Along with exercising 5 - 6 days a week now, I had to take control of my diet as well. I realize that I can't eat junk the way I used to. Losing weight and getting more nutrition means cooking more meals at home and avoiding fast-food like the plague. One of the diets that I like and makes sense to me is the "6 small meals a day" type diet. You can find this type of meal plan in a book like Body for Life by Bill Phillips.
I like his idea of eating healthy all week long and giving yourself a free day on Sundays to eat what you like. My plan is to eat at my favorite pizza restaurant this Sunday or pick up some Mexican food. I look forward to Sundays as my "reward" for eating well all week. I don't plan on going overboard and eating ten tacos because it's my "free" day, but rather, I get to enjoy some of the junk I've cut back on tremendously.
Eating the 6 small meals means choosing the right meals and controlling your portion sizes. This was and sometimes still is difficult for me to grasp because I've been overeating for most of my life and restaurant portion sizes are enough for 2 - 3 people. The nice thing about eating 6 times a day is that it eliminates the feeling of being hungry all the time and when dinner time rolls around, you're less likely to overeat.
The workout routines in the book are great too. They can easily be done at most gyms and if you can't get to a gym, some free weights and a bench should suffice. When I train at home, I get out my stabilizer ball and substitute it as a bench. If you're having trouble with a "diet" or meal plans, check out Body for Life and see if it makes sense for you. The website has a ton of recipes too that go along with it.
[tags]body for life, meal portions, six meals, portion control, diets[/tags]
