10 Diet Do's and Don'ts by Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N. Everybody wants a quick fix, and as we all know, they are pretty hard to come by and usually too good to be true. There is, however, a simple way to fix up your diet that will help you get healthy and lose weight. All you have to do is add five food items and subtract five others. And you can do it at your own pace, in your own way. You don't have to add and subtract these foods immediately, but the sooner you make these changes the sooner you'll see good results. If you're already eating some of the "add" items, just add the rest. If one or two of the items is a complete impossibility for you, go to the nearest possible substitute. If you've already subtracted some of the "remove" items, just subtract the rest. If you've cut back on a given item but haven't done away with all of it, see if you can raise the bar and eliminate even more. Even a week of diligence on this plan should yield some results. |
Five Items to Add: Fiber. Do this one gradually or you may get some (harmless) gas while your body adjusts to the new higher level. Great sources of fiber: vegetables, fruits and beans. Raw vegetables. Add these on a daily basis not only for the rich phytonutrient and vitamin and mineral content but for the enzyme content as well. Raw, freshly made vegetable juice definitely counts. Berries. The reasons berries are beneficial for your health could fill an entire column. Trust me. Nuts. A serving is a quarter-cup. Pistachios, raw almonds or cashews, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, you name it. They're packed with good fat and protein, but don't overdo it. Consider scattering them on a salad and you can take care of two items (nuts and raw veggies) in one. Protein at every meal. Make it fish at least twice a week, preferably more. Fried (anything) does not count. |
Five Items to Subtract: Pasta. Most bread. Unless it is honest-to-God, certified, authenticated whole-grain bread (which is not the brown junk in the supermarket masquerading as health food). Even then, I would prefer you limit it to one to two slices a day, tops. Commercial cereals. This includes anything in a cute box with the word "crunchy" on it. Read the ingredients. If you find more than five grams of sugar, put it down. Real steel-cut, non-instant oatmeal is not in this category, by the way, so eat up. Sodas, even diet sodas. Packaged cookies, cakes, pies, crackers and desserts. I know this is the killer one, but bite the bullet and try it for a week. Don't think of it as a "diet," think of it as an experiment. You want to see what happens if you remove a couple of harmless-sounding compounds like sugar and hydrogenated fat from your diet, just to see? Try it. Maybe nothing will come of it. Maybe you'll finally start to lose weight. |
The Seven Steps to Burning Fat from Oz Garcia
A Healthy High-Tech Body is one that embraces healthy leanness, where the fat on and in your body isn't killing you. If you want to achieve healthy leanness, there are seven steps you need to take, essential to fat burning and lean muscle building: |
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Eat according to Paleotech Diet guidelines. |
Change toxic eating habits. |
Control insulin, glucagons, and cortisol so that you don't accumulate fat around your waistline and stomach, anywhere you don't want it. |
|
Exercise anaerobically to build and increase fat-burning muscle. |
Exercise aerobically to enhance long-term fat burning. |
Get enough sleep, about eight hours, and control stress. |
|
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Take the right nutraceuticals or drugs to improve metabolic performance, balance brain chemistry, and control hormones. |
The Golden Rules of the Paleotech Diet Start with the "Paleo" dietary principles of our ancestors: fruits and vegetables rich in fiber and antioxidants; lean game, fish, and fowl; foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. (Of course, not all of our ancestors ate the same thing, just as not all cultures today eat the same foods. In places where few plants were available, our ancestors ate mostly animal protein. In places where edible plants were more abundant, prehistoric man ate the bulk of his food as carbohydrates. The human body is extremely adaptable in terms of what we are able to eat. However, the processed, additive-laden foods we eat today are quite different from the food that was available all those years ago.) Incorporate the "tech" dietary principles based on our bodies' chemistry and hormonal systems: limit the amount of sugar, carbohydrates, and caffeine you consume. (These foods, in the forms that we find them today, were not available to the earliest societies of humans.) Put these two sets of principles together and you've got the Golden Rules of the Paleotech Diet! |
Sugar by Joan Salge Blake-dietitian Here's the problem: Listing grams of sugar in a recipe or on a food label could be misleading. Why? Sugars are carbohydrates: They occur naturally in foods such as milk, fruits, some vegetables, cereals, breads, and grains. That's why a cup of skim milk contains about 12 grams of carbohydrate -- almost 11 of them from "sugar" that is naturally found in milk. Judging a food solely on its sugar content may be misleading because, for example, fruit is naturally chock-full of sugar but should be a regular part of your diet. When analyzing a recipe, it's hard to tease out how much of the sugar is "natural" rather than added. To make it even more of a label reading and baking challenge, some sugars have to be added to foods in order to contribute to the volume and tenderness of baked good items. (The yeast in breads NEEDS sugar to give dough its rising power.) Sugar also functions as a