Diet doesn’t mean a diet, a short term alteration of normal eating habits.  Diet means the everyday, day after day, for all the days of your life way that you eat.  A good diet includes foods from every one of the food groups, taken in moderation and the right amounts.  And with a well balanced diet it’s easy to adjust calories down when you need to lose a few pounds temporarily.

Sounds like a big change, huh?  It might not be.  You may already eat most of the foods needed for a well balanced diet, just not in the right portions.  For many people it’s a simple matter of cutting down portion sizes to move from bad eating to good eating.  Even the chocolate cake or cookies can fit into a well balanced diet, if eaten in small quantities.  The three bad white foods – white bread, white rice, and sugar – can easily be replaced in your diet.  Eating whole grain bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, and fruits instead of sugary foods are healthy changes that don’t require eating much less.

The key to maintaining a healthy diet is planning.  When you fail to plan you miss meals, that leads to binge eating.  When you fail to plan you often find yourself at the mercy of a fast food restaurant or a friend whose cooking leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to healthy foods.  Plan meals in advance, including for occasions like parties and social gatherings.  It only takes a few questions to find out what’s on the menu and plan the days other meals accordingly to not break the bank for calories.  Part of the plan is understanding that sometimes the plan will fail.  Don’t let a failure discourage you.  One cheated meal doesn’t mean the whole diet, remember it’s an every day forever diet not just a few days diet, has failed.

As for exercise do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise seven days a week.  That’s the goal, don’t worry if you miss a day here or there.  Add extra activity such as parking further from the store or office for a little walk, or taking stairs instead of the elevator.

Combine the healthy every day diet with exercise for the quickest way to lose weight. Consult your doctor or medical specialist prior to commencing any diet or exercise program. Overall, make it fun, do not beat yourself up if you miss your jazzercise workout, go for a walk around your neighbourhood, play with your kids, just do something.

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