Calorie counting

Some diets involve calorie counting -- figuring out the number of calories in each food item you eat, then adding up the total at the end of the day. This method shows:

* How quickly calories add up
* Where most of your calories come from
* What time of day you tend to eat the largest amount

This can be valuable information, particularly when you first start your weight loss program. The method allows you to make adjustments to your food consumption on a particular day or over time.

Counting calories, however, quickly becomes tedious, and it does not necessarily train you to eat a healthy balance of foods. It is easy to become obsessed with the numbers and forget that the point is to eat healthily and vary your foods.

Eat less, or eat healthy?

Obviously, you can reduce calories simply by eating less. For example, if you usually eat french fries with lunch, order a smaller portion or throw some of them out. Although in theory this method should help you lose weight, it is not the healthiest or most successful.

First of all, you are not eating a balanced, nutritious diet, nor are you lowering your risk for chronic conditions like Diabetes and heart disease. Furthermore, people who simply try to eat less, rather than changing food types, tend to get hungrier faster and snack more in between meals.

Instead, replace unhealthy and fattening foods with healthier alternatives -- eat the same amount of food as before but eat lower-calorie foods with a healthier balance of nutrients. Using the example above, you would replace the french fries with a baked potato, carrots, an apple, or another healthier and lower-calorie food. Again, you are eating fewer calories, but you are also filling your stomach and adding variety to your diet.

Hints for eating nutritious foods

* Choose fresh fruits and vegetables over canned or processed foods. Food often loses its natural vitamins and minerals during processing. Fresh food is also more flavorful, so you will feel more satisfied.

* Lower your fat intake by eating a plant-based diet. Animal products tend to be higher in saturated fat (and therefore calories) than most plant products.

* Choose products (like breads and pasta) with whole grains over those with white flour. These have more fiber, are more likely to fill you up, and are more nutritious. The fiber may even help lower your cholesterol.

* Allow yourself an occasional treat, so you don't feel deprived. It can be easier to change your habits if you know you can still have your favorite dessert or snack once in awhile.

* Eat fish instead of meat. Fish is a healthy, lean protein. Also, it contains a type of fat called "omega-3," which may help protect the heart.

Empty calories

Some foods are especially bad for weight loss. Foods that contain a high number of calories without providing important nutrients are referred to as "empty calories." Sugary snacks and soda, for example, can dramatically increase the number of calories you consume without providing any nutritional value. They should be consumed only in small quantities.

One step at a time

Changing eating patterns can be extremely difficult. Food plays so many roles in our lives, and we've formed our eating habits over many years. It may be easier to make one food substitution at a time -- for example, switch from whole milk to skim milk, then eliminate butter from your diet. Once again, gradual progress is the key to successful weight loss and maintenance.

Since most Americans eat too much fat and sugar (both of which contribute to weight gain), replacing these with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables should lower your intake of calories and provide rich sources of vitamins and minerals at the same time. Also, protein should come from low-fat sources like fish, beans, chicken, and soy.

計(jì)算卡路里

有時(shí)候吃東西的同時(shí)可以計(jì)算食物的卡路里，計(jì)算你吃的每種食物的卡路里，然后再總計(jì)一天累積的卡路里。以下就是方法：

卡路里多久積累起來(lái)的

你吃的食物里那種卡路里最高

你什么時(shí)候吃的最多

以上信息對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)十分重要，尤其是當(dāng)你剛開(kāi)始準(zhǔn)備你的減肥計(jì)劃。這個(gè)方法目的在于調(diào)整你的飲食量，可以是一天或者好幾天。

然而，總是計(jì)算食物的卡路里的話很快會(huì)讓你感覺(jué)厭倦，而且也容易導(dǎo)致?tīng)I(yíng)養(yǎng)失調(diào)。一味地注重卡路里，很容易忽略健康飲食也很重要。

