Common Dieting Blunders

Have you ever felt as if you have been on a diet forever without ever seeing any significant weight loss? Have you tried various diets only for your weight to stay the same or even worse, for you to get heavier? If so you may be making simple mistakes that are preventing you from achieving successful weight reduction. Here are a few:-

Skipping meals:-  There is a common misconception out there, that is you skip one or two meals every day, you will lose weight. This routine is unsustainable, and eventually you will overeat . The key is healthy, sustainable eating patterns, which is one of the reasons the DietDeli Weight Loss Plans are based on 6 meals a day.

Ignoring the need to exercise:-  Exercise is crucial to your weight loss regime. A good routine will maximise your loss of fat and minimise your loss of muscle.

Making unrealistic goals:-  Many diets are not planned in terms of realistic goals and the ultimate goal seems so far away that the dieter gets disheartened and gives up. If your goal is to lose a stone, then set realistic short term goals for achieving that. A realistic target is to lose 1-3 lbs per week, so set yourself weekly goals based on this. By doing this your motivation will stay high and that long term goal will become much more achievable.

Not being honest with yourself:- Only you can answer this, but if you tend to cheat a little by robbing a few chips from your kids plates or picking at food while you’re preparing the dinner, then try to find ways to combat it, such as eating a DietDeli Nutritional Bar while you’re in the kitchen.

Poor planning:- Good planning is essential to any diet. Know what you are going to eat each day and stick to it. Try to work out what you will be cooking and write your shopping list accordingly so you buy only the right things in the supermarket.

Finally, it is easy to feel disheartened and frustrated if you do have a bad day on a diet. It is vital not to let these bad moments thwart your whole diet. Keep trying. If you return to your weight loss plan and continue your exercise routine, then weight loss is not impossible.

Why it’s important to eat “little and often”

DietDeli encourages dieters to eat 6 times a day (3 meals and 3 snacks), both during our weight loss programme and our weight maintenance programme.  Why do we advise this? Read on!

We know that eating so often seems at odds with the goal of weight loss and it seems like there are not enough hours in the day to fit it all in, obviously when we say eat 6 times, we mean 6 small meals! Portion sizes is one thing that many dieters struggle with in Ireland. Use your kitchen scales to measure the appropriate amount of food. Here are some hints for developing your visual judgement of serving sizes:

1oz/28g of cheese or meat = size of your thumb
3oz/84g of meat = size & thickness of a deck of playing cards
A medium sized apple or orange = size of a tennis ball
1 tsp. margarine = size of the tip of your thumb

Did you know that the process of digestion can actually burn calories? Protein is a very important element to this process. By upping your protein content at  every meal, you will be kick starting your metabolism at regular intervals throughout the day. DietDeli foods are all high in protein which also has the added advantage of keeping you feeling fuller for longer.

Skipping meals may seem like a way to guaranteed weight loss, but in reality, will only lead to chaos with your blood sugar levels. This in turn will make you irritable, unable to concentrate and above all, starving and before you know it you are gaining weight again. It also slows down your metabolism, as your body will naturally go into starvation mode to try to conserve energy.

The DietDeli Weight Loss Programme suggests what to eat each day to help you adjust to this regime so you need not worry if you are eating too much or too little. Remember it never be long until your next meal, so you should never feel hungry with DietDeli!!

Treat your new figure well!!

So you have finally achieved what you thought you never would! With the help of DietDeli weight loss programme you have finally reached your goal weight and you feel confident that you will maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life. But what to do with this new figure and how do you show it off to its fullest?! Here are a few tips from DietDeli!

Moisturise every day. We hope that you are not going to be covering up this summer, so make sure your moisturiser contains at least SPF 15.

Maintain your exercise regime to keep your body toned.  It’s important not to abandon your exercise simply because you have reached your target weight. Fitness needs to be maintained on an ongoing basis.

Drink lots of water, which will cleanse your body of toxins and keep your metabolism smooth.

The most important part (and we think the best part!) is to update your wardrobe. This doesn’t mean spending a fortune on a complete new wardrobe, but perhaps adding a belt to a dress that may be a little loose now. Get rid of the baggy cover alls!  These new clothes can also serve as a motivation to maintain your new approach to eating and exercise. Don’t be afraid to show off your new figure, you have worked hard to achieve it and you shouldn’t be self conscious of it. Don’t be scared to look in the mirror and say “I look fabulous!” Well done from everyone at DietDeli!

Cruising and Losing

Lucky me I’m on a River Cruise at the moment with AMA Waterways travelling through Amsterdam, Cologne and Rudesheim visiting all the fabulous Christmas markets along the way.  You probably already know I’m a fashion and beauty writer but I’m also a travel writer.

Anyhoo, when I heard I was being sent on a river cruise one of the first things I thought was how will I be able to manage to control myself with unlimited amounts of food AND wine at my fingertips and hips!  Anyone I know that’s been on a cruise talks about how they gain weight.  So how can a person still enjoy a cruise and yet not pack on the usual ten to fifteen pounds?

DietDeli is the way to go although I have to admit the first night I, um, pushed the boat out! I fell off the wagon, in fact I jumped right off it … if only that damn wagon was bloody bigger and had seatbelts to strap me in!  But DietDeli has taught me that if you slip up, don’t beat yourself up about it.  It’s what you do after you’ve slipped up that makes all the difference.

If you over indulge, recognise you have and then get back on track as quickly as you can.  Next day I felt horrid and actually relished going back to my routine of a Chocolate Shake for brekkie and a Crispy Graham Fudge bar.  I’d packed all my Diet Deli food and so for breakfast I would join everyone and have that and some coffee.  The same with lunch and then for dinner I ate a normal meal but made sensible choices.

