Free Diet Plan, Just 7 Simple Steps

The Need to Feed. The vast majority of overweight individuals gained weight due to their love of food. Sure...we can blame our overweight state on everything from a slow metabolism to the gene pool to stress.

While all of these factors can contribute to obesity, we gain weight because we eat more calories than our body uses. There are medical situations which trigger weight gain - but quite rare.

So the key to this plan is to satisfy our 'need to feed' while accomplishing weight loss.

Step 1 - Making Certain You're Ready to Lose Excess Pounds FOREVER

We can spend a lifetime thinking about losing weight and never accomplishing our dream OR we can get busy, suffer through the process - and reap the wondrous rewards of weight loss.

Several decades ago when I was very heavy I had a doctor who put me on a three day liquid diet. No food, just very low calorie liquids. Mostly water. I couldn't do that.

When I went back for my follow-up he rained fire & brimstone on me - telling me, "You've wasted these days when you could have advanced to a healthier you." I didn't care for his chastising, but he was right and his message stuck with me.

No - I didn't take those wise words to heart and lose all the excess fat until much later in my life; however - I never forget that fat-shaming moment. On the other hand, he was slim. He had NO IDEA what the overweight individual goes through.

The key to permanent weight loss success isn't motivation or patience. It isn't even a reduced calorie diet plan. The key is commitment - a burning desire to accomplish your goal, regardless - and to KNOW BEFORE YOU BEGIN THAT YOU WILL KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF.

This was the one factor that was defining difference for me when I finally broke-through and lost the excess fat & kept it off permanently.

There is a sure-fire formula for getting fat. It's dieting. We go on a weight-reduction plan - and we lose weight. Losing those excess pounds aren't the challenging part. It's keeping them off.

So as the pounds melt away we often get cravings for more food in our diet - particularly those foods which we have excluded which contributed most to weight gain - which leads to binging.

Therefore, I recommend that you avoid obliterating your favorite foods from your eating plan - rather work to manage your food-favorites. Even today, I still enjoy the foods that I loved when I was at my heaviest.

The difference is that now, I allow for the calories in my daily menus - and at times, it's necessary to be a little more active to burn the excess calories.

IMPORTANT: Almost all diet plans end when binging occurs and the dieter often ends-up weighing more than they did before they started their diet plan.

Restricting your daily food intake to starvation levels will not only contribute to a slow metabolic rate, it will also most-likely result in dead-end weight loss results due to frantic binging.

So before you start - be very sure that you just don't want to lose weight. Be sure that you want to keep it off forever.

Step 2 - Finding a Motivating Reason to Lose Weight

As in my personal situation more than 20 years ago when I lost about 1/2 of my body weight, my motivating factor was 'health'. My father was dying of diabetes and he was so addicted to food that it made his diabetes unmanageable.

Medicine will only work so well for so long. I saw the toll that it not only took on him, but on my family, on me. I knew that if I didn't go from morbidly obese to my recommended weight that I might send my family through the same trauma.

Step 3 - Give Up Excess Body Fat - But Don't Stop Eating

One slice of fast-food pepperoni pizza contains about 400 calories. Instead, you could enjoy the following:

1 flounder fillet, broiled, 100 calories
1 cup of canned green beans, 25 calories
1 cup of stir-fried white button mushrooms, 25 calories
1 cup of boiled zucchini squash, 25 calories
1/2 cup of boiled or canned carrots, 25 calories
1/2 cup of canned beets, 35 calories
1 cup of cooked cabbage - red or green, 35 calories
1 small dinner roll, 60 calories
unlimited unsweetened tea, 0 calories
1 cup of strawberries with a serving of whipped cream, 70 calories

It's all about 'food management' as well as 'food control'. It does require much-effort to plan meals wisely. I like to do this well in advance so I can look forward to what I'm going to enjoy at the next meal.

Unless the food is a low calorie fruit or vegetable, try not to return for second helpings at the table. Speaking of table - enjoy your meals there rather than in front of an electronic device.

Because your brain may brand a relationship between eating & watching or participating with the electronic device - so when you settle in front of a game player, the computer or the television, this stimulus may trigger a subliminal 'need to feed' message.

