Having trouble sticking to your diet? Here's 8 simple rules to get you on track.

    1.    Unhealthy foods are NOT an option. The biggest reason people fail in dieting is that they ALLOW themselves to choose to eat unhealthy, processed crap...and too often. Yeah, the choice is yours, but if you really want to lose the weight, stop kidding yourself, and choose to stop eating processed crap food. If you eat like crap, you will feel like crap. 

    2.    Prepare, prepare, prepare! Simply stated: failing to prepare is preparing to fail. This is not an option, pick out one or two times a week that you can set aside for cooking. Try a weekend slot and maybe a week day night as well. Cooking up items ahead of time and putting them into storage containers - for later use - keeps you well-stocked with ready food. That way, you don't have to fire up the stove, cook, and clean every day. That can be a deterrent to eating right.

    3.    Think "grazing." Don't buy into the myth that you have to eat every 3 hours like the magazines say. You are unique. Just remember to graze and eat small amounts each time you feel hungry. Keep in mind to eat four or five smaller meals of healthy whole foods.

    4.    Skip the idea about "breakfast" foods or "dinner" foods. Work out your meals so you get the nutrition you need, at the right time.

    5.    Don't get stuck hungry and don't starve yourself. Be forewarned; if you get stuck hungry, you'll find yourself eating anything in order to quell the hunger. Starvation diets are muscle wasting diets that lead to "skinny fatness." That is to say an individual is skinny fat if they look thin, but due to not eating and not exercising, they have a high body fat to lean muscle ratio and are at risk of the same diseases as an obese person such as metabolic syndrome, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and osteoporosis, just to name a few.

    6.    Eat lean, complete protein with every meal and less carbohydrates. Protein is muscle, so feed your body protein to build up your fat burning furnaces (muscles) and teach your body to burn stored fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates.

    7.    Eat fat. Don't buy into the anti-fat hysteria that developed over 20 years ago, and that's still going strong today. Fat reducing needs to be done properly. With too many people who diet to lose weight, the weight is shed in the form of 60 percent fat and 40 percent muscle. This is not a healthy loss ration. It often creates a rebound effect. That is, if you come off such a diet, your reduced levels of muscle mass will ensure that you actually gain more fat back. Fats do not make you fat, excess calories make you fat.

    8.    Eat fruits and vegetables all day long to stay satiated, energized with nutrients, and increase your ability to repair free radical damage with the antioxidants found in colorful fruits and vegetables.

People, there's a time and a place for unhealthy eating and that is on your "cheat day."Don't ever think that something doesn't count. You know that bite of a donut, sliver of cake, or second bowl of ice cream? Know this, they all count, no matter how you look at it, your body has to decide what to do with everything you put in it. Your body will store food as fat, rebuild muscle, or use it as fuel.

Shoot for 90% success. Nobody is perfect and you shouldn't expect to eat perfect all the time. As you plan to eat 5 small meals each day, 7 days a week, that adds up to 35 meals. Instead of expecting perfection, give yourself some slack and allow yourself a few cheat meals each week. You will still be on the road to success if 90% (3 or 4) of your meals are either not eaten, a bit larger than you'd normally have, or less optimal processed foods. 

Slow down, believe in the power of your mind, and make some baby steps of changes to start losing weight and get fit (the natural way). 

Call Macomb County's number one trainer at (586) 764-5683, today!