preservative and thickener in foods. But working toward a diet that's moderate in sugar isn't a bad idea, since it's estimated that Americans, on average, scarf up 20 teaspoons of added sugar daily. (The problem with averages is that this means that many of us are eating more than 20 teaspoons daily -- yikes!) To find out where all that sugar is coming from, read the label or recipe and start hunting for these buzz words: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, glucose, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose (table sugar), and syrup. When these sweeteners are added to a food or recipe, they deliver calories but little nutrition. If any of these sugars appear first or second or many of them are listed among food label ingredients, the odds are that the food will tend to be a high sugar roller. If you enjoy these foods, balance them in moderation with foods lower in sugar as part of a healthy diet. When cooking and baking at home, try cutting back gradually on the sugar that's called for in the recipe. The rule of thumb for cakes and cake-like cookies is to reduce the sugar to half a cup for every cup of flour called for in the recipe. For muffins and quick breads, you need at least one tablespoon sugar for every cup of flour. For yeast breads, use only one teaspoon of sugar for every cup of flour used. If you're a yogurt eater, you can cut back the seven teaspoons of added sugar in fruit-flavored yogurt by buying a carton of non-fat plain yogurt and adding real fruit (and just a smidgen of sugar if you need it). Or, combine the carton of fruit flavored yogurt with the same amount of the nonfat plain variety for a cup of less sugary yogurt. Try unsweetened cereal such as shredded wheat and add dried fruit for sweetness and nutrition. Combine a half serving of a sugary cereal with a half serving of a lower sugar variety for a cereal bowl with less of the sweet stuff. Substitute 100 percent juices for fruitades or punches and don't forget to include whole fruit in your diet for the fiber. The opportunities are endless! |
A smidgen of sugar in your coffee each morning probably won't sink a healthy diet -- unless a smidgen grows throughout your day. Consider this: Americans consume an average of 20 teaspoons of sugar every day. According to the USDA, you should limit added sugars to no more than six teaspoons daily if you eat about 1,600 calories; 12 teaspoons if you eat 2,200 calories a day; or 18 teaspoons if you eat 2,800 calories. Coffee isn't the only place sugar sneaks in. Having a can of cola every day adds nine teaspoons of sugar to your diet. Fruit drinks are no bargain either. A 12-ounce glass of a fruit drink can add 12 teaspoons of sugar to your daily total. If you switch to 100 percent juice, such as orange or grapefruit, you get more nutrition and no added sweetener. If you can't live without the 16-calories-a-teaspoon sugar in your coffee, just balance it with a healthy diet! |
Fat consumption by Joan Salge Blake-dietitian While the current advice for healthy Americans over age two is to consume no more than 30 percent of their daily calories, on average, in the form of fat, no one I know eats "percentages." So let's translate that morsel into more edible numbers. If you consume 2,000 calories daily and maintain your weight, that means that your upper limit for fat should be 30 percent of 2,000 calories, or 600 calories. To convert that into fat grams, divide 600 by 9 (one gram of fat has 9 calories) and you'll end up with a daily maximum amount of around 65 grams of fat. Many sedentary women and older folks need about 1,600 calories daily. More active women, most children, teenage girls, and many sedentary men need about 2,200 calories daily. Teenage boys, many active men, and some very active women can be expected to chow down about 2,800 calories a day. If you don't have time to do the math, use this simple chart below as a quick reference when counting daily fat grams: You Eat Maximum Fat Grams 1,600 calories 53 grams 1,800 calories 60 grams 2,200 calories 73 grams 2,500 calories 80 grams 2,800 calories 93 grams
---Limit fat to
"30 percent of daily calories."
if you eat . . .
Allow yourself this much fat daily . . .
1,400
calories 47
grams
1,600
calories 53
grams
1,800
calories 60
grams
2,000
calories 67
grams
2,200
calories 73
grams
2,400
calories 80
grams
2,600
calories 87
grams
2,800
calories 93
grams
Note: 1,400 calories
is the minimum you should eat if you're trying to lose
weight.
1,600 calories is
about right for many inactive women and some older adults. 2,200
calories
is about right for
many sedentary men, most children, teenage girls and active
women.
2,800 is about right
for teenage boys, many active men and some very active women.
--1 nutri-grain
bar = 3 grams fat
|
Losing Weight by coryeverson.com Reaching your fat loss goals may be easier than you think. To lose 1 pound of fat a week just cut your daily calorie intake by 250 calories and do additional daily exercise to burn 250 calories and viola, you've lost 1 pound.
This is because 1 pound of body fat = about 3, 500 calories. So you just cut 1,750 calories from your diet and burned through exercise an additional 1,750 calories which equal 3,500 calories or 1 pound. Keep this up and you'll have lost 48 lbs. of fat over the year.
Losing weight doesn't require drastic changes. Walking 2 1/2 miles will burn approximately 250 calories.
To cut 100 calories you can do any of the following:
Spread 1 tablespoon of all-fruit jam on your toast rather than 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Replace 1 cup of whole milk with 1/2 cup of nonfat milk.
Replace 1/2 cup of granola with 2 cups of Cheerios.
Instead of using whole milk and eggs to prepare 2 slice of French toast, use nonfat milk and egg whites.
