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Following a healthy, balanced diet when you are attempting to lose weight will help you maintain your weight loss once you finally reach your target weight. It is therefore important not only to make smart food choices whilst you are on a diet, but also when you have lost the excess weight, and want to keep the new slim-line version of you. Not only should you consider the kinds of food you eat, but also how much food you eat, as well as recognising when you are most likely to comfort eat and the foods you turn to, and your eating patterns in general.

Making smart choices during a diet means eating healthier; this usually requires you to cut down on the amount of processed foods you consume, as they tend to contain lots of refined carbohydrates, salt, and saturated fat. Going on a diet enables you to assess what your eating habits are, to re-educate yourself on what a healthy diet actually is, and to alter your behaviour accordingly. You should therefore be eating more fruit and vegetables so that you get a range of vitamins and minerals, as well as more wholegrain products in order to keep your energy levels up, and lean meat or nuts to provide you with the protein you need to repair any muscle damage caused by your workouts.

However, it is not only what you eat which will affect your chances of success in losing weight. You also have to consider portion control because losing weight ultimately requires you to consume less calories than you burn. You can be following a really healthy diet, but if you do not cut back on how much food you put on your plate, you may be wasting your time; something you will only find out once you step on the scales. You need to work out how many calories you are consuming to maintain your weight, and then reduce that number of calories by 500 a day in order to lose a pound a week. Obviously, the more active you are the more calories you will be able to consume.

In order to make smart food choices you have to recognise what poor food choices are, and when you are most likely to succumb to the temptation of unhealthy foods. Most overweight individuals find that they comfort eat; not eating because they are hungry and to meet their nutritional requirements, but to fill a hole in their lives. If they are feeling depressed it is often food that they turn to. If you begin to pay attention to when you comfort eat and the kinds of food you gorge yourself on, you will be in a better position to resist the urges. You could find an activity to distract yourself with when you are feeling stressed or down, and avoid buying certain items that you end up eating too much of.

Once you get into the habit of following a healthier diet, and making smart food choices, you will be in a better place to continue with good eating practices and to maintain your weight loss.

Learn more about this author, Michelle Wilkinson.
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