Avocado, pineapple, apple, banana, plantain, coconut and mango. In addition, fruit jams, preserves and jellies are extreme in calories due to added sugar.

When opting for canned fruits, opt for those packed in their natural juices. As to fruit juice, your best value is 100% fruit juices. Unless the package contains this wording, you may be purchasing more water than fruit.

Corn, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, red and gold potatoes, winter squash - which includes acorn, butternut, Hubbard and pumpkin.

Take note that the higher-calorie fruits and vegetables are still very healthy choices - it's just that these require managing due to their higher-calorie content.

Step 4 - Know the Weight Gain Enemies & Pick Your Battles Carefully

There are two foods which are chiefly responsible for weight gain: sugar, fat. When wisely managed, weight loss can be a breeze.

Cutting Sugar From Your Daily Diet Tips

Sugar contains about 800 calories per cup - and these are considered empty calories because they do not support nutritional needs.

They temporarily support energy needs and are quickly metabolized by the body often leaving the individual feeling drained and very hungry once these calories are rapidly burned. It's like being suddenly dropped.

While sugar substitutes can assist in trimming calories, they are very acidic-forming additives when metabolized.

Honey is a healthy choice when used sparingly and when the honey is locally harvested it may assist in reducing allergy symptoms in some individuals.

Cutting Fats From Your Daily Diet Tips

Fats consist of the following: cooking oils [including lard], salad dressing oils, butter, margarine, cream cheese, sour cream, and fats in animal proteins. One cup of cooking oil contains about 1,600 calories. Choose fats wisely and use sparingly.

Step 5 - The Healthy Diet Plan Foods

Strive to build your daily menus on The Food Pyramid. It's healthy, it's smart, it's nutritious, it's packed with vitamins - and contains chiefly unprocessed foods.

Keep in mind that most processed foods spell disaster for the body as they are packed with few vitamins, packed with lots of calories, lots of sugar, lots of salt and lots of fat.

If you stick to eating foods that are closest to Mother Nature & Father Earth - you'll be able to eat more because they are minimal in calories, fat, sodium and sugar. Diet Bites Calorie Index Here - contains calorie content for hundreds of basic foods.

Diet Bites has several mottos - "Hide From Fried". Keep this in mind when preparing your foods. If they can be eaten in their raw state [good examples: nuts, edible seeds, fresh fruit, many fresh veggies], all the better.

If not, broiling, boiling, roasting, grilling, steaming - all are excellent cooking modes which support weight loss and management.

Actually, the USDA identifies this simply as 'The Grain Group' but opting for whole grains is a much healthier choice. Look for whole grain breads - and take that your choice up a notch but choosing those containing seeds [poppy, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin], raw oats and other whole grains.

If you opt to make your bread at home, add potatoes or other vegetables, fruits and nuts which will take your creation to a higher level of health.

Current recommendation for this Food Group is 6-11 servings but Diet Bites feels this may be over-drive for many individuals, particularly those who have sedentary jobs or who may be smaller than average individuals.

Diet Bites has another motto - "Skim for Slim". Opt for skim without sacrificing calcium benefits while losing weight.

In addition, monitor your intake of cheese, sour cream, ice cream, margarine or butter and cream cheese. Did you know that cream cheese is so fat and unhealthy that it's not included in the American Food Pyramid?

The Fruit & Vegetable Groups, 2-3 Daily Servings of Fruit & 3-5 Daily Servings of Veggies

Such a smorgasbord of colors! So low in calories & so healthy! You just can't go wrong when dieting when you opt for foods from these healthy Food Groups.

You'll also get a digestive-boost as your PH levels will be more in tune with an alkaline body rather than an acidic body. This may translate to 'no more heartburn' OR a significant reduction in heartburn.

Reach for nuts, edible seeds, beans, milk and eggs over animal proteins. Why? Fewer calories due to less fat content - and it's just more humane. When purchasing eggs, cage-free is also a very kind choice and they are often the same price as caged eggs.

