Lose the Freshman 15: Two Keys to Weight Loss Succcess

In four short weeks on SELF magazine’s Jumpstart Diet, I’ve discovered two crucial keys to weight loss success: controlling your portions and writing down everything that you eat.

Both of these actions may sound simple, but I promise you that they can have a very positive effect on your body, health and diet – aka, you’ll see the results of the hard work that you put in.

Writing down everything that you eat may seem annoying and redundant, but it really makes you ACCOUNTABLE for what you’re putting into your mouth and into your body. I understand that we are faced with temptations every day of the week, and sometimes you’re really craving that large french fry from McDonald’s, (french fries are my kryptonite, and the one thing I’ve been seriously missing while on this diet) but if you’re writing down everything that you eat, you’ll be more food conscious and less likely to gorge on fattening foods.

I know that for myself personally, I can’t stand to see in writing that I’ve eaten bad foods. So, my solution is to just not do it. And, I’ve found that I feel so much better about myself at the end of the day when I catch up on my food logs and realize that I haven’t strayed from my diet. 

One of the greatest things about jumping on board with the Jumpstart Diet is that you can create your own account online and start logging the food that you eat instantaneously. These food logs not only help you keep track of what you eat, but also show you the number of calories and the amount of fat that you’re putting into your body on a daily basis.

While I think that the online food logs are awesome, I’ve always been one to enjoy personally writing down things over typing them on the internet. So, I’ve started keeping my own food diary that I update daily with the food that I eat and the exercise that I do. Doing so has made me even more motivated to continue with my diet, because logging everything that I eat makes me stay on top of the food that I put in my body.

 Additionally, controlling your portions can really do wonders to your waistline.

I know that sometimes an entire plate of pasta sounds life-changing, especially when you’re starving and haven’t eaten a meal in over five hours. But, you’ll surely feel the effects of that plateful later on, when your stomach is bulging and you can hardly move a muscle because you’re so full.

Food is a necessity in life. We need the nutrients, carbohydrates and fats that foods offer to keep us going throughout the day. But, what we don’t need, is to stuff ourselves so full that we can’t function for hours after eating.

I’ve discovered through this journey that dieting is all about portion control, sticking to serving sizes and making sure that you don’t over-eat, even if you are eating healthy options.  

One of the easiest adjustments you can make in your life if you’re trying to starting dieting is to monitor the amount of food that you put in your body during a given meal or snacktime. 

Instead of pouring an entire bowl of cereal in the morning, measure out your cereal so that you’re just eating one cup. Instead of grabbing a big bag of pretzels to snack on in the middle of the day, count out the number of pretzels that fall under a serving size, and eat only that amount. And, instead of eating that entire plate of pasta for dinner, measure out one cup of pasta and grab some baby carrots to eat alongside the pasta. 

Take a hint from me and let your measuring cups, your food logs and serving sizes become your best friends – I promise your diet will thank you later.

Have you found your own dieting secrets to success throughout your journey toward losing weight? Share them with me here or leave me a comment below! I’d love to hear how your weightloss journey is going. 

• lose the freshman 15
• paid