Munch on 35 pretzel sticks instead of 1 ounce of dry roasted peanuts.
On your lamb-and-vegetable kabob, replace 2 of the 4 chunks of meat with fresh whole mushrooms.
Dip an artichoke in 1 tablespoon of fat-free mayonnaise instead of 1 1/2 tablespoons of regular mayonnaise.
For a chewy snack, have 1/2 cup of dried fruit rather than 9 caramels.
Replace 3 slices of bacon with 3 slices of Light & Lean Canadian bacon.
When making a sandwich, use 2 slices of Roman Light 7-grain bread instead of Pepperidge Farm wheat bread.
Make a burrito with 1/2 cup of fat-fee refried beans and 1 ounce of nonfat cheese instead of the same amount of traditional refried beans and cheese.
Reduce a typical serving of chocolate cake (1/8 of a two-layer cake) by one-third.
Replace 1 cup of caramel-coated popcorn with 2 1/2 cups of air-popped popcorn.
Switch from 1/2 cup of yogurt-covered raisins to 1/2 cup of plain raisins.
Top your celery sticks with 2 tablespoons of fat-free cream cheese instead of 3 tablespoons
of regular cream cheese.
Replace 2 fried-chicken drumsticks with 2 roasted drumsticks and a cup of peas and carrots.
Instead of eating 5 chocolate-chip cookies, savor the taste of 2.
Replace a 12-ounce can of cola with a 12-ounce can of diet cola.
Thicken your cream sauce with 1 percent milk and corn starch instead of a roux of butter and flour.
Use 2 tablespoons of fat-free sour cream instead of regular sour cream (on baked potatoes or in stroganoff). If done twice in the day, 100 calories will be cut.
Reduce the size of your steak from 4 1/2 ounces to 3 ounces.
Eat 3 grilled prawns with cocktail sauce instead of 3 breaded and fried prawns.
Make a pie crust with 1 cup of Grape Nuts cereal, 1/4 cup of concentrated apple juice and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, instead of using a traditional graham-cracker crust. You'll save 100 calories per slice.
Replace 8 sticks of regular chewing gum with sugar-free chewing gum.
Substitute 3 ounces of scallops for 3 ounces of lean beef in your stir fry.
Rather than drink a strawberry milkshake, make a smoothie of 2/3 cup of low-fat milk, 1/2 cup of strawberries and 1/2 a banana.
Replace 2 brownies with 2 fig bars.
On a hot day, quench your thirst with a glass of ice water with lemon or mint instead of a can of light beer.
Eat 2 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars instead of 2 Kellogg's Pop-Tarts.
Drizzle 3 tablespoons of low-calories French dressing on your salad instead of 2 tablespoons of blue cheese dressing.
Replace 1 large flour tortilla with 1 six-inch corn tortilla.
Choose 4 1/2 ounces of tuna packed in water instead of 4 1/2 ounces of tuna packed in oil.
Order your Quarter Pounder without cheese.
Use 1 cup of fat-free cottage cheese instead of regular cottage cheese.
Replace 1 cup of corn with 1 cup of carrots.
Replace 2 ounces of corn chips with 2 ounces of SnackWell's wheat crackers.
Grill a cheese sandwich with nonstick cooking spray instead of margarine.
Replace 1 cup of chocolate ice cream with 2/3 cup of nonfat chocolate frozen yogurt.
Instead of topping your salad with an ounce of croutons, get your crunch from 1/4 cup of chopped celery.
Order a sandwich on cracked wheat bread instead of a croissant.
Complement your hamburger with 1 1/4 ounces of oven-baked tortilla chips instead of a side of fries.
Order 2 slice of cheese pizza instead of 2 slices of pepperoni pizza.
Dip your chips in 1/2 cup of salsa instead of 1/2 cup of guacamole.
Switch from 1/2 cup of Frusen Gladje butter pecan ice cream to Breyers butter pecan ice cream.
Hold the tartar sauce on your fish sandwich, and squeeze lemon on it instead.
In sandwich spreads or salads, use 3 teaspoons of dijonnaise instead of 4 teaspoons of mayonnaise.
Use 2 tablespoons of light pancake syrup instead of 2 tablespoons of regular syrup.
Top your pasta with 1 cup of marinara sauce instead of 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce.
Cut back on sampling during cooking. The following "tastes" have 100 calories: 4 tablespoons of beef stroganoff, 3 tablespoons of homemade chocolate pudding, 2 tablespoons of chocolate-chip cookie dough.
At an Italian restaurant, snack on a large breadstick instead of a slice of garlic bread.
Complement your sandwich with 3/4 cup of split-pea soup instead of 1 cup of chunky bean and ham soup. Think about how easy it really is...go for a 2 1/2 mile walk and burn 250 calories.
In addition, replace 1 glass of whole milk with 1 glass of nonfat milk...burn an extra 100 calories.
Use 2 slices of Roman Light 7-grain bread instead of Pepperidge Farm wheat on your sandwich and save another 100 calories.
