two:

Eat at the table with no distractions. When you're eating in front of the TV or with a good book in your lap you distract yourself from the food. You're body goes on autopilot and you're more likely to keep eating after you're full. This doesn't mean you have to eat in seclusion, good conversation stimulates your mind, but doesn't distract you like TV or reading. Allowing yourself to concentrate on what you're eating makes you less likely to over eat. You'll notice you're full sooner.

Little tip number three:

Eating at your desk, or the computer, or on the couch to multitask works against you in the long run. You trick your brain into associating those places with food instead of work or relaxation. Later on when you go to just watch TV your body thinks that it should be eating and tells you you're hungry when you're really not. Take time out of your day, even if it's just five or ten minutes to eat at a table.

Little tip number four:

Eat. It sounds obvious, but many people think not eating is the same as eating less. Skipping a meal to save calories does not save you calories. When you skip lunch you're more likely to overeat at dinner. Chances are when you overeat at dinner you'll end up eating more calories than you would have if you had eaten a sensible lunch. Also, when you deprive your body of food it goes into survival mode and hordes all the calories it can so you can go longer on what you've already eaten. Then, when you do eat you're body stores that food as fat because it assumes it may not eat again for a while. It doesn't take much to convince your body you're starving and it does take awhile to prove that you will be eating regularly. The best move is just to eat.

Little tip number five:

Keep moving. By taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking two more rows away from the door, and taking the long way to the copy room you burn more calories doing what you're already doing. Fidget at your desk, find reasons to stand (you burn more calories standing than sitting) while you work, or take a lap around the office every hour or so to keep yourself going.


These five small things can do a lot for you in the long run. Every little bit helps when you do the right thing. Remember its the action that counts!