Bodybuilding.com - Dieters Psychological Advantage: Part 1.

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You can argue the pros and cons of different diets till your blue in the face, but one fact remains - unless you stick to your diet it will not work. This is part one of the psychological advantage for dieting.

Dieters Psychological Advantage: Part 1.

By: Glen Danbury

Part 1 | Part 2

If you are in the pursuit of losing fat there is an endless array of diets, from the 'high carb:low fat' to the 'low fat:high carb' and every variation in between. Most of these diets will work to a certain degree as long as they put you in a hypocaloric state and provide enough protein for muscle maintenance.

You can argue the pros and cons of different diets till your blue in the face, but one fact remains - unless you stick to your diet they are not going to work. Most successful diets have the individuals losing no more than between one to three pounds a week, depending on how much you have to lose. It can be an awful long time on a diet to reach your target.

Twelve Tips

Considering this, here are twelve tips that will aid in your commitment to a diet as well as aid in the fat busting conquest.

1. Don't Have Junk Food In The House

Sure there are other opportunities and you could just get your coat on and go out when the siren of sugar and fat calls, but believe me if its not in easy reach you will be less inclined to go off the rails.

Like wise ensuring your cupboards are stocked with diet friendly foods will make sticking with the diet a whole lot easier.

No doubt you have seen this piece of advice before, but that's because it works - don't forget the simple things which will make your dieting easier.

2. Shop When Full

Click Here To Learn More About Shopping.

Ensuring you have eaten before you go shopping will aid in making rationale food choices that enable you to stick with you diet, rather than grabbing armfuls of junk food fuelled by a hypoglycaemic altered mind state.

It should be becoming clear that simple steps and adequate preparation is key, things don't happen by chance. Remember the saying:

"Failure to prepare ensures your preparation for failure."

3. Calorie Dilution

To decrease the rate the food absorbs you want to increase the amount of non starch polysaccharides (NSP or fibre) within your diet.

NSP rich foods are generally less energy dense, more bulky and lead to greater satiety than NSP free foods.

Foods rich in NSP include unprocessed oats, barley, rye and wheat as well as most fruits and vegetables.

Increasing water intake will aid in the process, as not only will water fill the stomach itself it can also work synergistically with fiber as a bulking agent.

Related Info:

Facts On Fibre.

Fiber For Fat Loss?

Utilizing Fiber In Your Diet.

Fiber Products Sorted By Top Sellers.

4. Optical Illusions

I know it sounds crazy but visual cues can have a large impact on satiety.
The use of smaller plates, bowls and cups will make the restricted
portion of food appear bigger. Many restaurants use this trick
to make a mediocre sized portion seem more valueable
which enables them to cut costs and maintain
customer satisfaction. Just stop and
think about it, what would look
better? A half full large cup
or a full smaller one?

Considering that sticking to a diet is psychological any psychological trick is invaluable.

5. Maintain NEAT

One way your body decreases your daily total energy expenditure (TEE) is through cutting out all the energy wasting fidgeting termed non essential activity thermogenosis (NEAT).

Whilst fidgeting is a subconscious activity you can replace it with small repetitious movements that don't require much effort. Example includes chewing gum, performing finger extensions with and elastic band, squeezing a squash or stress ball and various other 'fidgeting' type activities

Squeezing A Ball.
A NEAT Way To Fidgit Towards Weight Loss.
Click To Enlarge.

Whilst you won't notice dramatic shifts in weight from this it should help avoiding any plateaus in weight loss associated with decreased NEAT.

6. Cold Drinks & Environment

To produce heat your body needs to liberate energy, which heat is a by product of and it can do this by through shivering which is basically involuntary muscle contractions and sympathetic nervous system activation (increased epinephrine and norepinephrine) as well as increasing thyroid hormones.

It has been shown that decreasing ambient temperature from twenty degrees Celsius to ten degrees Celsius (68 degrees fahrenheit to 50 degrees fahrenheit) increased resting metabolic rate by eight percent or around 200kcals a day.

Celsius/Fahrenheit Conversions
Convert Celsius To Fahrenheit.

Begin by multiplying the Celsius temperature by 9.
Divide the answer by 5.
Now add 32.

Convert Fahrenheit To Celsius.

Begin by subtracting 32 from the Fahrenheit number.

Divide the answer by 9.

Then multiply that answer by 5.

Enter A Number Then Click Outside Box.

Fahrenheit:

Celsius:

By drinking cold iced water, exercising in an air conditioned environment and taking cool (not ice cold) baths frequently throughout the day you should be able to raise your energy expenditure.

While this is not directly helping you to stick with your diet, coupled with artificial increases in NEAT should allow you to see more fat loss for the same effort which is always motivating.

Conclusion

Within part two we will look at more ways of sticking with a diet in order that you achieve the physique you crave. But remember all these tips work but only if you apply them.

Part 1 | Part 2

glen@monstermuscle.co.uk