Replace 1 can cola with 1 can diet cola and you've just added up another 100 calorie savings.
Without your even noticing it, you've just saved over 300 calories. Add that to your 250 calorie burn from your walk and you've got a 550 deficit.
If you can do this 7 days in a row, you've just burned over 3,850 calories which is over 1 pound! In less than 1 year, you'll have lost well over 48 lbs. With no noticeable change on your diet and only a 1/2 hour walk a day.
Not only will you look and feel better, but the chances of getting heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, hypertension, high blood pressure have been cut almost by 50%! God, I sound convincing! These minor, painless, effortless, tiny, weenie almost unnoticeable changes can make the difference between life and death, or living a happy, high quality, energetic life verses a life fighting disease and laziness.
Now that's an easy choice to make!
Fitness Myth Busters There are many myths on fitness. Our job is to constantly bust these fallacies. It will make your job of staying in shape and leas easier if you know the rules of the game.
MYTH 1 Just because a food label reads "natural" doesn't mean it contains no additives or chemicals. It only means that one ingredient remains in its "natural form". What's so great about "natural" oil or "natural" sugar...they still aren't so great for you.
MYTH 2 Non-dairy creamers are much lower in fat than regular cream....HELLO....non-dairy does not mean non-fat or non-caloric. Regular non-dairy creamer is full of saturated fats like palm or coconut oils and have high levels of sugar. In the same light, protein powders are not automatically "Health Food". Some are high in sugars, fructose, glucose, sucrose, high calories and saturated with fats like coconut oils. They can also be too high in protein which can put unnecessary strain on your kidneys and extremely high in sodium. Check the labels and know what you are buying. Supplements are created but are not all equal!
MYTH 3 Margarine does not contain fewer calories or less fat than butter...thank you! They are both over 100 calories per teaspoon...are 100% fat...in fat all fats whether palm oil, coconut oil, or butter all contain 9 calories per gram. Whipped butter is generally less in calories. Simply because they've been whipped with water which naturally cuts the amount of fat per teaspoon.
MYTH 4 Grandma told you filling up on taters and breads was going to make you fat like her. So many people still believe this. Here we go again...the carbohydrates alone are low in calories and fat...only 4 calories per gram vs. fats having 9 calories per gram. In fact, carbohydrates should be the mainstay of your diet. 60 - 70% should come from carbs. Potatoes, pasta, breads, rice are clean, low calorie, low fat carbohydrates. It is the added garbage you top these clean carbs off with that adds up the inches. Butter, cream cheese, sour cream, sausage...that's what dear old Gramma abused...not the carbs themselves. In other words, it ain't the angel hair pasta or stroganoff noodles that does the nasty thing...it's the alfredo sauce and gravy goop you heap on top (please, smack the next person who says to you they are going on a diet and cutting out breads and potatoes...for me.)
MYTH 5 Honey in your tea is just as caloric as regular white sugar. (4 calories per gram, but only 20 calories per teaspoon). They are equal in creating tooth decay and inches to the waist.
MYTH 6 Now here's a real doozey...Salad bars are diet food, HA!!! Give me a break. I use to believe this one too...for years and years, until I had a wake up call. 2 tablespoons of regular salad dressing have just as much fat as a Whopper. Salad bars, unless otherwise marked, use mayonnaise to toss potato salad, macaroni salad, carrot salad....which adds 200 plus calories for each 1/2 cup serving. And who can only eat 1/2 cup of potato salad. Add two or three flavors of creamy salads, you've just consumed more calories and fat than your non-dieting boyfriend who order a turkey pot pie. Bring your own fat-free dressing and avoid the creamy stuff.
MYTH 7 If I skip breakfast, I'll save on calories and lose weight...Not so true...Those of you who skip calories actually burn calories more slowly because your body has been fasting all night and since it continues with no breakfast to do so your body slows down to conserve what it's got! Plus if you skip breakfast, you'll probably overeat at your next meal. Better to eat 4-6 small meals a day. Regular nibbling is better for promoting weight loss.
MYTH 8 The best way to cut cholesterol from my diet is to quit eating eggs. True and False. Your blood cholesterol will go down if you cut back on egg consumption, but, better yet....if you reduce your total fat intake to 20-25% of your total calorie intake (especially, those saturated fats, animal fats) you'll receive even greater benefits in lowered cholesterol and help prevent heart disease too!
MYTH 9 Yogurts are automatically healthy food. Not true. Have you ever looked at some of the labels. Some contain more sugar (especially those fruit on the bottom kind) than even a candy bar! And those whole milk versions are totally high in fat. Might as well eat a Hershey's bar and take a few bites out of a stick of butter! Yogurt is a great food though, if you stick with the non-fat versions flavored with fresh fruits or add your own!
MYTH 10 Chicken is always lower in fat than a hunk of red meat. Now here's another myth I thought was true. A skinless chicken thigh has more than twice the fat as an equal serving of eye of round roast. Skinless chicken breast on the other hand is low in fat and calories and a better choice than beef.
