1. Chew your food thoroughly. Follow that old adage "chew your liquids and drink your solids." This means mix the liquids with your saliva and chew your food until it is liquefied.
2. Do not drink liquids (including water, and especially all soft drinks) with meals.
3. Eat only when hungry.
4. Try to distinguish between being hungry or thirsty. Many times people think they are hungry when instead they are really thirsty--dehydrated.
5. Eat 5 or 6 small meals per day. A meal can be a cup of soup, a piece of fruit, a handful of seeds, or a smoothie.
6. Avoid eating after 7 PM - the human body follows a natural cyclic rhythm. Each organ has its optimum functioning period and its lowest functioning period. The stomach functions optimally in the morning between 7-9 AM and minimally weakest between 7-9PM.
7. Sit down at a table when you are eating
8. Enjoy food and taste each bite as you take it in.
9. Place your table utensils down between each bite.
10. Eat foods that are low in carbohydrates - vegetables and fruits.
11. Chewing a stalk of celery takes more calories than it contains.
12. If you want to lose weight, exercise before dinner - it will curb your appetite.
13. If you want to gain lean muscle, exercise after eating--you will burn ingested carbohydrates and prevent them from storing.
14. Buy an inexpensive pedometer and keep track of the number of steps you take during the day. Keep the number to 5000 and above if you want to maintain your weight.
15. Increase the number of steps to 10000 or above if you want to lose weight.
16. Use your body weight for great results without spending money on gym membership by doing the following at home:
*Push-ups
*Leaning against the wall and pushing your body away (increase the distance from the wall to make it more strenuous.)
*Lay on the floor with your knees bent and push your body away from the wall
*Purchase a door bar and lift your body up ( pull-ups) *If you are flexible you may do squats, and floor stretches; if you are not flexible, follow an advice of a personal trainer or a reliable video.
*These exercises will help you reshape your body, and strengthen your bones.
17. Avoid low calorie diet plans; instead increase your activity. A diet of less than 1200 calories for an adult will reduce your metabolism; this will lead to increase in weight when you increase your caloric intake .
18. It makes a HUGE difference where your calories come from. 60 calories from an apple are very different than 60 calories from sugar cookies.