This is the time of year when everyone is going out to eat more often.  You find yourself out shopping and it is easier to just pop in a restaurant than going home for a nutritious meal.  But you do not have to throw your fitness out the window!  Take a look at these three tips that will help you stay on track.

1.      The Bread Basket – An average dinner roll can have anywhere from 100-200 calories, thats before you even add the butter.  Do yourself a favor and ask the server to remove the bread from the table.

2.      Sweetened Drinks – Sweetened teas, punches, and sodas can add hundreds of calories to your meal.  Stick with unsweetened tea or plain water.  Not to mention, if you choose water you will save a ton of money.  Sweet drinks can cost close to $2.00, with a family eating, you can spend close to $10.00 just on drinks.

3.      Dessert- If you are craving something sweet after dinner, wait until you get home where you know the calorie content of the foods you are eating.  Restaurant desserts are a disaster with at least 300 calories.  Go home and have some fresh fruit with low fat frozen yogurt- you will be glad you did.

So just imagine, if you added one dinner roll, one soda, and one dessert to your meal, you would have an additional 600 calories.  That’s before even eating the meal!  CRAZY!

Today’s preparation determines tomorrow’s achievement.  To indulge is to bulge!

A little sugar and fat make you crave even more.  Exercise prevents cravings from striking and can douse them once they spark!

Skipping meals to save calories may slow your metabolic rate by 20%.  Bypassing one meal may make you so hungery that you binge on the next one.  Be sure to not skip meals!

Even diet-friendly foods lose their low-cal status if you overindulge.  Those nice low cal desserts are awesome, just don’t eat the whole box in one setting.

Eat small, frequent meals.  Eat breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, and Dinner like a Pauper.

The longer you resist temptation, the stronger you become.  You end up feeling better about yourself because the craving is no longer in control–you are!

Typically, foods high in salt are processed foods or fast foods like pizza, hamburgers, french fries, potato chips, mexican food, chinese food, and others that require alot of seasoning.  Families who eat alot of processed and convenience foods are consuming way more sodium than they actually need.  Foods that are typically low in sodium are fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, unprocessed meats, and foods marked “low sodium”.

A simple guideline is that if a food contains more than 300 mg of sodium per serving, is should be avoided.

Most fast food establishments will provide nutritional information.  This is helpful for when you have to eat at a restaurant.

Most people do not realize how much sodium is going into their diet until they start trying to reduce the amounts.  To help regulate your sodium balance you can increase your water intake throughout the day – at least 1/2 gallon.

Don’t add salt to food since most foods contain sodium anyway.  Eat healthy!

Bobby Boucher said it best in The Waterboy, “It’s clean….It’s cold…Now thats what I call…High Quality H2O”

Ever wonder what is in your water?  What water is the best to drink?  Read on my friends.

Public Water Supplies: Much of municipal water supplies contain chemicals or contaminants such as lead,, chlorine, fluoride, nitrates, sodium, pesticides, and/or insecticides.  These products can lead to a weakened immune system, and some are suspected carcinogens.

Drinking Water: Comes from wells or public water supplies and has undergone at least a minimum treatment.

Mineral Water: Contains more dissolved solids, most of which cannot be used by the human body.  This can even be dissolved rocks!  Therefore, the lower the number of total dissolved solids the healthier the water is for you.

Distilled Water: This is basically “dead” water.  Everything is removed…including the taste.  This water is best used in batteries and steam irons.

Spring Water: Spring water bubbles up naturally from deep within the earth, avoiding contaminants and debris.  Spring water is usually the best tasting water available.  Spring water is then purified for safety.

Make sure that you are drinking the purest water possible, not just a glass of chemicals.  Read the labels, and contact your local treatment plant for an analysis of your water.  The difference will be perfectly clear.

Of all the types of water available, spring water is the purest and healthiest.

As busy as our days get, it is easy to forget how important it is to stay properly hydrated.  It is a very important element that is required for a proper daily diet.

Water is so important to your body that 40% – 60% of your bodyweight is water.  Now before you get any crazy ideas like dropping alot of weight by reducing your water consider the following facts:

Dehydration places a huge burden on your heart by thickening your blood.  Your body will also have a harder time regulating its internal heat.  Since the cells in your body are mostly water, if you lose water, your cells get smaller and will not be able to carry on their intended functions, this includes metabolism of your food.

Although you may take it for granted, water may be the only true “magic potion” for weight loss and permanent weight control.

WATER SUPPRESSES THE APPETITE NATURALLY AND HELPS THE BODY METABOLIZE STORED FAT

An increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.  Your kidneys cannot function properly without enough water.  When they cannot do their work, the excess is dumped into the liver for processing.  One of the major functions of the liver is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy.  But if the liver is busy with “extra work”, it cannot operate at full throttle.

DRINKING WATER IS THE BEST TREATMENT FOR FLUID RETENTION

When the body gets less water than it needs it goes into survival mode and will save as much water as possible.  Give your body what it needs and it will let go of it’s stored water.

WATER HELPS TO MAINTAIN PROPER MUSCLE TONE

Also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weight loss.  Water plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient.

WATER HELPS RID THE BODY OF WASTE

During weight loss, the body has alot more waste to rid of-all that metabolized fat must be shed.  Adequate water helps flush out the waste.

Get out there and drink your water!