MYTH 11 Not that I ever eat red meat, but I always thought "choice" or "prime" meat lower fat than "select" or "good". Chalk up another one for a big NOT.
So how many of these myth busters took you by surprise?
HEALTHY EATING TIPS! It's not that difficult to stay on a healthy eating plan.....even when you go to restaurants or travel a lot. At a restaurant order extra side dishes of steamed rice or steamed vegetables and fill up on those.
At a buffet party -- fill up your plate first with salad, fresh vegetables and brush your teeth immediately afterward...it's always a little disgusting to eat Swedish meatballs and fried chicken if your mouth tastes like spearmint.
After a meal, pop a sugar free mint into your mouth or hard candy...it will make resisting dessert a lot easier.
At the office -- visit the water cooler often and keep a carafe of flavored water at your desk or mix up an ice cold B vitamin energizer drink if you get hungry or fiber drink...it is nutritious and filing. A lot of times you mistake thirst for hunger...drink all the water you want.
After dinner, clean the kitchen and turn off the lights and shut down the kitchen for the night. This will help to avoid the extra calories of nibbling.
When ordering room service -- demand that your meal is made without oil or butter...or else you'll send it right back, have them hold the sauces...give you a little mustard or ketchup instead...ask for low fat dressing or use a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese instead. Always ask for a baked potato instead of prepared rices and au gratin style potatoes. You never know how much "crap" they put in prepared side dishes...ask for your veggies steamed...no butter.
Put a thermos of ice tea by the TV table...or lay out a pre-planned healthy snack, like a bowl of air popped popcorn.
On weekends, if you are running errands, be sure to eat small meals every 4 to 6 hours to avoid the mall temptations of high fat fast foods.
Why do most people give into food cravings and binges? It usually has less to do with psychology and more to do with undereating. Overly restrictive diets set the stage for uncontrollable eating! To help keep the binge at bay:
Go low fat instead of no fat. Some people just aren't satiated until they get that taste of fat...instead of eating the whole box of fat free cookies that might end up at over 1,0000 extra calories, have 1 or 2 regular cookies that may only be 100 total calories but at least you've killed the fat craving.
Buy individually wrapped low fat ice cream bars instead of a 1/2 gallon carton. You've got built in portion control.
When you get an irresistible urge, resist it for the moment, go take a walk or make a phone call, do your laundry, just get occupied...the urge will pass within 10 minutes.
If it's crunch you crave, eat a pretzel, dry cereal, Cheerios or raisin squares...it'll give you the crunch you want without the calories as a bag of potato chips would. Eating healthy is not that difficult...you just have to know your alternatives like the back of your hand and be prepared to make better choices.
It's a lot easier than you might think!
Eating On The Go Most people have no time to leisurely sit down relaxed and eat....especially lunch, so you probably grab food here and there more than at any other time of day.
Just because you are short of time doesn't give you the excuse to load up on high fat, easy to grab foods, like Fritos or potato chips. This is the time to be prepared in advance to keep that healthy lifestyle you work so hard for.
The answer is to keep at arms reach a variety of low fat foods.....I even keep some in my car so when I get hungry driving home from the airport or business meeting I'm not tempted to stop at the local 7-11 for a greasy blueberry fat filled muffin or bag of corn nuts.
Fill your home, office, or car with:
Fat Free Pretzels Fat Free Fig Newtons Fat Free Granola Bars Rice Cakes or Matzo Crackers Whole Grain Bagels & Non-fat Cream Cheese or Sugar Free Jelly
Have a stock of nonfat yogurt and nonfat cottage cheese in your refrigerator. Try a scoop of cottage cheese and dab of sugar free jam on a matzo cracker for a treat. That one is our favorite. Cut up cantaloupe, honey dew melon and strawberries into cubes. Have bags of frozen vegetables you can, in a matter of minutes, microwave right in the bag, open up and add a bowl of steamed white rice with low sodium soy sauce for flavor. Buy baked tortilla chips with low fat bean dip. Salsa has no fat - use it on everything. Buy baby carrots already cut and peeled for refrigerator snacks....when you open the fridge and need to pop something in your mouth....pop a carrot. Get skim mozzarella string cheese sticks.....I learned this one from my nephew, they are low in fat and fun to eat. Cut up celery, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. If you can stomach sardines in tomato sauce, try popping a can open (eat the bones for calcium). Here's a sample ONE DAY FAST FOOD MENU you can prepare at home in minutes. I know because if it takes longer than three minutes to prepare, I'm outta there....its Hasta La Vista Baby for me. The entire family can enjoy this plan.
