First of all, snacks are great! Some people think that to lose weight they have to eat only three meals a day – nothing else. They feel hungry, fatigued, and frustrated. It’s not surprising when they don’t stick with their diet, or end up binging at night when no one’s looking.
Snacks keep you from getting overly hungry (when you lose control). They help keep your blood sugar stable. And they help you lose weight.
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When you’re away from home, whether for work or for travel, it can be challenging to eat right. There are so many unhealthy choices – fatty fast foods, high-calorie convenience snacks, and sodium-laden restaurant food.
To save your diet, the best thing to do is to take your own food. It’s the old fashioned “brown bagging it” with a modern day insulated food bag.
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Next time you’re standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, take a look at the candy and snack foods displayed. Look at the package size and decide how many servings you think are in it. Then turn the package over and see what it says.
There’s a good chance there is more than one serving in the package – even if it looks like only one serving!
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When it comes to weight loss, we have to be really careful with our food choices. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is: calories vs. portion size.
We’re looking for foods that are full of nutrients and we can eat a good portion of, but that don’t contain a lot of calories.
For example, a baked potato is very filling, has lots of good nutrients, and trace amounts of fat. A bag of chips on the other hand is not filling, has little nutrients, and tons of sodium and fat.
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Have you ever planted a garden? Then you know whatever seeds you plant, that’s the kind of plants you’ll get. So if you want corn, you’ll have to plant corn.
Well, with weight loss it’s the same principle.
If you “sow” 20 Twinkie cakes and 30 minutes on the treadmill, what do you think you’re going to grow? (Grow around the middle!)
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When I finally convince my clients to plan their food, they start seeing results. They may have fooled themselves a long time into thinking they could just “wing it” and make good choices. But when they were hungry and short on time, they grabbed what was easiest and what tasted good. When they were with family or friends they ate what everyone else was eating. They may have made some good choices, but they kept “blowing it” with a few bad ones.
Only with a solid food plan can anyone stick to a healthy diet.
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The best way to be successful with your diet is to plan your food. If you leave food to chance, “I’ll figure it out later,” you’ll end up making poor choices. You’ll be hungry, short on time, and low on will power.
Instead of hoping to stick to your diet, plan your diet. Figure out what healthy foods you like, make a menu, get your ingredients, and get cooking!
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I’ve worked with many school teachers for weight loss and fitness. What I find is that during the summer they are able to concentrate on their health and really work on their diet and exercise goals.
Once the school year starts, however, their schedule gets hectic and they often give in to time pressure. They skip exercise, get take-out food, and fall off plan.
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Most people don’t have a difficult time eating fruit. Bananas, apples, and grapes are all tasty and make a fast snack. Plus they’re sweet!
Vegetables on the other hand often take a little preparation to prepare. Their taste may not be too exciting either. It can be a little harder to get enough every day.
But all of us need our veggies! They are part of a healthy diet. Not only do they give us vitamins and minerals, but they help ward off diseases like heart disease and cancer.
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If food is your issue (and it usually is if you’re overweight) then you have to figure out a way to control your intake. Of course food is not something you can just cut out of your life, like cigarettes or alcohol. You have to have food. So you have to learn how to have it, but have the right kind and the right amounts.
The biggest way to get a grip on your food is by first making your environment safe. This means getting rid of all the temptation foods in your home, office, car, etc. You know what they are – they’re the ones you crave, binge on, and comb your cupboards/freezer for.
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Have you been facing food challenges this summer as you go to fun get-togethers? I’ve been hearing lots of stories from my clients about summer foods they’re facing: hot dogs, barbeque, cakes, ice cream, potato and macaroni salad, etc.
It seems when people get together for things like reunions, picnics, or potlucks, most of the food is fattening and calorie-laden. It makes staying on your diet really tough.
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Have you ever gotten behind writing receipts into your checkbook? Did you know exactly how much money was left in your checking account? Probably not.
How about your monthly bills? Do you know what they are and put money aside for them? Or do you just spend money and hope you have enough to pay them? Hopefully you have a budget to follow!
Well, tracking our money can be compared to tracking our calories. We have to know how much money we need, how much we can spend, and how much is left over.
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It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to live every day of your life without getting any sugar of any kind. Going out to dinner, having a work luncheon, or going to a friend’s house probably means food with sugar.
Even if you try to make the best choices, sugar is found in almost every product – including bread, crackers, sauces, dressings, etc.
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This week I’m fasting all sugar, sugar derivatives, and products with sugar. Several of my clients have joined me on this venture too!
