Guide to Healthy Weight Loss Diets

There are a lot of weight loss "programs" or "systems" out there that cost money and if you can afford it, some are great temporary options if it’s what suits your lifestyle best. One of the best things you can do for your body is to start making the shift to a diet based on "whole" foods (not processed) and less reliance on animal products. You can start slowly, like trying two days a week to go without eggs, meat, or dairy – eat a lot of fresh plant-based foods and whole grains.

Watching the amount of sugars you consume can be highly beneficial to your health. Be sure to read labels – you’d be surprised at the amount of sugars in many foods. Diabetics follow the glycemic index to control their sugar intake; you can get a book (see below for book suggestions) that discusses this way of eating, as they almost always list the good and bad (high and low) glycemic index foods and you can follow it even if you’re not diabetic.

Try changing things up slowly to get used to changing your lifestyle rather than “dieting.” Simple changes you can make for your health include: instead of white potatoes, eat sweet potatoes and make sweet potato fries (in the oven!) One of the biggest changes you can make is controlling you portion sizes. Portion control is very hard for some people (one of my biggest issues!), but remember this: it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you’re full!

Every time you sit down to eat, especially if you go out to a restaurant to eat, you should immediately remove half of what’s on your plate (package it up for another meal) and eat what remains on your plate - and eat it slowly. This may take a couple of weeks to get used to, but you will be doing your body - and your health - a huge benefit.

If you want, or need, to try something a bit more regimented, Weight Watchers is a great option. I know many people who have lost a lot of weight on this program. They say that it's great because you can eat the same foods as the rest of your family, but you have to be sure to eat proper portions and count your points. Many people report success on Weight Watchers and claim that they never feel hungry or deprived.

Weight Watchers works better for many people because it teaches you how to eat your own everyday foods while still losing weight. You can maintain a social life without blowing your “diet.” Weight watchers can be a great tool to help you to plan better meals for you and your family that are well balanced. Weight Watchers teaches you to eat the way you should be eating - less portions and more balanced.

The Best Life Diet book by Bob Greene (has been featured on Oprah) is a great book to teach you what you should be eating and how much. You can join the online community (for a fee, of course) and it sets up menus and such for you – however, the book alone should be sufficient.

It teaches you a few good "rules" about healthy eating & living, and the reasons why the rules are important, a great way to learn something new.

Basically, Bob Greene’s plan is to modify your calorie intake with the right kinds of foods and you can reap the health benefits.

Another good book to check out is Nutrisystem Nourish by Dr. James Rouse. It provides you with healthy meal plans, portion controls, and even exercise ideas to round it out. It also provides many tasty, healthy recipes.

I know a couple of people who have read this book and have been successful in changing their ways to a more healthy diet. One important thing to remember, especially when changing your diet up to include smaller portion sizes is that at first you may feel like you’re STARVING!!! So, to avoid that feeling, you can work your way down to the correct portions gradually. If you're a woman and you wish to follow this book’s plan, you can start with the men's plan for portions (which, of course, are larger than the women’s) and work your way to the women’s plan.

If you enjoy cooking, then the South Beach Diet may be the diet for you. The recipes are pretty good and most are easy to make.

The first few weeks are the hardest because you have to retrain your eating habits, but most people report that it’s easy to follow after that initial adjustment period.

It does help to invest a bit in the South Beach cookbooks; I have heard that the best one is the Quick and Easy cookbook (right).

The Daily Plate can be a useful resource to help you figure out what you’re eating and change what needs changing.  It allows you to input the food you eat every day, and you can set goals for yourself.  It will tell you how many calories you can have for the day.

You should try to have a high amount of protein each day, and less carbohydrates - that's what helps you lose weight.  For many, this is a very manageable life change and something you will continue to do, not like another fad diet or one you have to pay for (not so good) food until you can’t afford it anymore.

Another great idea to start incorporating a healthy diet into your life is to keep a food log, and get a friend involved to do it with you. The food log really makes you realize what your patterns are (and weaknesses) and having a friend do it with you makes you more accountable, which can be a very powerful motivator!

According to Dr. Oz, you should start out with changing a few food choices, like, for example, have oatmeal for breakfast every morning – add some raisins, fresh fruit, a few nuts and/or seeds to make it even more nutritious. Greek yogurt (regular, low- or no-fat yogurt is good, too) makes a great mid-morning snack. Greek yogurt is better than regular yogurt because it has more live active cultures and it's high in protein and low in fat.

You can also have some fresh fruit as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. Consider a sandwich of hummus with fresh tomato, baby spinach or sprouts for a terrific, healthy lunch. For dinner have a chicken breast, sweet potato (a “super food”) and spinach or fish, brown rice and a veggie. Here’s a list of some more “super foods” – you should try to have something from this list every day:

• spinach
• sunflower seeds (also walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds - nuts and seeds should be raw and w/o salt and not roasted)
• Greek yogurt (regular yogurt is good, too)
• sweet potato
• beans and lentils
• onions
• garlic
• tea
• dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
• cinnamon (add to your baked sweet potato or other foods)
• eggs
• whole wheat, whole grain (make sure they say 100% whole grain)
• fruits and veggies (all colors)

If you’re a mom (or Dad, of course!), then it becomes not just about you; it's about creating a healthy lifestyle for you AND your family that is easily accomplished, tastes great, and is easy for you to keep up for the long haul. Build your and your family’s food “IQ” and learn to create meals that really work for you and your family - unnecessary weight drops off as a happy side effect!

Other things that you can do are: make small changes in your family’s favorite foods, like use ground turkey instead of beef for things like tacos (and add some red and green peppers.) Cut back a little on the chicken in meals that you prepare and throw in some beans. It’s much easier to make small changes over time than to “diet” because you don’t want to fall back into bad habits when a “diet” is over! Search the web for more super foods and recipes that incorporate them!

Whatever you choose to do, best wishes in making the change to improve your diet to a healthy one and sticking to it so that you and your whole family will reap the benefits!