BREAKFAST:
Bowl of oatmeal sweetened with nutrasweet or bowl of shredded wheat 6 oz. of orange juice (calcium fortified), 1 cup coffee and nonfat creamer 4 oz. of skim milk with 1 scoop protein drink for a good solid protein base* 1 swig liquid vitamins
*Can substitute 4-6 egg white omelet for protein shake if you are out or for variety. Add some cut-up vegetables to the omelet for flavor - onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. SNACK: Midmorning
1 banana plus 3 rice cakes or 3 pretzels (Snyders) 1 glass fiber drink LUNCH: Tuna salad sandwich made with 6 oz. water packed tuna, 1 TB nonfat mayo, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1/3 cup chopped onions, black pepper Salad of lettuce, celery, green pepper strips, cherry tomatoes, non-fat dressing 1 large glass of mineral water, add 1 scoop of B vitamin energy replacer to it AFTERNOON SNACK:
2 Fig Newtons, fat free 1 non-fat yogurt with fresh fruit cut up in it DINNER:
4 oz. white meat chicken, no skin, grilled on a whole wheat bun - lettuce, tomato, onion and mustard 1 baked potato*- add either ketchup (because it's fat free) or use fat free mixture of nonfat yogurt and nonfat cottage cheese, blended up with chives as a topping. Ketchup is faster, that's what I use 1 cup of steamed vegetables (although you can have as much of this as you want as long as you don't add butter or high fat toppings). Use prepared Mrs. Dash Salt Free seasonings *Can substitute 1 cup cooked wild rice or pasta for potato LATE NIGHT TREAT:
1 cup fresh strawberries and 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt If you are trying to lose weight you can substitute your dinner meal with 1 - 16 oz. blender drink made with water or nonfat milk, 1 scoop meal replacement powder, 6-8 ice cubes and 4 strawberries. In addition to this have a Giant salad with all the vege fixin's minus the dressing.....use instead 2 TB of fat free dressing.....water it down so it covers and goes a long way and add prepared seasonings so you don't need any more salad dressing! (2 TB I said is all) Have another fiber drink before you go to bed to bind to fat in your stomach and get rid of those leftovers. Everyone will have individual frequency needs for fiber depending on how their body responds. Use it to lose it, so you don't have to wear it! |
Eating Right
Eat less, weigh less......right? WRONG This philosophy 90% of the time ends
up failing.
You might make a little progress at first, but like swimming upstream, eventually
you quit making progress because you are going against nature!
To permanently peel off pounds, don't fight your body....go with the flow.
Eat at least 4-6 meals a day. Always eat breakfast....have lunch, a snack,
dinner and possibly even another snack (each meal being of approximately
the same size).
Watch out for calorie dense foods....that are fiber and nutrient big
zeros....fat-free does not mean calorie free!
Instead focus on naturally low fat, high fiber foods like whole grains, legumes
(oh how I hate that word) and vegetables. Lower you fat intake to no more
than 20% of your daily calorie intake. You can go less if you like.
Add a heaping serving of exercise at least three or four times a week. You
can have as many second helpings of this ingredient as you like.
Why spread your daily calories over all these small meals, instead of 2 or
3 giant meals?
It is an effective way to rev up your metabolism, reduce extreme appetite
cravings and minimize fat storage.
Try keeping records in the beginning to graph long term success.
If you hate counting calories like I do, just focus your eating on vegetables,
fruits, whole grains and those "legumes" again.
Go for an apple instead of apple juice (it has less calories and concentrated
sugars).
Fibrous foods fill you up so you feel more satisfied from fewer calories
and minimizes insulin response so less fat is stored. For a moderately active
woman, weighing 130 lbs.:
FOR BREAKFAST
FOR LUNCH
SNACK
FOR DINNER
SNACK
Women who are really active should also add an additional protein shake at
breakfast. If you want to lose weight, make it with water or nonfat milk.
If you want to gain weight, use 2% plus add a banana or scoop of yogurt or
tablespoon of peanut butter for additional calories.
Athletes trying to add muscle size can have an additional protein shake prior
to their workouts or practice.
FOR BREAKFAST
SNACK
FOR LUNCH
SNACK
*Or if you are going to the gym, substitute
1 strawberry protein shake made with nonfat milk and 1/2 cup of
strawberries.
FOR DINNER
SNACK
Mile-a-minute Meals!
If time is of the essence, which it most likely is, if you are like the majority
of Americans and if you don't have time to prepare balanced, cooked, nutritious
meals join the club!
Ingredients
Mix in blender until frothy and enjoy a meal in a blender that is zero fat
less than 170 calories and almost so filing it is hard to finish and better
tasting than any dessert you could imagine. To keep it under 100 calories
substitute water for nonfat milk. Substitute bananas, sugar free chocolate,
peaches, mango or blueberries for the strawberries for other flavors.
Or for a Good Morning Orange Julius wake up call, try:
Ingredients
And the kids' favorite is always our Chocolate Delight.
Ingredients
Michelle's favorite is the Cappuccino Cream (but she is the java junkie)
Dream Dessert, she invented.
Ingredients
For those who shun milk.....maybe you have lactose intolerance, try a calcium
rich Popeye Vegetable Smoothie. I use this one as lunch or dinner sometimes.
Ingredients
For a smoothie rich in potassium and folic acid, combine:
Ingredients
Another trick is to freeze apple or orange juice or flavored crystal light
or koolaid in ice cube trays. This will make your smoothies even thicker.
