Dr. Ian Smith is a champion for healthy eating. As the nutrition and diet expert on VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club and weight loss author he has helped the famous and not-so-famous shed the pounds.
When it comes to weight loss, Dr. Ian Smith demands that people must change their attitudes about food and exercise.
“Your mind has to be in the right place. If it’s not in the right place your body’s not going to follow and you’re not going to make the right changes,” he says encouragingly. “There is no magic!”
Here are Dr. Ian’s Top Weight Loss Tips. Pick up his latest book, “Eat: The Effortless Weight Loss Solution” in bookstores now.
Use the plate as a guide to decrease your portions. “Keep an inch between your food and the edge of the plate and make sure the food is not more than an inch high,” he suggests. “Or use a salad plate as your entree plate.”
Drink a glass of water before and after each meal to fill your stomach. “The water stretches your stomach. It sends a signal to your brain saying, ‘I’m full, no more!’” he explains. “Now you’re stretching the stomach to its maximum but on fewer calories!”
Use the color of the food as a guide to make the healthiest choices. “The best colors are the rainbow – so orange, blue, reds and greens are the best colors with all the vital nutrients that you need and the vitamins and minerals. The next best would be the browns, the whole grains and multi-grains,” Dr. Ian says. “The worst of course are the whites, the enriched flours.”
Eat different foods and vary your menus. “If you change your diet every four days you prevent food boredom, and you burn off more calories because your body never gets adjusted to eating the same foods.”
