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10 Steps to Building a Diet That Works

10 Steps to Building a Diet That Works

Dieting is one of the most simple, yet overly complicated endeavors. Millions of people struggle with their diets month after month, year after year.

Since the 1980's, the diet industry has grown at an exponential rate, faster than any other industry on the planet. Conceptually, dieting should follow a simple mathematical equation with only a few variables.

Calories In, Energy Expended = Net Calories

If the net calories are less than your maintenance level of calories required to sustain your current bodyweight, your body will lose weight. However, far too many people make this much more complicated trying to bypass the dedication and consistency required to lose weight.

Over 95% of all diets eventually fail but there are certain mistakes that several people repeatedly do again and again. The good news is that with a few simple adjustments you can be back on your way to achieving better health and weight loss success.
Calories

10 Steps to Building a Diet That Works

Step #1 - Count your calories

There are many apps available on cell phones that make this a simple task. Simply take five minutes out of your day and input everything you eat.

Trying to lose weight without counting your calories is similar to trying to reach a destination and having no clue how much gas is required to reach the destination. If you choose not to count calories you are simply being lazy.

Step #2 - Buy a food scale

A food scale only costs $10 dollars and may quite possibly be the smartest purchase you will ever make. If a serving of rice is 100 grams how can you possibly know how much 100 grams is without having some sort of measuring tool?

Just go online and spend the money. Dieting is a science that requires mathematically sound measurements in order to accurately assess your progress over an extended period of time.

Step #3 - Eliminate trace calories

What exactly do I mean by trace calories? Trace calories are those tiny additions in your diet that you forget to track. Those 10 pieces of candy in the dish by the front desk of your office, those 3 packets of ketchup used with lunch, or those 2 creamers you added to your morning coffee.

Forgetting to add these simple little items can result in hundreds of additional calories. No matter how small and minute the items may appear to be sure to keep track of them.

Step #4 - Drink enough water

Water
Water not only helps assist in keeping your body hydrated but also helps increase the feeling of satiation or fullness.

People often mistake hunger for dehydration. You might not be hungry but may simply need a glass of water. Furthermore, improper water intake will cause unwanted effects such as water retention making you appear heavier on the scale.

Step #5 - Stop trading gym time for more food

Often times people have the mindset that, I went to the gym so I can definitely eat x, y, and z. Just because you were on the elliptical at speed three for 20 minutes doesn't justify eating two pints of ice cream post-workout.

Having this sort of mindset is a good way to throw off any sort of positive work performed at the gym.

Step #6 - Don't eat junk food on weekends

People often have the look of complete perplexity when they ask someone why they are not losing weight. They claim to eat chicken and broccoli for every meal. However, they forget to tell you this is simply their dietary routine Monday through Thursday.

They neglect to mention the fact that they had half a dozen beers, two double cheeseburgers, and a late night large pizza on Saturday. To see results you must practice proper dietary habits all the time.

Step #7 - Find your willpower

People often times only stick to a strict diet for a few weeks at a time. When they don't see drastic changes on the scale they feel disappointed at their perceived lack of progress. Quickly they fall back into the same habits they had prior to beginning their diet.

Step #8 - Treat diet as a permanent lifestyle

Diets are often treated as temporary fixes when they should be thought of as permanent lifestyle changes. Some people may diet properly for two or even three months until reaching their weight loss goal. Then they simply return to prior bad eating habits.

This is the main reason why people that lose substantial amounts of weight gain back all the weight they lost and sometimes more.

Step #9 - Avoid overuse of oils and butter

Healthy foods can quickly be made into unhealthy items in a hurry by using fatty butter and oils. Simply one tablespoon of cooking oils may have 16 grams of fat. Perhaps one tablespoon is added to vegetables while cooking and another to the pan of chicken.

Then you decide to add a fat clump of butter to the rice. Suddenly your healthy meal has an additional 40+ grams of fat just from secondary cooking oils!

Stick to zero calorie cooking sprays to avoid this situation from occurring.

Step #10 - Stop skipping workouts

There simply is no easy way to put it. Skipping workouts means you are not only missing out on potential muscle gains but are also not burning those additional calories in the gym.

Strength and resistance training is one of the most effective ways to burn calories quickly. Skip a workout and forget about burning hundreds if not thousands of calories.

Final Thoughts

For decades people around the world have made dieting one of the most lucrative businesses in the world due to the fact that many people struggle with it. However, by staying informed you can make better choices and progress towards weight loss success.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @ryanrodal and subscribe to my YouTube channel MuscleMinds for more dietary advice and workout tips.
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