New article by Josh Bezoni

Avoid THESE 3 Roadblocks When Starting Any Diet:
1. Getting too hungry. Hunger is the enemy of body fat. If you think you’re going to simply starve yourself and get lasting results it “ain’t gonna happen.” The key is to plan your meals ahead of time. I eat 5 small meals per day (you could consider them snacks—not big meals) and I eat them at 8 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM, 5 PM and 8 PM.

By doing this, I never get overly hungry. I always know I have another meal just around the corner. (I also carry an emergency snack with me at all times. Usually this is about ½ a cup of trail mix with almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and some dried cranberries.)

Another tip is to eat food that is lower in calories but high in volume. By this I mean the food takes up a lot of space in your stomach. I’m talking about oatmeal, a big salad with veggies, eggs, fibrous sprouted grain breads, lean meats and fruits like melons. Most of us are so used to feeling “stuffed” after a meal that we don’t feel satisfied if our stomachs aren’t bulging. So make sure to feel full off high volume foods.

2. Sugar Cravings. Studies show that sugar is as addicting as certain street drugs like cocaine. Crazy, huh? This really is no surprise for me. When I eat something with a lot of sugar, I start to crave even more within a few hours. So the key is to cut sugar out of your diet as much as possible. I don’t eat more than 30 grams of sugar in a day (from all food sources) when I’m trying to cut fat. And let me tell ya, the first 3 or 4 days of doing this is a bear. But if you drink a lot of water and eat frequently you’ll get through these first few days and the cravings subside. (I also use a cool chewing gum that actually blocks your ability to taste sugar so you don’t crave it. Check it out here.)

3. Revenge of the junk food. I’ve spent the last 18 years of my life studying and teaching nutrition tips to thousands of folks. But the reality is, if I have junk food in my house at some point during the week (when I’m hungry, frustrated, excited or tired) I’ll find all kinds of excuses to pig out and overeat on food I shouldn’t be eating. (Maybe you experience the same thing?) This is why I make it a point to ONLY keep high quality, healthy foods in my house. This way when I get hungry I’m more apt to eat a mini-omelet than a supersized pizza.