MILO BRYANT: 5 big diet no-nos

There are five huge diet nonos that all of us fall victim to at some point.

Today we'll go over those nonos and how to fix them.

No-no: Grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

This one kicks my butt! And I know I'm not alone. We try to make sure our stomachs are satiated when we hit the grocery store. But, invariably - my married brethren back me up on this! - we're reminded of something from our "honey do" list. So, we go do that. When we get to the grocery store, our stomachs are growling, and we end up buying $65.97 in food we don't need, especially when all we were supposed to get was Cajun turkey breast and multigrain bread.

Solution: Be consistent. Go to the grocery store at the same time every week. Never go to the grocery store on the way home from work or after a workout. Leave from home. That way, you can put something in your body that will help keep your wallet heavier.
No-no: Big post-workout meals.

C'mon now. Just because we just finished a great workout doesn't mean we can make like a pig and eat a ridiculous amount of food. Sure, we're going to be hungry after a good workout. But let's keep the workout good by not ruining it.

Solution: Stick to the plan. We have a diet plan that is working for us. Let's stick to it as closely as we can.

No-no: Don't know what we're eating.

How many calories do we take in per day? What's the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fats? How many of those carbs are simple? How many complex? What about the fats? Are we eating enough fats? Are we eating the right kinds of fats?

Solution: Suck it up and do a diet diary. Let's take a few days or take a week, and write down everything we put in our mouths. If we chew a stick of gum, we record the nutritional content. If we go to a restaurant, we check out the menu online and write down the nutritional content of our meal. At the end of the week, we figure out everything and add that to our arsenal of knowledge.

No-no: No support system.

We're trying to eat right. Those close to us keep eating wrong and complaining about our desire to eat right. This happens more than we might think.

Solution: We need to explicitly explain what we're trying to do. And we need to let others know that we love them, but we're going to do it with or without their help. Still, we should also be prepared to make and eat a few separate meals.

No-no: No plan.

We just eat to eat. Outside of being hungry, there's no rhyme or reason to why we eat, what we eat and when we eat.

Solution: Let's start slow. Take pen to paper and plan the next few days of our diet. It's a lot easier to eat healthful meals when we know what's coming and we can prepare for it.

Milo Bryant has two National Strength and Conditioning Association certifications and he appears on KOAA's Comcast Channel 9 most Wednesdays at 4 p.m. You can contact him by e-mail at milo.bryant@ gazette.com or read his blog at milobryant.blogspot.com.