40 of my favorite diet tips!

Good morning, ladies & gents!

Today I want to share with you 40 of my favorite diet tips to help you eat healthier and make healthy eating choices EVERY DAY! These tips are ones that I have picked up over the past 4 years, that have become so much of a habit for me that I forgot they would even be worthwhile sharing. Woops! I hope that you all get some use out of them- considering bikini season is right around the corner! ;-)


Enjoy! :-)


1) Resolve never to super-size your food portions, unless you want to super-size you waist!

2) Visualize what you are eating by plating it. Never eat out of a jar or bag!

3) Start eating a bigger, & healthier breakfast. It will help stabilize your blood-sugar levels first thing in the morning and help you consume fewer total calories throughout your day!

4) When dining out, halve your meal and bag the rest! Most restaurant meals are made for two- containing up to as many as 1,000-2,000 calories on just one plate (not including your appetizer, drink, or dessert)!

5) Get your calories from food that you can chew, instead of from beverages. Example: Have fresh fruit instead of fruit juice!

6) Keep a food journal. It will help you keep log of how much and what you are actually eating on a daily basis.

7) Space your meals out so that you are eating every 2-3 hours, and eat smaller portions throughout your day! Example: As dinner time approaches, your meals should be getting progressively lighter and smaller. :-)

8) Use a salad plate at dinner time instead of a dinner plate! < My favorite! :-)

9) When dining out, order 1 dessert to share!

10) Make half of your plate fruits &/or veggies at lunch and dinner. This prevents late-in-the-day weight gain from inactivity! *Remember, choose fruits & veggies that you love rather than ones you hate, and try to switch them up! :-)

11) Instead of full-fat dairy products, switch to 2% or low-fat, until you can ween yourself down to 1% or fat-free!

12) Use mustard on sandwiches instead of mayo! If you really love your mayo, ditch the 1 tbsp. serving size and only use 1 tsp. or less. :-)

13) Bring a healthy lunch to work instead of ordering out!

14) Sit when you eat! Your body cannot properly digest, nor register that you are full if you are standing (or lying down!) while you eat.

15) If you love to drink juice, dilute your juice of choice with 50-75% water and limit yourself to 1-2 glasses a day!

16) Eat more homemade soup for lunch or with dinner! Soup (the clear-broth kind) is low in calories, easy to digest, and depending on the ingredients- can be very filling & nutritious!

17) Cut back on sugary drinks such as soda, lemonade, iced tea, and juice. Liquid calories are easy to lose track of, and contribute greatly to lower belly fat and high blood-sugar levels!

18) Eat at home and save eating out for special occasions! :-)

19) Limit your alcohol intake. Switch to low-cal homemade cocktails or red wine and limit your drinks to 1 glass 3 or less days a week!

20) Doctor up your most disliked vegetables to make them more delicious & edible! :-)

21) Use pre-bagged baby spinach in many of your recipes. Baby spinach, and all leafy greens in general have a very broad nutrient spectrum ounce per ounce compared to many other fruits and vegetables. Examples: Use it as "lettuce" in sandwiches, heated in homemade soups, wilted in hot whole wheat pasta, or add it to salads!

22) Never skip a meal!

23) If you're short on time, spend the few extra dollars and buy your veggies & fruits for snacking already cut up!

24) Limit your healthy carbohydrate/starch intake (examples: potatoes, corn, carrots, whole wheat pasta & bread) to 1 cup 3-4 times a week. If you didn't know, just one 2/3 cup serving of whole wheat or white pasta can contain as many as 200 calories or more not including any toppings or sauce. Yikes!

25) Never snack on bowls of nuts. Limit yourself to a small handful or use them as a topping. Nuts are a very calorie-dense healthy snack option.

26) Fill up on salad before you start eating dinner! < My second fave! :-)

27) If you have a raging sweet tooth, have a lean & green grilled chicken salad for lunch & dinner and save your calories for your favorite dessert.

28) If you don't want to cook- option #1: Mix pre-packaged or bagged salad mix w/ 1 can of tuna, canned, cooked chicken breast, or a veggie burger and toss in your favorite salad toppings. Examples: tomatoes, sliced onion, shredded reduced-fat cheese, shredded carrot...etc.

29) If you don't want to cook- option #2: Heat up a healthy frozen entree w/ reasonably low sodium, sugar, fat, & carbohydrate levels, and have it with a side of pre-packaged salad mix topped with low-fat dressing.

30) If you're pressed for time- #1: Have a bowl of whole grain & low-sugar cereal with low-fat milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk (topped w/ fruit of your choice if you wish!).

31) If you're pressed for time- #2: Mix some granola or whole-grain cereal with low-fat, lower-sugar vanilla yogurt, and fruit of your choice!

32) Brush your teeth right after dinner to get the taste and desire for late night snacking out of your mouth. :-)

33) Keep lean sandwich ingredients on hand if you do not usually have left-overs to heat up for lunch. Examples: Sliced chicken breast or turkey breast, reduced-fat cheese, whole wheat or low-carb grain bread, tomatoes, baby spinach, & mustard.

34) If you have a sweet tooth, make a yummy smoothie! My favorite ingredients for smoothies are low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, fruit of my choice, and 1/2 to 1 whole banana! :-)

35) Eat 1 serving (or more) of a fruit or veggie at EVERY meal!

36) If you find that you are a late-night emotional eater, focus on getting in touch with what's really going on and take care of yourself in a way that truly works. There are many non-food ways to cope with emotional disorders and stress, and another candy bar is not going to make your problems go away!

37) Throw out all of the junk food in your pantry if you have no self control. If you simply cannot get rid of the junk food (due to other family members), ask the person (or persons) in your household who is hoarding all of the junk to keep it hidden in his or her room away from the family pantry until you get a grip on your healthy eating!

38) Drink enough water, spaced out throughout your day! You should be drinking 2-3 liters (or 8-12 glasses) a day at the least for basic bodily function. If you are active, you must be consuming more! As a general rule, 1/2-1 cup every hour is sufficient. :-)

39) Follow the old Chinese mantra: "Eat until you are eight-tenths full!"

40) Cope with stress! Research at Pennsylvania State University has shown that individuals less able to cope with stress can eat up to as many as twice the amount of  fatty-snacks when compared to stress-resistant individuals- even after their stress stops!

I hope that this was helpful!



Happy Friday, everyone! <3

 Xo -Jess