[From BlackDoctor.org]

Losing weight doesn’t have to be as difficult as most folks like to make it seem. Making a few adjustments can be the difference between losing one pound and losing ten. Use these 20 everyday tactics that will get you started on your weight loss plan and then help you stick to it. Soon enough, your diet will simply become the way you eat.

1. Always eat dessert

Yes, always. “A small amount can signal that the meal is over,” says Barbara Rolls, PhD, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. She ends her meals with a piece of quality chocolate – and she’s a doctor. Other options include mini-cupcakes or fruit.

2. Blot out the fat

You can use a napkin to blot a teaspoon of fat off of a pizza slice. That may not sound like a lot, but multiply it by a slice a week, and that’s more than a whole cup of fat you won’t eat – or wear – this year.

3. Take the beltway

When junk food beckons, tighten your belt a notch. Not so you can’t breathe, but so you have a gentle reminder of the size you’d like to be. “The scale isn’t the only measure of weight,” says Roberta Anding, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

4. Go public

Enlist the help of coworkers, friends, and family – and know they’re watching. “The power of embarrassment is greater than will-power,” says Stephen Gullo, PhD, author of The Thin Commandments.

5. Get spicy with it

Capsaicin, the substance that puts the hot in hot pepper, temporarily boosts your metabolism. Just make sure you’re drinking a yogurt lassi with that searing-hot chicken vindaloo. Dairy blocks capsaicin’s sweat-inducing signals better than water.

6. Milk it

Consuming 1,800 mg of calcium a day could block the absorption of about 80 calories, according to a recent University of Tennessee study. Jump-start your calcium intake by filling your coffee mug with fat-free or 1% milk, drinking it down to the level you want in your coffee, then pouring in your caffeine fix. That’s 300 mg down, 1,500 to go.

7. Go organic

That’s where you’re likely to find bread and cereal with fiber counts that put the conventional choices to shame. Thought you were doing well with your 3-g-per-serving Cheerios? Nature’s Path Slim blows it away with 10 g. (And it really doesn’t taste like a shredded shoebox.)

8. Splurge on precut veggies at the supermarket

Sure, they cost more, but you’re more likely to eat them. “Make low-energy snacks as easy as possible,” Rolls says. “Keep vegetables as near to hand as you can. Make it so you have no excuse.”

9. Practice fine dining

Pick a restaurant where you’ll actually want to linger. “When the meals are not hurried, the presentation is beautiful and the portions are reasonable so you can regulate your attitude,” Anding says. That means your body – not the empty plate – will tell you when to stop.

10. Don’t skip your 3 pm feeding

“Have a 150 calorie snack [now], and it can save you 400 calories later,” Anding says. An ounce of nuts or two sticks of string cheese weigh in at about 170 calories.

To read ten more helpful hints, click here!

[From BlackDoctor.org]

Childhood obesity is growing at an alarming rate, but experts say parents are more powerful than they imagine at helping kids fight the problem.

About 17 percent of U.S. children and teens, aged 2 to 19, are overweight, according to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. But three studies presented at this week’s Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting, in San Francisco, offer ways to help kids get to healthier weights.

Mothers in families where food is sometimes scarce due to money problems have a tendency to give their children high-calorie foods to boost overall calories or foods to stimulate the appetite — two practices they should avoid if they want their child to remain at a healthy weight, said Emily Feinberg, an assistant professor of maternal and child health at Boston University School of Public Health and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center.

In her study, Feinberg interviewed 248 mothers of normal and overweight black and Haitian children, aged 2 to 12.

She found that 28 percent of them had shortages of food from time to time. When that happened, 43 percent used nutritional drinks such as high-calorie instant breakfast drinks, and 12 percent used substances to stimulate appetite, such as traditional Haitian teas, in a well-meaning effort to be sure the children got adequate nutrition. Instead, Feinberg said, these low-income mothers should “try in general not to focus as much on calories but on the quality of the diet. Instead of a nutritional drink supplement, we would recommend increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables.”

Helping your child have good self-esteem can also motivate him or her to lose weight, found Kiti Freier, a pediatric psychologist at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif., and director of the Growing Fit Program there.

When she interviewed 118 overweight children participating in a 12-week program, she found that good self-image was even more important than how much excess weight they carried in predicting whether they were ready to lose excess weight.

“Their readiness to change relates to whether they felt supported, not how big they were,” she said. The message for parents of chubby children is clear: Don’t point out how much overweight they are. Instead, try something like this: “We love you so much. We want you to be healthy and have a long life,” Freier said. Then offer them a plan and support.

To read the rest of the article, click here.