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Being clear about your reasons and your goals can help you choose an eating plan that makes sense and pays off for you in the way that you hope it will. Manage diabetes. If you've been diagnosed with diabetes, changing your eating habits is a must. Reducing or eliminating sugar from your diet is key to living well with this disease. Reduce your risk of heart disease. Eating foods that will bring down your cholesterol levels and help rid you of excess belly fat can decrease your risk for heart disease. Drop that baby weight. Putting on extra pounds is part of any pregnancy, but at a certain point you may decide that baby fat looks best on your baby and be ready to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight. Get ready for swim suit season. Lots of folks go into diet mode when the weather warms up and the prospect of putting on a swim suit is downright frightening. Sometimes just small changes in your diet can make the difference between being bikini-ready or swim-trunk-terrified. You might be interested in adding muscle and putting on some extra weight in a way that's healthy. Protein is integral in developing muscle mass, so your diet should focus on maximizing the daily amount of recommended protein. Before you take on any new eating plan, it's best to consult with a physician to make sure a diet won't prove dangerous for you. Let your physician know your plan for dieting. Anything under 1200 calories a day can be dangerous. Michelle May, a weight management doctor says, "Rapid weight loss by critical calorie restriction causes water, some fat, and muscle loss, which ultimately decreases metabolism so the body needs fewer calories to survive." It also causes a shift toward a higher percentage of body fat, which increases the risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Some people use calories as a way to measure their target food consumption, others base their diet on grams (of protein, whole grains, etc.), while some create lists of foods to eat more of and foods to eat less of. Decide how you'll approach your diet. Review your prescription medications with your doctor. It's important to be sure that your diet plans are in sync with any nutritional guidelines that may be associated with the prescriptions you take. For example, if you take ACE inhibitors to lower your blood pressure you need to watch your intake of bananas, oranges and green leafy vegetables. If you've been prescribed tetracycline you may need to avoid dairy products during the period you take the drug. Before you change what you're doing, you need to know what you do now. Keep track of what, when and where you eat for insight into your current eating habits. Keep a food diary. Put a journal in the kitchen or next to your bed and write down what you eat (meals, snacks, those little "tastes" from your friend's plate--all of it), the time of day that you eat and where you eat (kitchen table, sofa, bed). Track online. Several websites offer online tools that allow you to track your eating habits electronically. If it's as close as your smartphone, it should be easy for you to keep track. We all have different eating habits and "triggers" that can cause us to overeat. Being aware of yours is the first step in managing them as part of your new eating plan. Stress. One of the biggest causes of overeating is stress. When we feel under-the-gun or anxious, we often turn to food for comfort. If this is a problem area for you, you may need to include stress management techniques or stock healthier food options to deal with this trigger. Fatigue. When we're tired we're less likely to make good food choices. If you realize you often eat while tired, you'll need to think about how you can get more rest and make sure that you grocery shop when you're feeling your most rested and focused. Loneliness or boredom. Friends all out of town? Can't find something to do? If you discover that you turn to food when you're on your own, you might want to think about supplementing your new diet with some new activities or hobbies that will get you out of the house, keep you engaged and stop you from overeating. Excessive hunger. If you put off eating because of a busy schedule, you may discover that by the time you sit down to dinner you're ravenous and eat everything in sight. If this is a problem area for you, think of how you can schedule mini-meal breaks in your new eating plan.
Ask yourself why you want to diet. Bulk up. Verify that you can diet safely. Analyze your current eating habits. Identify problem areas.