20 tips for permanent weight loss

These tips came for the Boeing Wellness Site. (Submitted by Terri)

Permanent weight loss can be a challenge. These 20 ideas can help.
Weight maintenance is much like weight loss. The principles are
essentially the same: Eat healthy foods, control your portion sizes and
exercise regularly. And to keep the pounds off permanently, you need to
incorporate the new, healthy behaviors into your routine so that they
become a natural part of your daily life.

Here are 20 ideas to reinforce your healthy lifestyle and to keep you
committed to permanent weight loss.

1. Exercise 30 to 60 minutes each day. If time is limited, exercise
for several brief periods throughout the day - for example, three
10-minute sessions rather than one 30-minute session.
2. Eat three healthy meals during the day, including a good
breakfast. Skipping meals causes increased hunger and may lead to
excessive snacking.
3. Focus on fruits and vegetables. Top off your morning cereal with
sliced strawberries or bananas. Stir berries or peaches in yogurt or
cottage cheese. Liven up your sandwiches with vegetables, such as
tomato, lettuce, onion, peppers and cucumber.
4. Weigh yourself regularly. Monitoring your weight can tell you
whether your efforts are working and can help you detect small weight
gains before they become even larger.
5. Don't keep comfort foods in the house. If you tend to eat
high-fat, high-calorie foods when you're upset or depressed or bored,
don't keep them around. Availability of food is one of the strongest
factors in determining how much a person eats.
6. Plan a family activity. Get the family together to go for a bike
ride, play disc golf or kick the ball around in the yard.
7. Eat healthy foods first. Eat foods that are healthy and low in
calories first so that when it comes time to enjoy your favorites -
sweets or junk food, for example - you won't be so hungry.
8. Pay attention to portions. Serve meals already dished onto
plates instead of placing serving bowls on the table. Take slightly less
than what you think you'll eat. You can always have seconds, if really
necessary.
9. Create opportunities to be active. Wash your car at home instead
of going to the car wash. Bike or walk to the store. Participate in your
kid's activities at the playground or park.
10. Sit down together for family meals. Avoid eating in front of the
television. TV viewing strongly affects how much and what people eat.
11. See what you eat. Eating directly from a container gives you no
sense of how much you're eating. Seeing food on a plate or in a bowl
keeps you aware of how much you're eating.
12. Vary your activities. Regularly change your activity routine to
avoid exercise burnout. Walk a couple of days, swim another and go for a
bike ride on the weekend. Seek out new activities - karate, ballroom
dancing, cross-country skiing, tennis or Pilates.
13. De-stress your day. Stress can cause you to eat more. Develop
strategies that can help you relax when you find yourself becoming
stressed. Exercise, deep breathing, muscle relaxation techniques and
even a good laugh can ease stress.
14. Eat at home. People eat more food in restaurants than at home.
Limit how often you eat at restaurants. If you do eat out, decide what
and how much you're going to eat before you start and have the rest
boxed to go.
15. Plan healthy snacks. The best snacks include fruits, vegetables,
whole grains and low-fat dairy products. Fruit smoothies, sliced fresh
fruit and yogurt, whole-grain crackers, and carrot and celery sticks
with peanut butter are all good choices.
16. Start your day with a high-fiber breakfast cereal, such as bran
flakes, shredded wheat or oatmeal. Opt for cereals with "bran" or
"fiber" in the name. Or add a few tablespoons of unprocessed wheat bran
to your favorite cereal.
17. Walk for 10 minutes over your lunch hour or get up a few minutes
earlier in the morning and go for a short walk.
18. Plan a week's worth of meals at a time. Make a detailed grocery
list to eliminate last-minute trips to the grocery store and impulse
buys.
19. Look for a distraction when you're fighting a craving. Call a
friend, put on music and dance or exercise, clean the house, pull weeds
in your garden, or run an errand. When your mind is occupied with
something else, the cravings quickly go away.
20. Reward yourself. Losing weight and keeping the pounds off is a
major accomplishment. Celebrate your success with nonfood rewards, such
as new clothes or an outing with friends.