Put Down the Pork Rinds

by WiredBerries Editors — August 4, 2008

As you're drinking your fourteenth serving of cabbage soup, you have a moment of enlightenment that this is not a healthy and sustainable way to live - or even suck down to look good in a bikini for your upcoming beach vacay. Though we're constantly bombarded with information about how to get skinny, lose those love handles, and tone that tush, it turns out that reaching and maintaining a healthy weight isn't really rocket science. Consider these 5 basic tips from the Harvard School of Public Health next time you're considering a diet of cheese and pork rinds:

• Ban the strange diets. They may work in the short term, but almost any strange, extreme diet is doomed to fail. Your best friends when it comes to losing weight--and keeping it off? Choosing healthy foods and eating smaller portions, slowly.
• Be more active. If there's one best weight loss mantra it's "exercise, exercise, exercise." Choose activities you enjoy and do them every day. Exercising with a friend can help keep you on track.
• Turn off the television. Watching less TV can give you more time to be active--and less time to be enticed by junk food ads. Two easy ways to cut back on TV-watching: take the TV out of your bedroom, and make sure it's off during meals.
• Skip the sugary drinks. Drinking sugared soda, fruit drinks, or juice can give you several hundred calories a day without realizing it. Research suggests children and adults who drink soda or other sugary drinks are more likely to gain weight than those who don't, and that switching from these to water or unsweetened drinks can reduce weight.
• Think before you eat. Before you mindlessly reach for a snack, pause and ask yourself, Am I really hungry? Is there a healthier choice? It's easy to lose sight of good food choices in today's ad-crazy world. Simple questions like these can help keep us on track.