是吃得盡量少，還是吃得健康？

顯然，要降低吸收的卡路里，就必須要少吃。比如，如果你中午常常吃薯?xiàng)l，那么就點(diǎn)份小包薯?xiàng)l或者剩下一些。盡管理論上來(lái)說(shuō)這個(gè)方法應(yīng)該對(duì)減肥有效，可是這不是最健康或者最有效的。

首先，你的營(yíng)養(yǎng)不均衡，而且你增加了患慢性疾病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，比如糖尿病和心臟病。而且，人們往往只是單純地嘗試少吃，卻不改變食物的類(lèi)型，總愛(ài)吃很容易產(chǎn)生饑餓感的快餐。

我們應(yīng)該避免吃既不健康又容易發(fā)胖的食物，取而代之，我們?cè)摮越】档氖澄�。在食物的量不變的前提下，吃些熱量較低的，同時(shí)營(yíng)養(yǎng)均衡的食物。我們舉個(gè)例子，你可以用烤馬鈴薯，胡蘿卜，一個(gè)蘋(píng)果來(lái)替代薯?xiàng)l；或者其他較健康，較低熱量的食物。這樣一來(lái)，你既不用吸收高熱量，而且可以填飽你的胃，也可以自己的食譜增加種類(lèi)。

推薦的營(yíng)養(yǎng)食物

 選擇新鮮的水果和蔬菜，盡量不吃罐裝或加工過(guò)的食物。食物往往在加工的過(guò)程中流失維生素和礦物質(zhì)。而且新鮮的食物更加美味，吃了也會(huì)很精神。

攝入植物類(lèi)的食物也可以減少對(duì)脂肪的吸收。動(dòng)物食品中的飽和脂肪（也就是卡路里）比起大多植物類(lèi)食物過(guò)高。

 選擇那些含谷物的食物（比如面包和意大利面），盡量不吃面粉類(lèi)食物。因?yàn)楣阮?lèi)類(lèi)含有大量纖維，更容易有飽腹感，而且更有營(yíng)養(yǎng)。而且可以降低膽固醇。

允許自己偶然放縱一次，這樣你才不會(huì)覺(jué)得被剝奪了什么。如果你仍然保持在一段時(shí)間里品嘗一次你最?lèi)?ài)的甜點(diǎn)或者快餐，那么會(huì)比較容易改變你的飲食習(xí)慣。

多吃魚(yú)，少吃肉。因?yàn)轸~(yú)富含蛋白質(zhì)，是很健康的食物。除此之外，它還含有一種叫做“歐米茄-3”的脂肪，可以保護(hù)心臟。

無(wú)營(yíng)養(yǎng)卡路里

一些食物特別不適合減肥人士。這些食物含有高卡路里卻缺乏營(yíng)養(yǎng)，因此被稱之為“無(wú)營(yíng)養(yǎng)卡路里”。比如，甜味小吃和蘇打水可以飛快地增加卡路里，卻不能提供給身體任何有價(jià)值的營(yíng)養(yǎng)元素。更可怕的是，它們僅有很少一部分可以被人體代謝。

一步步來(lái)

民以食為天，我們的飲食習(xí)慣是花了那么多年養(yǎng)成的，要改還真不容易。我們來(lái)介紹一種可以以一種食物替代另一種食物的方法，比如，愛(ài)喝牛奶的朋友，可以用脫脂牛奶替代全脂牛奶，把黃油拉進(jìn)你菜單的黑名單。這個(gè)漸進(jìn)的過(guò)程是邁向成功減肥的關(guān)鍵。

多數(shù)美國(guó)人之所以這么胖是因?yàn)閿z入太多脂肪和糖（這些都是導(dǎo)致增重的罪魁禍?zhǔn)祝�。現(xiàn)在多是含谷物的食物，多吃水果，蔬菜應(yīng)該可以降低卡路里的攝入，并且提供豐富的維生素和礦物質(zhì)。我們應(yīng)該從低脂肪含量的食物中攝取蛋白質(zhì)，比如魚(yú)，豆，雞和大豆。