Captain Ahab’s BodyBlog

To go along with my last blog I have added a few more tips to hopefully assist us in avoiding the dieting pitfalls.

Dehydration

The reason the experts say to drink water is because drinking water aids in digestion, which in layman’s terms means that we get a better flushing and emptying of the stomach and the intestines. It also means less gas, (my wife will be happy) bloating and constipation as well as keeping our body functioning efficiently. Dehydration can slow our metabolism. The experts say to drink at least 8 glasses of water, and there is research now that shows coffee and tea can be counted in with our water consumption and don’t forget to add in shakes (if you make them with water) as well as workout drinks. We can over consume, but most of us are guilty of under consuming water.

Dining Out Often

When we dine out we have a lack of ingredient, quality and portion control, which can make even eating even the healthiest of meals in a restaurant, a dieting or nutrition pitfall. Restaurants are mostly concerned with how our meal tastes and looks and in turn use lots of different kinds of fats and sugars, many of them hidden and so we must not to be shy about asking what is in our food and how it was prepared. It is our body and we need to be aware of what we are putting in to it and how it will affect our diet. Also, we should all be very aware that many restaurants portions are actually two to EIGHT times the size that we normally should or would eat.

Eating Too Few Calories

Contrary to popular belief a healthy and nutritious weight loss program should not mean calorie restriction, boring food or going hungry. If we restrict our calories too much our metabolism will quite likely slow down which signals our body to “hold onto” calories and store them as fat rather than burn them. Many times cutting back too far and reducing our calories severely can prohibit weight loss and even cause us to gain weight. We need to eat enough to cause our metabolism to rev up and stay revved up, rather than slow down. Many of the best weight loss programs recommend eating every 2 ½ to 3 hours so that our metabolism is constantly working to process our last meal and getting ready for what it knows will soon be our next meal.

Banning Foods

We all have our favorite foods and by making them off limits can cause us to go AWOL and we end up binging on these forbidden foods. To stare longingly at what once was an enjoyable indulgence may prove too tempting and cause us to run amok and overeat. As an example, I enjoy chocolate and I have found that by savoring a small, but still satisfying amount of high quality dark chocolate, even on a regular basis, can satisfy my craving and keep me well within my caloric boundaries. Here is a tip: I have learned not to buy my treat foods in bulk and so I am more apt to have smaller pieces than to stuff a huge amount down my throat in one sitting.  Plus, by buying a higher quality chocolate I must pay more (the taste is so well worth it) and that also keeps me from going through it like it was a 2 for a buck O’Henry bar or the like.