Diet rules and tips are everywhere you turn. Checking out at the grocery store, television commercials, and billiards all think they have the best diet rule to lose the most inches in the shortest amount of time. There is the no-carb diet, the fat-free diet, the liquid diet and more, yet americans are continuing to expand their waste lines. It’s very important for us to take each diet tip or diet rule as a grain of salt and really explore these tips before jumping head first into them.

These next few posts are going to be aimed at diet rules that should be broken.

Diet Rule #1: Don’t ever eat after 7pm

7pm is the magical number. Stop eating after 7pm and you will melt away the fat in no time

. . . FALSE!

Late night eating is a problem that most people face. In fact, a lot of people will double their daily caloric intake during the evening. So, eating late at night is something to be cautious. But 7pm is not a magical number. Research says that one should avoid eating 2-3 hours before bed time. 7pm is the magical number because the typical bedtime is around 10pm. But why? Well research has not proven that avoiding late night snacks will prevent weight gain. This 2-3 hour rule is strictly for personal comfort. Going to bed on a full stomach can cause indigestion, gas, and an upset stomach.

So, can you eat after 7pm? Sure. . . if you have self control.

Most temptations succeed in the evenings when one is exhausted or no one is looking. To prevent a binge fest, create a short list of health snacks to have late at night. Some healthy late night snacks might include air popped popcorn, carrots and celery, a piece of fruit, 60-calorie pudding cup with cool whip, yogurt, or a 1/2 cup of ice cream. Being prepared ahead of time will prevent overeating late at night.

Question: What is your favorite late night snack?

Currently mine is Special K crackers… I’m addicted

Oh the exercise battle. . . doesn’t someone know that I am way to tired in the morning to start a fight? At night I am so motivated and excited to hit the gym in the morning and the second my alarm goes off the exercise excuses start flying.

“I’m way to tired. I better sleep in to make it through the day”

“The gym is too far away and I don’t have enough gas to get there”

“I will just go tomorrow”

“I just don’t have enough time”

I feel like I have a hat load of excuses and each morning I draw one out and use that one for the day.

For some of you it’s the excuse that you will start excising tomorrow, but tomorrow has come and gone and you are still stuck on that couch. But don’t think you are alone is the exercise excuse train… here is a list of American exercise excuses:

40% say that don’t have enough time

20% say they get enough exercise at work or home

15% say their health gets in the way of exercising

12% say it is boring

10% use their age as an excuse

9% don’t see the benefit of exercising

7% pull the tired card

It’s time that we stop losing this battle and start hitting the exercise excuses head on to overcome them and start living a healthy lifestyle. The only way to beat this battle is to reason out your excuses. Here are 6 way to beat your exercise excuses:

“I’ll just start working out tomorrow”

Oh please! We all know that means in a few months. If you say it, mean it. Set a time and day and make sure that your schedule is clear. Tell a friend and make them hold you accountable the next day. . . or even better, meet up your friend for a walk.

“I don’t have time”

… ok, but you have time to watch TV several hours a night and hangout with friends around the lunch table for an hour at work. Prioritizing is key here! Pretty sure TV shouldn’t be on your top 5 priorities of the day

If you want to get get healthy and active, you are going to have to make some changes and give up 30 minutes of your day. Turn off the TV at night and take a walk or pop in a workout video. Have an hour lunch break at work? Cut that break in half and use the last 30 minutes to go on a walk with your co-workers.

“But I don’t have a gym”

The gym isn’t the only place to workout. Go outside and enjoy nature and the beauty that it holds. Here are some fun exercise to do outside. Not to fast, think the weather won’t allow it or it’s too dark? Pop in a workout video and get to work! Here are some of my favorite workout videos less than $20.00

“I hate exercising”

Exercising doesn’t mean spending countless hours on a treadmill or bike. Find something that you enjoy doing that will increase your heart rate. Go for a walk, swim, dancing, join a recreational adult sports team.

“I’m too tired”

Being tired has been linked to a sedentary lifestyle. The best way to beat this cycle is to get up and go workout. I know I always dread putting myself out of bed but at the end of my workout I am full of energy and feel ten times better!

“I don’t get a break from the kids”

Kids exercise too you know. In fact, it’s not only a great way to let them have a good time but it’s a way to wear them out and get them ready to hit the pillow hard tonight. For those of you that have little ones, pull out the stroller and take a walk to a nearby Starbucks or grocery store.

When you find yourself jumping on the exercise excuse bus, just think through all these reasons as to why you should go workout. And remind yourself of all the major benefits of working out… weightloss, lower body fat, decreased risks of illnesses / diseases, reduce depression, and increase energy.

My brother and I went to the Souplantation for lunch yesterday. Souplantation is a soup and salad bar.

Thinking we would get a low calorie lunch, loaded with veggies and fiber, we were so excited. . . Little did we know that we had fallen into a dietary disaster.

Soup and Salad bars are great alternatives to any restaurant, but if you don’t watch it, your meal could become worse than just ordering hamburger, fries, and a shake at McDonalds.

Now, you are probably thinking, how can you go wrong with a salad? These little suckers are so deceiving! Just because there are veggies on your plate, doesn’t mean it’s healthy when they are swimming in a pool of ranch dressing and loaded with cheese and croutons.

And salad bars usually don’t just come with a salad. At Souplantation you get the bakery, soups, and dessert all added into your meal. Who can resist those cute little muffins screaming, “Pick Me, Pick Me?”

Seconds anyone? Because salad bars are coined healthy, people usually enjoy going back for seconds. I always use the excuse that I need to get my money’s worth. But really, one large full plate is more than enough. Going back for round two can sabotage your diet and lead you into further temptation when you walk by those muffins screaming your name… don’t torture yourself like that!