What’s been frustrating is finding sugar in everything – light salad dressing, low sugar ketchup, Bisquick, low fat mayo, pretzels, cereal, crackers, bread, etc.
I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anything in a box, bottle, or package that doesn’t contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
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There are a lot of natural sweeteners available. Some of them have no calories and many of them have a low glycemic index, meaning they don’t raise your blood sugar quickly. I have found that they are also very sweet and you only need a little to sweeten your foods.
I prefer stevia powder for drinks, shakes, and oatmeal. I drizzle a little agave over my oatmeal pancakes or into my oat mixture when making apple “crisp”. Brown rice syrup can be really great in natural peanut butter cookies made with whole wheat flour.
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So, you want to get sugar out of your daily diet. Well, it’s not too easy, but it certainly can be done with a little effort. And getting sugar out of your diet is totally worth the effort!
Meal times aren’t too difficult when you’re eating lean proteins and fresh veggies. Snacks and treats can be a challenge, however, so here are ideas on how to enjoy tasty, sugar-free eating.
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Did you ever hear the saying, “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile”? Well, you can think of sugar the same way.
Take one bite of sugar and it’ll tell you to eat the whole bowl of ice cream, cookie, or candy bar. One little taste is never enough. The more you eat it the more you want it. The more you eat it the more you crave it.
For many people sugar is like a drug. They have ridiculously strong cravings for it – and when they do eat it they eat way too much of it.
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I’m really picky about my water. I prefer spring water to any other kind. I can especially taste chlorine in water and I hate it!
I usually fill my water jugs at a spring water distributor. When I have that sweet, clear water I drink lots of it and stay hydrated.
I’ve noticed that when I run out of it and have to drink tap water, I never drink enough. The taste of it is so yucky to me that I drink about half my normal amount.
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I babysat several kiddies yesterday so my mom wanted to be a help by bringing some food over. This included a plate of icing-covered cupcakes and a bag of homemade cookies. She placed them on my counter for easy access.
I had to look at these things all day. I had to handle them and serve them to the children. And I had to NOT eat them!
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After working really hard to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is gain some back. Unfortunately this is easy to do because you get comfortable. So you start getting a little sloppy with your eating and lax on your exercise.
Before you know it 10 or 20 pounds have crept back on.
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Weekends are usually a bust when it comes to dieting and exercise. Everyone wants to kick back, have some R&R, go out to dinner, get together with friends, etc. Usually by the end of the weekend there’s been too much food and too little exercise.
Weekends are when people have time to do something for themselves. Instead of overeating and sitting around, why not grab that time and work on your weight loss? It’d be a great way to kick start your diet.
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Most people grossly underestimate how much they eat in a day – both the quantity and the calories. Then they say, “I don’t eat that much. Why can’t I lose weight?”
Those of you who’ve kept a food log (I mean really kept one) know how quickly calories and portions add up over the course of the day. It’s easy to eat way more than your body needs. A handful of pretzels, a cookie, and some of your kid’s gummy bears and you’ve added on hundreds of calories.
The only way to lose weight is to consume less calories than your body burns each day. This causes a calorie deficit and the body has to draw from its fat stores.
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It’s never any fun to see your kids acting like you – when they’re acting like your bad side. You can tell them not to pout, slam the door, or hold a grudge, but if you do it….
Talk is cheap. Our children are influenced more by what we do than by what we say.
This is true for all of our behaviors, including eating and exercise habits. How we eat – skip breakfast, drive-thru for a quick dinner, eat ice cream out of the box, etc. – will influence how they eat. The kinds of foods we serve them will shape their taste buds for the rest of their lives.
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I have a love-love relationship with peanut butter. I love it on pancakes, on bananas and apples, stirred into vanilla yogurt, and straight out of the jar.
Now, I’ll go weeks or months having a cordial, restrained relationship with peanut butter. Every so often, however, I find I’m becoming peanut butter obsessed. (When I start dipping straight out of the jar I know I’m in trouble.)
I have found that certain peanut butter brands don’t bother me at all. I do not like the kind with added sugars or oils. My true love is Smucker’s natural creamy peanut butter – just roasted peanuts and salt.
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Did you know your taste buds are trainable? Over time they adapt and “get used to” the kinds of foods you eat.
For example, think about salt. People who don’t eat salty foods, like someone with heart disease, may eat at a restaurant and say, “This food is so salty.” The next person who consistently adds salt to his/her food may eat at a restaurant and say, “Pass the salt. This food’s too bland.”
Your taste buds will become accustomed to and enjoy what you give them.
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