Diet for Idiots

If you are one of those folks who likes to keep things simple, a diet for idiots may be just what the doctor ordered. Forget counting carbs or calories, don’t bother with complicated food combining rules; just stick with basic rules of good health and come out a weight loss winner.

Dieting Versus Healthy Eating

When it comes to diets, there are thousands. Some work quickly, others work over time. In general, people who lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time tend to regain weight quickly, too. A better—and healthier—approach is to gradually change the way you eat. This way, you’re actually learning healthy new behaviors and developing new habits. Adapting healthy eating habits for a lifetime is preferred rather than a short term deprivation diet. Human nature dictates that you will crave whatever you’re denied! Sure, you might not lose 10 pounds in a week on a healthy diet for idiots, but you’re more likely to keep it off.

Basic Rules of a Diet for Idiots

For our basic, healthy diet, the focus is conventional nutrition. While some rules may fly in the face of a particular diet plan, these rules all represent sound nutrition and healthy eating. If you’ve been eating the standard American diet (SAD), you will lose weight on this plan.

Eat Multiple Small Meals a Day

For the purposes of healthy blood sugar levels and weight loss, it’s much better to eat multiple small meals rather than one or two large ones. Unbalanced blood sugar can cause intense cravings in addition to fatigue, weakness, and dizziness. Aim to eat five or six times per day. This should be three ‘’real’’ meals and two or three snacks. A few ideas for healthy snacks include:

• A serving of fruit and string cheese
• Celery with peanut butter
• Yogurt with fruit
• Baked tortilla chips with salsa
• Pretzels
• Granola

Choose Lean Protein

When it comes to losing weight and building lean muscle, nothing is as helpful as lean protein. Lean turkey and skinless chicken breasts are excellent sources of protein, as are:

• Lean beef, all fat removed
• Tuna
• Egg whites
• Tofu
• Cottage cheese
• Lowfat cheese

Remember, it’s possible to cook lean protein in a way that makes it high fat! To keep your protein healthy, grill, broil, or roast it. As much as possible, avoid frying, breading, or cooking in oil.

Eat Lots of Fruits and Vegetables

Although Atkins and other low carb diets limit fruit and vegetable intake, very few people actually became overweight from eating too many carrots or bananas. Your body needs fruit and veggies. In fact, you should aim for at least one, but preferably more, vegetables at every meal. Have green vegetables, the darker the better, everyday.

If you’re unaccustomed to eating vegetables, try incorporating them into your typical meals. For example, you can add spinach to your meat loaf. You can barely taste it, and the dark green leaves give a healthy boost of iron, folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, magnesium, and many other nutrients. Other ways to sneak in vegetables include:

• Boil peas and carrots with your pasta (this tastes great as is or with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese)
• Add vegetables to your spaghetti or lasagna sauce. You can easily add slivered carrots, chopped mushrooms, bell peppers, and tomatoes.
• Add pureed carrots to anything yellow, orange, or red, including cheese sauce and tomato-based soups.
• Add veggies to your rice or potatoes. If you or your kids resist, top with lowfat cheese.

When you’re craving something sweet, grab some fruit. Although it doesn’t sound as decadent as cake or chocolate, fruit is a healthy, waist-loving way to satisfy a sweet tooth. For dessert, try a fruit medley topped with whipped cream. Fruit smoothies are always a tasty way to meet your daily fruit goal. Toss some bananas and strawberries in a blender with lowfat milk or yogurt; blend and enjoy.

Have Planned Splurges

Let’s face it, it’s hard to be good all the time. If you tell yourself you can never eat cake, candy, fried food, or any of your other favorites again, you’re setting yourself up for all-or-nothing thinking, which is a major derailer of any diet. All-or-nothing nothing is that little voice that says, “You’ve already had a bit of cake, so you might as well have the whole cake” or “You’ve blown it by skipping breakfast and dinner, so let’s binge at dinner.” That thinking is dangerous. It’s far better to look ahead and plan cheat meals or even cheat days. Give yourself permission to eat whatever you like for a set period of time with the understanding that you will get right back to your healthy diet at the next meal or next day (or whatever time period you’ve decided).

Get Moving

You knew it would be mentioned at some point… exercise. For your weight loss effort to really work, you need some form of exercise. This can be as simple as walking around your neighborhood at a brisk pace or as complicated as joining the gym. It’s up to you. Just pick something that you enjoy and you will be able to stick to. If you know that a regular exercise routine bores quickly bores you, make it your goal to try something different every month.

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