Healthy and all, these types of places deceive people into think that they are eating healthy, so they go on a free for all. . . eating everything in sight. It’s dangerous people! They really should have a warning sign up or something. I had to rolled out of the restaurant by the time I was done.

Here are some tips that will help you stay within your daily calorie budget when eating at a Salad Bar.

* Go in with a plan! Know what you want to eat and what you want to avoid

* Skip out on the pre-tossed salads! These salads can have hundreds of calories and fat

* Get the dressing on the side and dip your fork into it instead of drowning your poor little veggies

* Skip out on croutons and bacon bits. These bad boys are loaded with fat and unnecessary calories

* Watch out for pasta salads. They usually are not as healthy as you think

* Choose a vegetable soup if soups are available

* Get only one side to your salad

* I would say skip the bakery all together, but who am I kidding… limit yourself to one and skip the butter and honey.

* Opt out of the ice cream and head towards the fruit and jello.

Question: What is your favorite Soup and Salad Bar Restaurant and what do you enjoy to eat there?

I love Souplantation / Sweet Tomato… they are the same company.

The blueberry and bran muffins are my favorite. The best part are the tops!

I don’t know if it’s out of boredom or out of habit, but why is it that overeating late at night occurs one too many times in our diets?

It’s tough work going through the day, rejecting the cookies a co-worker brought in, denying the cake at the birthday party, opting out of the french fries at dinner, but some how we do it. For some reason staying on track with food can be right on. . . until about 9 or 10pm rolls around and then it’s just all down hill from there.

By no means am I talking about an apple or scoop of ice cream… I am talking about a full blown meal. For the amount of calories consumed that evening, you might as well have had the cookies, cake and fries!

So how do you prevent your self from sabotaging your diet from late night binge eating?

The answer is simple, stop eating! Ha… If only it were that easy, right? Because this task can be so hard to do for many of us, here are some tips to break the old habit and toss it out the window!

* Distract yourself. Go for a walk with your dog. Find a great book to read. Do some of your blogging during this time.

* Instead of brush your teeth right before bed, do it right after dinner. Brushing your teeth has been proven to decrease one’s appetite.

* Have a high fiber dinner, which will keep you full longer

* Keep that cup full and glued to your side, keeping your hands and mouth busy!

* Make a list of healthy low calorie snacks that you can eat at night and nothing else. I always know around 9pm that I will eat a sugar-free pudding cup. I know that if I can just hold out a few hours that I will get to enjoy this and then it’s back to the water!

* Go somewhere in the house where you can’t see the kitchen. For some reason when I see the kitchen, I gravitate towards it… weird, I know!

* Suck on a hard candy. This keeps your mouth busy and will last longer than chowing down on several bowls of cereal.

* Work on your food journal during the evening

* Ask your roommate or spouse to hold you accountable to only a small snack and nothing more at night

* Make sure you are getting enough calories in during the day, so you aren’t starving late at night.

QUESTION: What is your favorite night-time dessert or snack?

Mine is chocolate pudding with cool whip or a bowl of cereal.

Flatout Flatbread Light. A great alternative to sandwiches and a low calorie option for wraps. They have the look of a tortilla, but thicker and doughy. They  are made in a rectangle shape, preventing everything from falling out of the flatbread. Nothing makes me more frustrated than working so hard to make a perfect wrap and then it all falling apart when I pick it up.

Ranging at 90 calories, these wraps are gold when being on a diet and losing weight in comparison to Subway’s wraps that are a whooping 310 calories for the bread alone. . . What a difference!  These fiber loaded, low carb, high protein wraps come in a variety of different flavors including sun dried tomatoes, italian herb, and multi-grain.

There are so many different ways to eat Flatout Bread. I love making breakfast burritos, sandwich wraps, pinwheel appetizers, fajita wraps, salads, quesadillas, french toast,and everyone’s all time favorite- – - PIZZA!

I love love love pizza, but hate how much butter, oil, and fat comes with it. Flatout bread pizza cuts this out and makes for a healthy alternative to ordering pizza. Try out this great low-fat, low-calorie flatout bread pizza recipe that is loaded with veggies!

Ingredients:

1 flatout flatbread Light Italian Herb

1/2 cup light Ragu Pizza Sauce

1 wedge Laughing Cow Cheese

1/2 cup broccoli

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350

* Bake Flatout Bread 5-7 minutes

* Steam all veggies

* Place sauce, veggies, and cheese on flatout bread and bake for another 5-7 minutes

*        

What is your favorite way to eat Flatout Bread?

You hit the gym every day. Avoid the donuts your boss brought in on Monday. You deny the birthday cake on Saturday. Here comes weight-in day. You step onto the scale… -1lb

The disappointment of it all comes raining down on you. Looking back on the week you know you did so well, but you start to think about how you could have stayed an extra hour at the gym. Denied that one cookie at night. Drank more water throughout the week… etc.

Can anyone relate to this story?

Why is it that this 1lb is never enough?

Instead of looking at it as success for that one week, we see it as failure. We beat ourselves up inside and as if it is all worth it in the end.

Hello! You lost weight. Haven’t you been gaining weight this whole time and now you have finally lost weight and you aren’t happy with it.

Ok, I know… I am being hypocritical because I have beat myself up as well. I guess it comes from our world of instant gratification.

But we need to start looking at weight loss in a different perspective. Did you know that research has proven that those who lose about 1-2 lbs a week are more opt to keep it off permanently? I don’t know about you, but I would hate to go through a year of hard core dieting to only gain everything back and more!

Yes, we can always do more each week to lose weight, but we need to start celebrating the small successes throughout the journey!