Five-Tip Friday

Another successful week, another weekend to look forward to! Keep up with your healthy eating habits and don't let the weekend schedule sabotage your plans. Here are five more tips to keep you on track during your days off:

1. Count to your age before you indulge: This gives you a few moments to think before eating and become aware of what you are about to ingest. After you've counted--slowly--to your age, if you still want to eat your treat, go ahead! By then you know you've thought about it and it is now a conscious decision.

2. Drink plenty of water: The signals from your brain can get confused, and you may think you are hungry when you are really just thirsty. Have a glass of water if you have the urge to eat between meals, and see if this has any effect on your appetite. The worst that will happen is you will become well-hydrated!

3.If you have people over for a meal, send the leftovers home with them: I can't tell you how often clients tell me they overate 'because we had company so I bought a pie--there were 4 slices leftover, and I ate them monday, tuesday, and wednesday'. The list goes on with desserts, chips and dips, and other foods best not kept around the house when you are trying to keep your habit of eating low calorie, nutrient dense foods! Gift them to your guests and let someone enjoy them who is not working on watching their figure.

4. When having a snack, take pretzels, chips, cookies, etc out of the box or bag and put your serving on a plate. This way, the end of your snack is not defined by the end of the package!

5. Don't skip meals. Keep on the smart schedule, having a breakfast and a lunch and a dinner every day, even if you sleep in a little bit later. Focus on eating something nutritious--like fruit or cereal--if you're not very hungry for breakfast. Enjoying low-calorie, high-fiber foods earlier in the day will keep you more full and you'll be less likely to overeat at dinner time.

Keep up the great work and enjoy your weekend!