Lazy Summer Diet Tips

Summertime and the dieting is lazy! That's right. The hot, humid days of mid-summer encourage us to take the easy route. And if you think dieting always has to be a challenge, you'll be happy to learn some of my favorite lazy dieting tips which will help you cut calories effortlessly. These simple suggestions can turn mindless eating into mindless losing. Adopt just a few of them and by the time you're ready for your fall wardrobe, you'll be that much closer to your goal weight.

Most of us eat too fast and our brain doesn't have time to register that we're full. So we keep eating! A simple trick to break out of this pattern is to put your knife and fork own three times during a meal. Stop. Take a breath. Join the conversation. You'll eat slower and you'll consume less.

Drink water with your meals. If you're eating in a restaurant, have the goal of three fill-ups in the course of the meal. If you're sipping water, you're not eating; You're getting closer to your daily water intake goal (see The Wall Street Diet, page 38 for tips on water drinking) and you're filling up on non-cal fluids rather than more fattening things.

Order two appetizers for dinner. This is a great, lazy way to a healthy, low-cal dinner. Skip the heavy entrees and go for two light, tasty appetizers instead. You'll cut calories and you'll keep pace with other diners who might be having an appetizer plus an entree. See The Wall Street Diet, page 129, for some recommended appetizer choices. A couple of good bets include fresh gazpacho, shrimp cocktail, caprese salad (mozzarella and tomato) or steamed mussels in white wine and garlic.

Wear fitted clothes. This is a great mindless way to keep your eating goals at the top of your 'to-do' list. Nothing says "eat light" like a pair of snug pants and/or a belt. It's a constant reminder that you don't ever want to feel stuffed and that eating light feels right.

Kill your cravings. If you're going out to eat or expect to have a nice dinner at home but you're hungry enough to eat a buffalo, put a lid on your appetite with a pre-dinner nibble. Many of my clients do this routinely and swear it's a lifesaver. Have two Fiber Rich crackers and a large drink of water about an hour or so before dinner. You'll be master of the menu as you order healthy selections and push the bread away.

Pop a breath strip. The taste of peppermint, or any mint, kills appetite. So enjoy a breath strip at any time during the day when you want to avoid a snack. If you're headed to an office birthday party, trying to fight late-night cravings or facing a breakfast buffet that's
a carb carnival, a breath strip can put the brakes on your mindless indulgence.

That was easy, right? Reaching your goal weight can be as simple as adopting some simple strategies that help keep you on track. You can find a host of these strategies in The Wall Street Diet.