It’s the only way to limit your calorie intake when it comes to what you are going to eat.  We all know that burgers and buns really pack on the pounds so are best avoided.  I also stuck to writing everything down in my journal and re-read all my DietDeli lessons to keep me motivated.  Oh yes I also drank litres of water.

This has stopped me from obsessing about calories and worrying about portion sizes etc. as it means I’m in control.  After all, stress has been shown in many studies to cause retention of belly fat.

So thank you DietDeli for helping me keep cruising and losing!

xxx

Portion Sizes

While it’s important to know what kinds of food to eat, it’s equally important to know how much of these foods to eat. To avoid overestimating, familiarize your self with what a serving size actually looks like. For the next week, measure your food using appropriate measuring cups, spoons or food scales. Try guessing the amount 1st, and then measure the food item to see how accurate you are. It won’t be long before you can put aside your measuring cup and food scales!

Here are some helpful hints for developing your visual judgement of serving sizes:

• 1oz/28g of cheese or meat = size of your thumb
• 3oz/84g of meat = size & thickness of a deck of playing cards
• A medium sized apple or orange = size of a tennis ball
• 1 tsp. margarine = size of the tip of your thumb

Changing Your Eating Patterns

Many of us have developed poor eating practices. Fine tune how you eat to your support your weight management efforts. The following tips are great for the entire family!

1 Eat at the table only
Stop eating on the run…in the car, on the street or in front of the tv. Eat at one place – the table!

2 Put your fork down between mouthfuls
Enjoy the tastes, textures, and aromas of what you’re eating. And, relax, give yourself a chance to feel full before your plate is empty!

3 Teach yourself when to eat
Structure your life so that you make time for eating 3 healthy meals and 3 healthy snacks a day.

4 Healthy doesn’t have to mean boring
Eating the same meals every day can get boring! And when you’re bored, you may be tempted to try high-fat, high calorie alternatives. Vary your menus – try new spices, new tastes & eat new textures.

5 Eat on a small plate
Fill the smaller plate, enjoy your food and never feel a moment’s guilt about overeating.

Start Now to Keep the Weight Off During the Christmas Party Season

It’s only the middle of November yet the Christmas Decorations have started to go up and street Christmas lights have been switched on. And while I think Christmas seems to be coming early this year, I’m very serious when I say it doesn’t hurt to start planning how you will stay on your weight loss plan during the Christmas!

Here are a few tips I think you should keep in mind:

 ■Give yourself some insurance by exercising a little bit more. Do an extra 10 minutes at your next work out, take an extra walk in the evening with your family, or dance to a little music after dinner.

■Let your friends, family, and colleagues know your following a healthy diet. When it comes time to choose restaurants or menu items for parties, they will know ahead of time to include healthier options.

■Start collecting recipes of healthy appetizers, main courses or desserts now so you can be prepared when it’s time to shop for parties or you need to prepare a dish for a meal/party.

■Remember that you’re choosing not to eat certain foods this Christmas, you’re not depriving yourself.

I’d love to hear any tips you may have!

Why eat 6 times a day?

DietDeli meal plans are based on eating 6 times a day. I know that you may think that is alot! There is reason behind the theory! Eating every 3 to 4 hours help to control your sugar levels and hunger and puts you in control of your eating.

You may think that you are being really good not eating anything between breakfast and dinner but in fact your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows down and you play havoc with your sugar levels. As a result you are more likely to be absolutely starving by dinner time and eat far too much of the wrong foods! You will also probably be cranky, lack concentration, irritable and tired as well. We’ve all done it but it just does not sound healthy or productive!

Instead try eating 6 times a day! How do you fit that all in?? Eat small amounts regularly. Start the day with breakfast! It kick starts your metabolism. Add some nuts to your breakfast cereal or have an egg. Eat again at about 10 or 11 – just something small – a piece of fruit and some nuts. For lunch have some lean meat and a salad or a vegatable and bean soup. Have another snack at about 4 to boost your energy levels. Make sure includes some protein, try a DietDeli bar! For your dinner have some protein, veg and carbs but remember portion sizes. And last but not least have a snack in the evening – maybe some cheese on a rye cracker.

So there you go – how to eat 6 times a day! It helps balance your sugar levels and keeps you feeling fuller for longer. It puts YOU in control of your appetite! DietDeli has great Weight Loss and Maintenance Meal Plans to keep you on track. Even if you are not on a weight loss programme, you could use our Maintenance Meal Plan and Nutritional Foods to allow you maintain your healthy weight and healthy diet!

DietDeli – Big Taste …Small Waist is here

Welcome to DietDeli!

We are so excited that DietDeli is finally open for weight loss!

Our first mission at DietDeli is to provide weight loss and maintenance programmes which are affordable, accessible and widely available. We want you to be able to conveniently access your weight loss and maintenance programmes in the privacy of your own home and have your meal plans delivered to your door.

Our second mission at DietDeli is to keep the focus on YOU! Although weight loss is a universal problem, you are unique. You need a programme which suits YOU and not the whole world! We didn’t want to just sell weight loss products and hope they would become popular. We wanted to create weight loss and maintenance programmes which actually reflect the needs of our customers. So we have designed a number of meal plans to go with our programmes – Select, Balance and Total. All you have to do is choose the plan which suits YOU best.

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DietDeli knows that programme which is not practical, doable, and affordable will not be sustained. We certainly don’t want to waist your time, effort and money. Nor to we want to set you up for disappointment. That’s why we want to help you each step of the way. Our Meal Plans, Food Selection List, Exercise, Nutrition and Behaviour Modification Lessons are there to help you. And of course, we want to hear from you! If we can help you, we would be delighted to and if you would like to tell us your success stories we would be delighted to hear that too! Visit www.dietdeli.ie for more info on our weight loss and maintenance programmes.

Good luck!