Never go below 1,500 calories per day - and for many people, even that is too restrictive. Keep in mind that when the body goes into starvation mode, the metabolic rate slows to a snail's pace, working hard at a very slow speed in order to conserve calories.

Remember - without calories [energy, food, liquids] the body is endangered - life in jeopardy. If only I were as wise as my metabolism!

The metabolism is so brilliant that it senses the grave danger, and thus reacts very effectively accordingly.

As to an example of caloric intake, for a small petite, healthy, young-to-middle-age woman who is about 5' tall to 5'3", 1,500 calories per day along with moderate daily activity generally renders significant and permanent weight loss.

Less Calories Required as the Body Ages

I am just under 5' tall because I have shrunk in height as I have aged; I have a medium-to-large body frame. As an older petite lady who embraces moderate activity, I must stick to about 1,300 calories daily in order to maintain my ideal body weight.

So the older we get, the less active we get, and the less-effective our metabolism becomes - combined with the decreased cell-repair factor, the fewer calories our body requires to maintain our ideal body weight.

Larger body frames can support more weight and often require more calories. Larger bones have larger areas of muscle mass & muscle requires more calories to support.

In addition, if you are female and have larger breasts or buttocks or both - or if you are male and have larger buttocks, your weight may be several pounds over the 'recommended healthy weight' yet you would still be at your ideal body weight.

While charts make good patterns so that we can plan, they shouldn't be set in stone. We must also use logic.

There is also another method for losing those excess pounds. Rather than decreasing calories significantly to stimulate weight loss, you can determine the amount of daily calories that your recommended ideal body weight requires - and consume this amount of calories.

Diet Bites actually prefers this method because once the excess fat is gone, the dieter doesn't have to scramble to get a weight maintenance plan in place.

They simply continue consuming the amount of calories that their body requires to maintain ideal body weight.

3. Combine daily menus with moderate activity. Here, the individual can see how many calories a specific activity will burn in calories.

CALORIC NEEDS

CALORIC ACTIVITY BURNS

EXAMPLES, DIETS

1200 Calorie Diet | 1400 Calorie Diet

1600 | 1800 | 2000 Calorie Diet | 2200

2400 Calorie Diet | 2600

2800 | 3000 | 3200

How Many Calories Do You Need Per Day?

Recommended Calorie Needs for Individuals Weighing:

View Entire Calorie Needs Index & Information

Step 6 - Inexpensive Tools for Losing Weight Safely

Pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, paprika, chili powder, cumin, oregano, lemon pepper, turmeric, curry - just a few examples of delicious spices which can ramp-up the flavor of the foods in your plan without ramping up calories!

Color is best served in the Fruit & Vegetable Groups. Pair green with yellow - add a dash of red. Go wild with colors which will be pleasing to sight. Keep in mind that when food looks good, it's just going to taste better. There are exceptions of course....

The appetite is heavily influenced by our five senses: smell, sight, sound, touch and taste.

Snacks can be both good & bad. On one hand, enjoying a snack in-between meals can assist in quelling appetite so that by the time the next meal arrives you won't be famished which almost-always leads to overeating.

On the other hand, snacks can contain a good deal of calories - and if our last meal wasn't a wholesome meal, we may be tempted to grab more calories than will fit into our weight reduction plan.

I can tell you based on a lifetime of experience - and I'm a pretty old girl - that once an overweight person goes overboard with food - it almost-always leads to the end of their diet plan.

They think, "Oh no, I've failed - so my diet is ruined. I'll return to my former eating habits and worrying about losing weight later." Unfortunately, 'later' rarely happens.

It's so easy to gain weight when we're starting to feel 'lighter'. But even morbidly obese people feel lighter at times.

It may be due to the gravitational force - or to the daily diet containing less salt, but whatever the reason, when we feel lighter we tend to indulge in food to excess.

So inexpensive - and they can be found in most American kitchens. They are vital for some foods.

Liquid coffee creamer. While the calories vary, most contain about 35 calories per Tablespoon. If you've seen the coffee creamer commercials - the models are pouring way-more than 1 Tablespoon into the coffee cup.

That 35 calorie cup of coffee can easily spike to 200 calories. If you use liquid coffee creamer, try pouring in the amount that you would normally use into your cup.

