Diet breaker #1 100 calorie snack packs
Pre-measured, calorie-controlled packages of cookies, Doritos and chocolate are ideal for people who can't control the amount they eat from larger packages. Built-in portion control makes helps prevent mindless eating. You're forced to decide whether or not to continue snacking by having to open up a second package. But studies show that many people don't stop after eating one package.
As the novelty of controlled portion size wears off, people may start eating more than one pack in a sitting. Research has shown that when given two large bags of potato chips versus several mini-sized ones, people given the smaller bags eat twice as much.
When it comes to nutrition, these snacks don't offer much beyond white flour, sugar and, well, 100 calories. They don't fill you up the same way as say a fruit and carton of yogurt would.
**Tip - If you do reach for a 100 calorie snack, leave the empty package in plain sight. We tend to eat less food when we can see what we have already eaten.
Diet Breaker #2 Meal-sized snacks
Eating a morning and afternoon snack is a good way to keep your metabolism in high gear and to prevent becoming overly hungry at meals. But depending on which snack you grab, you might be eating more calories than you think - and more than you need. With big food the norm these days, many store-bought snacks deliver a meal's worth of calories and often more.
Consider these numbers: Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll 810 calories; Starbuck's Grande White Chocolate Mocha 500 calories, Tim Horton's whole grain bagel with cream cheese, 475 calories. Each of these so-called snacks puts a hefty dent in a 1400 calorie weight loss diet for a woman.
**Tip - If you're controlling your weight, keep snacks to 150 to 200 calories (women) and 200 to 250 calories (men). Healthy Snacks include fruit and 10-15 almonds, a medium sized latte (or yogurt) with a piece of fruit, a cup of bean soup, 4 whole grain crackers and tuna, raw vegetables and hummus or an energy bar.
Diet Breaker #3 Liquid calories
We don't register the calories we drink they same way we register calories from food. Liquid calories don't fill us up and we don't compensate for them by eating less later on. Even two cappuccinos per day add 160 calories to your day. And watch the amount of sugar or honey you add to plain coffee and tea - the calories add up. Two tablespoons of honey delivers 120 calories. Sugary drinks add up too, even the healthy ones. A 12 oz. bottle of orange juice, for example, has 183 calories.
Tip - As rule don't drink your calories. Stick with plain water. If you add sugar to coffee or tea, stick with one teaspoon. And keep alcoholic beverages to a minimum. Keep in mind that 5 ounces of wine, a bottle of light beer and 1.5 ounces of spirits all deliver roughly 100 calories.
Diet Breaker #4 Baked potato chips
Yes, they don't have the fat that regular potato chips do. But don't fool yourself into thinking they are low in calories. A small 1 oz. serving of baked potato chips has 120 calories, only 30 calories less than full fat potato chips. And most people can stop at 1 oz. - about 12 chips.
And because baked chips have no fibre and they're high glycemic, they don't fill you up. Keep in mind also that many low fat foods have more sugar added.
**Tip - A healthier and lower calorie snack option is air popped popcorn. It's a whole grain food, it has fibre and two cups has only 60 calories!
Diet Breaker #5 No Sugar-added treats
Sugar free and sugar-reduced also don't mean calorie free. For example, one cup of no sugar added chocolate ice cream still has 200 calories - about 80 calories less than regular - not to mention 6 grams of cholesterol-raising saturated fat.
**Tip - if you have a sweet craving, no sugar added treats can some you some calories. But be sure to read the nutrition label to read serving size information. Keep your treat to 100 calories - and don't make it a daily occurrence.
Question: Any other tips to help people break a weight loss plateau?
Don't let too many "extras" sneak in to your diet! An extra dessert, a few tastes while making dinner, a bite or two off your kid's plate -- those extra calories can, and will -- stall weight loss progress.
It's important to remember that 20 pounds ago, you could get away with eating something extra here and there and still lose weight each week. But as you get closer to your weight goal, those extra calories will slow you down. When your body has less weight to carry around, it burns -- and requires -- fewer calories. That means you have less calorie leeway than you did a dress size ago.
To follow your meal plan more closely, resume keeping a food diary. Write down every bite and track your portion sizes too. You might be surprised to see how often extra calories sneak into your diet.
