A Special Feature from eDiets.com

By Julia Havey, eDiets Contributor

Healthnotes Newswire (February 7, 2008)—Since you are reading a weight-loss article, it is safe to assume you want to lose weight. I bet you are anxiously looking for tips “to do” and a diet to “go on,” which are essential to successful weight loss, but those aren’t the only things that you need to know.

Why? Most women have spent an average of 20 years “dieting,” so another safe assumption is that we know a lot about what to do right. However, little attention is usually given to what not to do. Apply this list of things not to do to your healthful regimen, and spare yourself many of the pitfalls that derail most dieters.

• Going on any diet that you cannot adhere to for the rest of your life: Be careful when deciding what nutritional plan you want to follow, as it should be a manner of eating that matches your tastes, budget, and lifestyle. You should model all of your future nutritional plans closely after how you lost the weight in order to keep that weight lost for good!

• Believing that you will eat cabbage soup—or any other low cal, monotonous fare—every day for the rest of your life. If a particular odd “diet” is something that you can barely stomach, it isn’t realistic to think you will eat that way for the entire time it takes to lose all the weight. It certainly won’t teach you much about how to live healthfully for the long-term. Just say NO to cabbage soup and other such funky diets!

• Not drinking enough water: You should drink at least 64 ounces of water every day, and for overachievers, drinking up to half your body weight in fluid ounces a day is recommended (for example, a person who weighs 150 pounds would drink 75 ounces). Early man packed up all his belongings when his water supply dried up and relocated to another area where water was plentiful. They knew they couldn’t live without it. Yet, we have water in our kitchen faucet, and ignore it all day. Water is all that you need to drink.

• Consuming processed foods more often than fresh foods: Again, think how early man lived and what he ate. Eating as close to natural is the best way to ensure that your body is as healthy as possible.

• Not being aware of the nutritional benefits or detriments of what you consume: Lettuce is a great choice to eat, but spinach and other darker leaves have more nutritional benefit than the iceberg variety. If you are going to eat, get the most bang for your buck!

• Starving all day: When you finally get around to eating, it is usually something unhealthy and it gets stored as energy later, rather than burned as energy now! You totally mess up your metabolism if you do this!

• Thinking of exercise as a chore instead of a way to improve your health and life, And not scheduling exercise as a vital part of your day and week: Exercise is a “get to,” not a “have to.” It is a joy to move your body and get your endorphins flowing. They truly are nature’s reward for demanding physical fitness of ourselves. Push yourself; you will be amazed at how it feels!

You've seen Julia on the QVC home shopping network and the Wayne Brady Show, in USA Today, The National Enquirer, Glamour, Bride's and more! She's been called "America's weight-loss Cinderella, someone with the passion of Tony Robbins, enthusiasm of Richard Simmons and the humor of Jerry Seinfeld." To get your copy of Julia's blockbuster motivational book Awaken the Diet Within, From Overweight to Looking Great—If I Can Do It, So Can You!, be sure to visit her website at www.JuliaHavey.com.

Find FREE diet and fitness tips, plus get a personalized meal plan from eDiets.com by visiting www.ediets.com or by calling 1-877-EDIETS5 (334-3875) to sign up today!

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