Then pour that amount into a measuring spoon [or cup if needed]. That will give you a great idea of how many calories you can save per cup.

Personally, I like lots of cream in my coffee so I use 2 Tablespoons - but no more than that. If I find that it's not enough, I use less coffee.

This is nifty inexpensive tool that you can use when walking. More about that below....

Commercially prepared foods are a big reason for Americans becoming addicted to salt. It's a very inexpensive seasoning and it enhances the flavor of foods.

The problem is that the more we add, the more our taste buds tolerate. The more we eat, the more we want.

My daily diet contains very little salt and when I dine out - which is very rare, the food is often so salty that it is not enjoyable.

Excess salt in the daily diet not only contributes to high blood pressure and bloating issues in the body, it also contributes to water retention - which registers as pounds on the bathrooms scales.

Depending upon how efficient your body reacts - as well as the amount of excess sodium consumed, it may require 2, 3 or more days for the retained fluids to disburse. Who wants that?

This assists in combating constipation as well as improving metabolic function. A stagnant body isn't the healthiest of bodies. Fresh fruits, vegetables, the Legume [Bean] Family as well as whole grains make excellent choices for dietary fiber.

These support bone health - which includes dental health. Skim dairy products make an excellent choice. If you can't tolerate skim, reach for the regular but cut serving size when possible to trim calories.

Dairy products can be high in caloric values and opting for skim can allow you to trim calories while trimming fat intake.

Foods which are your best nutritional sources include oats, oatmeal, wheat bread, and brown rice. When possible, reach for unprocessed foods which will make your best nutritional choices.

While a packet of 'instant oatmeal' may be convenient, it's a very poor choice in comparison to whole oats prepared from scratch. The whole oats aren't going to be infused with that added sugar, fat and salt - not to mention preservatives.

The current Food Pyramid Recommended Servings for the Grain Group is 6-11. Diet Bites feels that this is far too much for the average American.

Carbohydrates are steeped in caloric values. A cup of rice of pasta contains 200 calories. Bread calories differ based on the recipe and the slice of bread - with some slices holding 130 or more calories.

A flour tortilla can contain 90 to 200+ calories depending upon the recipe used and the size of the tortilla.

As we can easily see, calories in carbohydrates add up very quickly - edging out room for healthier foods like fruits and vegetables.

Protein supports muscle health. Keep in mind that our heart is one giant muscle. Protein doesn't have to be meat. Better choices include: nuts, edible seeds, eggs and beans.

One need look no further than the Food Pyramid's Fruit & Vegetable Groups. In the USA Food Pyramid, there is a group for both fruit and vegetables while in many other countries the 'Fruit & Vegetable Group' is one group. Diet Bites feels strongly that these two groups should be combined.

Water makes an excellent choice as zero calories, as does unsweetened tea. We're not much on sugar-free drinks due to concerns over sugar substitutes.

Fruit juices are healthy yet high in calories. Beer and other alcoholic beverages are also quite generous in calories. Base line: choose your liquids wisely & meet your hydration needs with healthy zero-calorie water.

Step 7 - Movement & Body Weight

No - you don't have to exercise to lose weight but it certainly will assist you in losing the weight quicker as well as in strengthening your body. Here are examples of the benefits of exercise OR increased daily activity:

- Organs Work More Efficiently
- Metabolic Rate Enhanced
- Medical Issues Avoided - These include everything from blood clots to constipation.
- Movement Burns Calories
- Movement Strengthens Muscles & Bones

In Conclusion

Diet Bites is here to support you on your journey to a healthier body - to a healthier you! We have so many health & weight loss articles to assist. We are routing for your success!

Keep in mind that even if you cannot lose all of the excess pounds - just losing a few will enhance your current state of health tremendously.

And if you find that you are simply unable to get off the weight and you realize that it is putting your health - or your life in jeopardy, please meet with your doctor.

Sincerely, Sky Taylor,
YOUR weight loss guide at Diet Bites for two decades & counting!

Free Diet Plan, 7 Simple Steps

7 Step Diet Plan