Do the same with frozen bananas, strawberries, unsweetened blueberries and
peaches. Frozen fruit will make your smoothies more like frozen yogurt.
Now for Cameo's Creation. This one is called Banana/Apple Turnover. Blend
together
You end up with less than 300 calories and 0 fat!
For the holidays, try our Peppermint Stick Smoothie.
Combine
Blend until frothy and serve with a candy cane in the glass! (Only 150 calories,
18 grams of protein, not including the candy cane). For added twist add a
teaspoon of sugar free chocolate drink powder to the Peppermint Stick smoothie
and now you have my second favorite meal Chocomint Twist!
One more trick of the trade was discovered by Cameo when creating fun meals
for her son, Rye Pye.
She blended
Then pour 1/2 into dessert dishes and blend the remainder with 1 TB of sugar
free instant chocolate drink mix. Pour that over the vanilla mixture and
end up with Black & White Swirl Pudding. Refrigerate and serve to your
family as dessert. Only you have to know it is rich in vitamins, protein
and low in fat. What a tasty way to take your vitamins! Try this with sugar
free banana, caramel and pistachio or lemon flavored puddings.
Last, but not least, try our evening, moonlight specials, alcohol free,
Pi–a Denada.
Combine
If you are over 21 and want to try it a night cap, add 2 teaspoons of Malibu
Coconut Rum.
Cheers to healthy drinking!
Keep in mind calorie contents:
Your Just Desserts
The concept of light dessert may seem like an oxymoron. You are determined
to hold down those fat and calories...whether for your waistline or your
heart...but you still want dessert. We'll give you some dessert recipes so
you can have your cake and eat it too!
1. Always omit up to 1/2 the sugar in recipes for cakes, muffins and puddings.
You won't even notice the difference. Add more spices to compensate for lost
sugar. Use cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin spice, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla or
almond extract. Or grate an orange or lemon rind and throw it in.
2. Cut fats or oils by at least 1/3. In cake and bready recipes, add apple
sauce, fruit, mashed bananas, grated carrots, apple butter, canned pumpkin,
raisins, figs, or dates. I've got a killer banana and pumpkin bread recipe
I'll give you in a moment.
3. In a typical pie the crust equals 1/2 the calories and almost ALL the
fat! Eliminate one of the crusts by simply placing the fruit directly in
the pie dish and only put pastry crust on top. You can also mix 1 TB diet
margarine and 1 TB sugar into 1 cup of crushed graham crackers and sprinkle
over the top or even use it as the base crust.
4. Instead of icing, just sprinkle with powdered sugar and save a ton of
fat globular calories.
NO FATTA BANANA BREAD
I learned this one from my sister, Charmane, she invented it because every
time I would go home to Chicago to visit, I wouldn't eat any of the
desserts...this way I could take just one piece...or two...sometimes three.
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large bowl combine:
Stir it all together and bake for 45-55 minutes and now you have a fat free
dessert with less than 180 calories per slice and you wouldn't even know
the fat was missing unless someone told you! (A traditionally prepared piece,
prepared with chopped walnuts, would pack close to 300 calories for the same
size slice and almost 12 fat grams compared to 180 calories and zero fat)
Now how about GUILTLESS BROWNIES?!
You'll need:
In a separate bowl, blend cocoa and water and then add to egg mixture. Fold
in crumbs, salt, raisins, and baking powder.
Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cut into 12 squares and each one
only has 165 calories (not too harmful!)
Presto Espresso Cake
Espresso cake is my mom's favorite. You'll need:
Add in granulated sugar until egg whites form stiff peaks, then fold in flour
and powdered sugar.
Spoon batter into spray coated 10" tube pan. Bake at 375° F for 35-40
minutes.
For topping, mix cocoa powder and 2 tsp espresso powder and 2 tsp. powdered
sugar and sprinkle over the top.
Chocolate Chip Delight
Cream together:
Add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1/2 cup raisins.
Mix until creamy.Then:
This makes about 5 dozen cookies -- about 65 calories each.
U can eat Crumb Cake
This one is soooo easy, I love it!
Toss everything into a bowl:
Pat this down into a 12" x 12" pan that you first spray with nonfat oil spray.
Pour 1-21 oz. can of lite cherry pie filling or blueberry, banana or apple
(whichever flavor your are craving) on top of the crumb mixture.
Sprinkle with rest of crumb goop you set aside earlier.
Bake at 300° F for 45 minutes.
You can serve this warm with a scoop of nonfat yogurt. Without the yogurt,
1 serving is about 100 calories. This recipe makes about 16 servings.
You can also make this crust and pour over nonfat lemon, banana, chocolate
or pistachio pudding and sprinkle with 2 TB of Grape Nuts cereal on top.
Quick Recipes
You are always on the go.....everyone is in today's day and age. You try
to eat right but it's almost certain your diet falls short in some vitamins
and minerals.
You skip breakfast because you don't have time.....well.....you've are now
burning 5% fewer calories than those people who ate breakfast. Skipping breakfast
effects the production of the hormone, insulin, which encourages fat production
and storage.
