- Modify! Alleviate dietary anxiety by modifying your favorite recipes to lower the fat and calories! Have your cake and eat it too by altering your favorite recipes with low or no fat ingredients, so that you can relax and enjoy the meals you love by knowing that you won’t be blowing your diet at the same time.
- Keep Active and get those endorphins churning! Get your family to join you in a walk around the block after dinner…it’s a great tradition. Staying active will help reduce stress because endorphins, which chemicals released in your body when you exercise, are “stress busters” that have a natural calming effect on the body.
- Don’t miss the party! You can still mingle at your favorite social events and stay on your diet by avoiding the fried hors d’oeuvre and nuts…fill up on crudités and shrimp! Also, by avoiding fried foods that are harder to digest, you’ll feel “lighter” and much more guilt free.
- Prepare to dine out…by eating! Eat a snack before you go out, such as a container of nonfat yogurt and/or a banana. By taking the edge off your appetite before a restaurant style dinner, you’ll be much less likely to overeat or to eat foods that you really should not. You’ll not have to be anxious about staying in control during such circumstances because you’ve taken proactive steps to avoid being excessively hungry.
Registered and licensed dietitian Susan Burke March, MS, CDE, is the author of “Making Weight Control Second Nature: Living Thin Naturally” – a book intended to liberate serial “dieters” and make living healthfully and weight-wise intuitive and instinctual over the long term. She may be reached online at www.SusanBurkeMarch.com.
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