Diet Tips that may Surprise You

* Eat Breakfast. You’ve heard this a million times, but in all honesty, it’s true. You should eat breakfast pretty soon after you wake up. What this does is signal to the body that you’re up and active. Therefore, your metabolism kicks in, and you can actually begin to burn calories.

* Don’t skip meals. If you skip a meal, then your body goes into a protection mode. It doesn’t know when you’ll be able to get food again, so instead of burning calories, it actually stores body fat in case you go a long time without eating. It’s your body’s defense mechanism against starvation. Eating meals actually speeds up your metabolism by telling your body that food is readily available; thus your body can use calories at an increased rate.

* Get 8 hours of sleep. I once had a doctor tell me that I would lose nearly NO weight as long as I was getting 5 hours of sleep a night. I don’t know the reason, but look it up. All the studies prove that a good night’s sleep promotes weight loss.

*If you’re hungry, then eat. Again, you don’t want your body to go into that defense mode. So if your stomach starts growling, grab a low-calorie, healthy snack to maintain your metabolic rate.

*Don’t call yourself “fat.” You may not realize the power of the brain. Your body tends to follow your brain. In one study, participants only “imagined” themselves thin, and they lost weight. The same is true for the opposite. If you call yourself fat and think about being overweight, then your body will sync up with your mind.