Multitasking has a stellar reputation in the office, but when it comes to eating, it's just not smart. When you eat while doing other things—like driving or playing Words With Friends—you're less likely to notice how much you're eating or how full you're feeling, because your attention is divided. So work on being single-minded about your food; even if it feels strange at first, try doing nothing else while eating. The purpose is to increase your consciousness about what and how much you eat. (Try these simple tips to curb distracted eating for good.)
Not much of a coffee drinker? Tea is also a natural diuretic, and types of herbal tea such as dandelion or fennel root can also lend a hand. In fact: When a recent study compared the metabolic effect of green tea (in extract) with that of a placebo, researchers found that the green-tea drinkers burned about 70 additional calories in a 24-hour period.
A gigantic Farmer’s Market-style salad with a variety of fresh seasonal produce and fresh herbs, such as fresh baby arugula and radicchio, and red wine vinegar sassed up with a little horseradish. Enjoy visiting your local Farmer’s Market every week and asking the vendors, “What’s new and tasty this week? What would make great ingredients for my salad?”
Consume more vegetables, healthy fats, and lean protein. Shape your meals so they contain one protein source, one low fat source and one low carb vegetable source. Your carb intake should be in the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.[1] Don't feel that you must restrict yourself to a small number of foods. You can enjoy a wide variety of healthy foods that provide a large array of nutrients.
Research also finds that drinking frequently—even if it’s a moderate amount—can set you up for excess pudge. Not only do the beverages themselves contain unnecessary calories, but once you start sipping too much, your inhibition also plummets, according to one 2016 study. The result? You’ll have a hard time resisting that late-night slice of pizza. So if you're going to imbibe, be sure to stick to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks for men.

This is a FAD diet. Fad diets only set you up to gain all the weight you lost PLUS some! The weight you are losing on these kinds of diets is water weight PLUS lean muscle mass. You don’t want to lose water or muscle because those are the very things you need to INCREASE your metabolism. Please research diets carefully to be sure they adhere to sound basic food science and daily recommended dietary intake protocols.


Start the day right with a berry parfait and an English muffin. Put four ounces of low-fat yogurt in a bowl with one tablespoon low-fat granola and ½ cup sliced strawberries. Add one more layer of yogurt and granola and finish it with ½ cup raspberries. You can eat this delicious berry parfait with half a toasted whole wheat English muffin topped with two teaspoons peanut butter.
Just as locations can trigger your desire to eat, thoughts can also set off inappropriate eating. If you eat a chocolate chip cookie every time you see a commercial with cookies in it, you may begin to crave cookies and feel that you MUST have some each time you happen to think about them. Time to break the link between your thoughts and eating. Instead of heading directly to the pantry, distract yourself by doing something else immediately after you have the thought, particularly an activity that keeps your hands or mouth busy, like taking up knitting, calling a friend, or painting your nails.
Ultimately, long-term weight loss requires some short-term behavior change and healthier habit formation. That's why we created our Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved Emblem, which exists to help turn smart food choices into healthier eating habits. All GHNA foods and drinks make it easier to find — and eat — good-for-you foods without additional time, effort, and cost. We target the lifestyle-related factors that make healthier eating hard, and find simple but creative solutions that actually work! Look for the emblem on labels wherever you shop for food.
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