So now it's dinnertime and you are starving and you eat to make up for that
missed breakfast. Well large meals cause the body to release even more
insulin.....and your body stores fat more efficiently in the evening.
Smaller meals and more frequent meals not only reduces insulin but boosts
metabolism therefore burning more calories.
Today's Hardbody Cafe will show your a few daily plans that will give you
25% of your daily calories at breakfast, 25% at lunch a substantial snack
of 25% of your calories and a moderate dinner of 25%.
For women trying to lose weight a good rule of thumb is to eat 10 calories
per pound of body weight. I weigh 145 lbs., so I would need at least 1,450
calories. Men's limit is 12 calories per pound of body weight.
You can add 2 to 3 additional calories per pound if you exercise for at least
30 minutes, 3 times a week.
This rate would result in a pound a week weight loss......which studies show
is the rate that is most likely to be permanent and prevents the loss of
burning muscle.
We recommend fat calories do not exceed 20% of your daily calories which
is about 33 grams of fat for someone eating 1,500 calorie a day (like myself)
40 grams for those eating 1,800 calories and 51 grams if your consume 2,300
calories a day.
Here's a sample MENU -- DAY 1
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Snack:
Dinner:
Dessert:
Before bed:
TOTAL DAILY CALORIES = 1,515 CALORIES
If you go on an extremely low calorie diet, less than 1,500 calories and
get too little protein, you might develop hair loss, dry skin with cracks,
cold hands, irregular periods, dull hair, and horizontal lines across your
nails.
If you have cracks in the corners of your mouth, you might be missing,
Riboflavin, Thiamin and Niacin......eat more chicken, oatmeal or halibut.
If you have bleeding gums.....you might be missing vitamin C.......drink
more orange juice or have a baked potato.
Pale colored gums and nails, you might be missing Iron......have a 1/2 cup
of kidney beans or bowl of bran flakes.
Slow healing cuts and bruises can mean low Zinc.....eat cantaloupe, spinach
or dark meat turkey.
Leg cramps are usually caused by low potassium, magnesium and calcium.....have
a banana, some wheat germ and plain yogurt.
Fatigue is due to low vitamin E......have another helping of spinach, wheat
germ, asparagus or almonds.
In all these cases, if you are supplementing your diet with your liquid vitamins
and protein drinks, you'll mostly avoid any of these symptoms.
Sample MENU -- DAY 2
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Snack:
Dinner:
Dessert:
Before Bed:
TOTAL DAILY CALORIES = 1,662
Change Your Eating Habits!
People are generally creatures of habit. We like to eat the same foods, wear
the same types of clothes, go to the same grocery stores, to the same gyms,
to the same car washes, even to the same restaurants. We simply resist change!
Knowing how hard it would be to try to change the types of foods you eat,
I will settle at simply modifying the recipes of those foods you like to
prepare.
1 cup of no sugar applesauce = 112 calories, 0 fat grams 1 Tablespoon oil
= 121 calories and 100% fat
1 Tablespoon of coffeemate is 59.1% fat 2 Tablespoons of dry non-fat milk
is less than 1% fat
1/4 cup of Egg Beaters has 30 calories, no fat 2 whole eggs have 156 calories,
10 fat grams
2 egg whites replace 1 egg yolk. Always beat the egg whites before folding
them into a recipe and save yourself about 5 fat grams.
1 cup Grapenuts = 375 calories, .6 fat grams 1 cup Almonds = 909 calories,
77 fat grams
1 oz. of regular cream cheese = 98 calories, 9.6 fat grams 1 oz. of Weight
Watchers cream cheese = 22 calories, .4 fat grams
2 Tablespoons of sour cream has 5 grams of fat 2 Tablespoons of nonfat yogurt
and nonfat cottage cheese have 0 grams of fat
1 spray of Pam is only 2 calories and .2 fat grams
One English muffin = 182 calories, 3.6 fat grams and 17.8% fat One croissant
= 272 calories, 17.3 fat grams and 57.2% fat One blueberry muffin = 327 calories,
12 fat grams and 33% fat!
1 oz. Tootsie roll = 112 calories, 2.3 fat grams 1 gingersnap = 36 calories,
1.3 fat grams 1 oz. jelly beans = 104 calories, .1 fat grams 1 oz. licorice
= 99 calories, .4 fat grams 3 sticks of Wrigley's gum = 10 calories, 0 fat
grams 3 fat free Health Valley cookies = 75 calories, 0 fat grams 2 oz. Snickers
bar = 135 calories, 6.5 fat grams 1 oz. Hershey Mr. Goodbar = 162 calories,
10.6 fat grams 1 Vanilla wafer = 13 calories, .4 fat grams Modifying just a few of your favorite recipes will save you a lot of fat calories, a lot of working off excess pounds and leave you a lot healthier and happier....and with little or not trouble. Besides no one will be able to tell the difference. Only you and your frying pan will know for sure! |
