Easing into a Diet Program

An easy and effective way of incorporating a diet into your eating habits is to make incremental changes to your diet every two weeks (or one week if you think you’re pretty disciplined). Set a goal every 14 days, with each goal built upon the success of the previous one.

Week 1 - 2 : Cut the Fat

- Start looking at the labels of the things you buy/eat and start cutting out as many fats as possible
- Start steaming and broiling (or if can’t be helped, pan-fry with minimum oil) the foods you normally deep fry
- Get a can of cooking spray (Available at Cold Storage supermarkets). Use cooking spray to substitute the oil you use to grease pans, etc.
- Opt for low fat/non-fat dressings and sauces
- Avoid visible fat in meats (skin, fatty tissue)
- Buy leaner cuts of meats instead of the high fat kind (buy chicken breasts instead of chicken wings)

Week 3 - 4 : Eliminate Refined Sugars

- Refined sugars are almost everywhere. If you must have a coke or any other soda, substitute it with a diet version
- Eliminate the use of table sugars in drinks (coffee, tea). Use artificial sweeteners, but moderately
- Eliminate sweets

Week 5 - 6 : Make water your main beverage

Start drinking much more water than you have previously consumed before. Water has many benefits to your body. So every time you get thirsty, drink water!

Substitute all types of drinks (diet sodas/fruit juices)
Drink at least 1 large glass of water with every meal
Drink at least 500ml of water during a workout

There are still many steps that can be added in the weeks that follow, but the steps above alone is enough to yield excellent results to your existing regime. This also works on the principle that there is no shortcut to achieving weight loss and a healthy diet. It takes time to change old habits - but the results are priceless.

Your friend and coach,
DM

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