Curiously most people will stick religiously to the servings guidelines when eating something like oatmeal, rice, or their half cup of broccoli, yet when they eat chips, crackers, cookies and ice cream they have as much as they want. It makes more sense to eat all you want of the vegetables and fruit snacks and limit the processed food treats though. If you want permanent weight loss try the Common Sense Diet.

Eat As Much As you Want of Real Foods

Consider having as much "real" food as it takes to satisfy, then limit the processed foods. Eating double the ingredients in your sandwich is still better than having half a sandwich and a whole bag of greasy chips. If you look at the box for hot cereal, it suggests a pretty small serving size. Just ignore it. Fix as many "servings" as you want, then eat a nice big bowl of hot cereal. I usually cook enough for four and split it between two of us. Am I as big as a barn? Hardly. But half that amount of cereal would not satisfy me and I'd be looking for something else to eat pretty quickly. Eating plenty in the first place makes much more sense and I'm generally satisfied for several hours.

So what if I eat more than the recommended serving size? The suggested servings have nothing to do with you and everything to do with what the manufacturer wanted to list as "calories per serving," or to be able to make a claim of "less than 2 net carbs," both of which are essentially meaningless. What matters is how much food will you need to be satisfied? It makes little sense for a 130 pound woman to be served and to eat the same amount as a 200 pound man.

I eat as much as it takes to satisfy my hunger, and then no more. That doesn't mean I eat until I'm stuffed so full I'll be ill, or I have to lie down, it means I'm satisfied. I get busy and forget all about eating when I'm well fed.

If you're following a pre-prescribed eating plan and you still want more to eat, it's unlikely you'll stay with that plan for long. Everyone of us is unique in our food requirements, so following a prescribed diet plan may just need to be modified to better suit you. It's okay to add another half cup of vegetables and it could make the difference between success and failure in your dieting efforts.

Add an apple or other piece of fruit a couple times during the day to get you over those hungry times. Most fruit has less than 100 calories in a piece. You can get 100 calories eating a piece of candy, but of the two which is going to satisfy you the longest? I'd suspect real food would.

I like a certain brand of sandwich from the health food store. At first I would eat a whole sandwich, then one day it struck me that maybe half would be enough, so I tried and what do you know, half a sandwich was plenty. Now I always eat a half and save the rest for the next day. Is this a breakthrough? For me it was because before I would use my eye to judge what I needed to eat (Mom used to tell me, "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach," and I guess she was right!). These sandwiches I'm referring to are big, and they are filling. They contain healthy but oddball ingredients you may not have thought would be good in a sandwich like shredded carrots and cabbage. They require substantial chewing, and they are very nourishing and satisfying. That's what you want from a sandwich, right?

When eating good, wholesome foods I don't crave chips and cookies, but if I eat a regular grilled cheese or tuna sandwich, I'm off looking for the chips and ice cream for later. The association when you eat one food with another food is strong. Consider, french fries with ketchup, apple pie with ice cream (some eat it with cheddar cheese), peanut butter and jelly, ham and eggs. Some things just seem right paired together, or so we think, but what if you could shake up those associations? If you've got a real habit of eating chips for instance, what else is going on at the same time? Is it the TV show you're watching, the time of day, the other foods? Try switiching things up, moving to another room to eat, changing the channel or try a completely different type of chips.

For me, french fries without ketchup just isn't the same so when I broke my addiction to them I started by eating them without the sauce. They weren't half as good, but the point was, it's not the fries, it's the ketchup (tomato candy to me). Sometimes trying something new can help break those associations. Try baked chips for instance, or just cut back how many chips you have at a time if that works better for you.

Speaking of pickles; yes they have high sodium. So what? If we would stop and think for just one minute that they stop themselves from eating perfectly fine foods like a pickle (great for an appetizer), but do eat all the junk they want, it simply makes no sense. Start to limit the snacks and junk foods, and go ahead and have the pickles and fruit snacks. Double up on the amount of vegetables, even triple up. Eat hearty! Food is a good thing. Watch the sauces though because other than enhancing the flavor of the food they aren't exactly nutrient powerhouse foods. Have an extra bite of chicken and a bit less sauce.

Limit Processed Foods for Faster Weight Loss

If you grew up never eating anything but processed foods it may be more difficult to try new things, but be brave. I suggested having some sliced tomato with dinner and the kids (teenagers) looked at me like I was crazy, but when I was growing up slices of tomato from our garden were often on our plates. I love tomatoes. I'll eat a whole tomato for a snack (just like an apple).

I Hate Vegetables

If you hate vegetables it's probably because you were forced to eat them as a child when they were over cooked, mushy, awful. Try them again but this time lightly steamed so there is still some give to the bite but never mushy or overly soft (unless you have no teeth). I toss frozen vegetables in water, bring it to a boil, then turn off the heat and by the time I get my plate they're ready. It takes no time at all to get them right, but they're easy to over cook, so don't let them boil for 10 minutes. Frankly, directions for cooking vegetables are always wrong, so cut back on the time to cook and taste them sooner.

This week go ahead and eat two slices of bread if that's what it takes to feel satisfied. Have two (or more) servings of oatmeal. Eat enough to be satisfied. Have a full sandwich if half isn't enough, or if a whole is a bit much, cut back to half. Find the quantity that works for you by adjusting here and there. Don't be afraid to try new things, vegetables and fruits are inexpensive and a healthy addition to your diet! Above all, work to modify what you prefer to eat now, and slowly make changes so the changes will become permanent.

Even if you add a few hundred calories to your daily total, it's far better to be satisfied with what you've eaten than to feel still hungry when you push away from the table. It's always worked for me. I don't take whimpy portions, but I'm not a glutten either. Find a balance and you'll find your weight will come off more easily.