When attempting to lose weight, it's smart to focus on your entire diet instead of planning to lose weight one meal a day. It's not a healthy choice to only eat once a day. Despite how tempting it would be to try to consume only one meal each day, if you do, you're going to end up depriving your body of essential vitamins and minerals it needs to perform daily functions.
Focus on One Meal at a Time
On a Monday or Sunday, it can be a rather intimidating task to work up a menu plan for the entire week in order to achieve weight loss. The smarter option is to focus on one meal at a time. Consider the food options you want for that specific meal, and make choices accordingly. This way, your options are left open and you feel a little more in control of your diet for the upcoming meals.
Basic Diet Strategy
Instead of planing to lose weight one meal a day, create a healthy diet strategy.
First of all, it's a good idea to determine what your ideal weight should be. Use the Ideal Weight Calculator to determine what a healthy weight, based on height and body frame. After determining this, set a target weight. This may be 10 pounds down from where you are now to reach your ideal weight, or 25 pounds fewer as a target weight (and in the direction to your ideal weight).
Secondly, set some diet goals. It may not only be that you are looking to drop a few pounds, but you may also be intending to tone up, too. Additionally, maintenance of your weight might be a goal for your diet. Perhaps, you're also wanting to maintain a healthier lifestyle and decrease your cholesterol. Really pinpoint what you want to achieve and set some measurable goals.
Thirdly, educate yourself. Determine what type of diet is going to work best for you. Maybe you need to simply figure out what a healthy diet is. Perhaps you need to focus on portion size, thus becoming more aware of what and how much you're eating. Maybe it's not a matter of what you're eating, but what you are drinking. It's always smart to cut out sugary drinks, such as soda or high-sugar fruit drinks, when attempting to lose weight. Another thing to look at is what you are eating between meals. Those harmless mid-afternoon snacks really do more harm than you might think. Start a daily food journal to educate yourself about your eating habits. This will help you focus your plan a bit more strategically.
Lastly, find some support for yourself. Online, there are many support groups available. You can find several at eDiets.com, the Biggest Loser website or MSN. Additionally, there are specific forums targeted specifically to men. For instance, Guys on a Diet is a forum on the Weight Watchers website that addresses concerns, issues and discussions for men. It's a unique support group that allows men to empathize with each other's struggles to lose weight. If online support won't work for you, talk to friends, family and co-workers about your efforts. Generally, people are very supportive.
Lose Weight One Meal A Day Won't Work
By just eating one meal a day, you're cheating yourself out of a diet that you'll be able to maintain in the long run. Your best bet is to develop healthy eating habits, begin an exercise plan and to transition this into a lifestyle.
Your body needs regular sustenance to have energy to carry you throughout your day. Without proper energy boosts along the way, you will experience drowsiness, sluggish thinking and, obviously, hunger pangs. This is not a plan that is going to give you the results you are seeking.
