Especially when dining out, restaurants tend to give fairly large portions especially when it’s pasta. Whole grain or whole wheat pasta is healthy when it’s cooked properly – but a large portion is too much! Pasta dishes should be served as a side dish versus being the center of the entire meal.

There are two things that I recommend:

– 1) Use a smaller plate at home. When you’re dining out, ask the waiter to bring you a “take home” box and immediately remove half of your meal. This will help you overcome the temptation of eating too much.

– 2) Each meal should consist of protein (one-quarter of your plate), vegetables or fruit (one-half of your plate), and unrefined grains (one-quarter of your plate).

Additionally, your calorie intake should be spread evenly throughout the day. I really like one of the statements Rick Gallop (an author) made, he said “If your digestive system is busy processing food and steadily supplying energy to your brain, you won’t be desperately looking for high-calorie snacks.”

Today everything has been supersized!

Instead of a can of soda you get a 24 ounce bottle, chips and snacks come in extra large bags, or everything is “king size”. Sometimes you may get a price break on products in a larger quantity but it doesn’t help your waistline if you don’t practice portion control!

It also makes it difficult to realize and visualize what a portion size should be. So try using the following:

– For meat – three to four ounces equals the size of a deck of cards

– Your thumb is approximately one ounce (from base to the tip of it) or one tablespoon

– For females, the palm of your hand equals roughly four ounces

– For males, the palm of your hand equals roughly six to eight ounces

– One cup is the approximate size of a tennis or baseball

– A female’s fist is equal to approximately one cup

– When you cup your hands – this is equal to approximately two ounces

So whenever you reach for something to eat take a “visual” look at the portion amount and follow the above to keep your portions in check!

Consider purchasing foods (especially snack foods) in single servings instead of large or extra large bags. And remember that fruits and vegetables are your most nutritious and low-calorie snacks!

Healthy Cooking Substitutes

– Marinating foods adds flavor and helps tenderize meats. Instead of buying prepackaged mixes, make up your own using fresh spices and herbs.

– When you bake goods, use whole grain or whole wheat flour. These are much healthier than processed white flour.

– When you’re baking a cake, brownies etc., replace the oil with pure apple sauce. Apple sauce will give it the moisture that it needs and it won’t change the flavor of your baked goods, and you’re cutting calories and fat.

– Think high fiber when you’re baking breads or muffins, add fiber such as oatmeal, wheat germ, or bran.

– For each egg – replace that with two egg whites.

– Spice it up when you bake and replace sugar with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom, or caramel.

– Instead of using cream sauces, use herbs and spices for flavoring in vegetables, meat, and fruit dishes.

– Swap your sour cream for nonfat sour cream, yogurt, or cottage cheese and add a touch of dill for flavoring. Another great substitute is Greek yogurt – great taste with less calories and fat.

– Instead of cream cheese try blending one-quarter cup of fat-free margarine with one cup of low fat cottage cheese. You’ll eliminate fat and calories!

– I’ve also found that most recipes call for a lot more sugar than necessary. Cut the required sugar amount by one-third and you’ll find it’s still excellent.

Healthier Cooking Methods

– Cooking Spray is recommended for replacing oil or butter when you’re cooking but I’m not crazy about that. If it’s organic I will use it on occasion, however regular sprays have ingredients I won’t use. Instead of cooking spray, try using vegetable stock to cook with. Use a non-stick skillet with a little stock, it works great.

– When you’re going to use stew, soup, or stock – make sure to remove the fat first.

– Sauté food using non-stick cookware to eliminate fat. Sauté using broth or wine, it adds great flavor and reduces fat.

– Microwaving foods is quick and it doesn’t add calories or fat.

– Braising is also a good alternative. Brown your ingredients in a pan – add a small amount of water or vegetable stock to finish cooking.

When you’re looking at your recipes, look for the above ingredients and make changes. You’ll still have a great tasting dish minus some unneeded fat and calories!

Why so important?

First it gives you energy. Especially if you’re working out. You should always eat something a little while before working out.

Secondly, it helps control your appetite. If you starve yourself until lunch chances are you’re going to over-eat on foods that aren’t as nutritional.

Most people pass up breakfast because they don’t want to take the time to cool. But in today’s world – you don’t have to cook a huge breakfast!

There are many breakfast cereals that are nutritionally balanced and not loaded with sugar. They’re also high fiber which helps you feel full longer.

Some of those are oatmeal, Kashi cereals, All Bran, and Fiber One. Read your nutrition labels, choose something with at least 5 grams of fiber per serving and low in sugar.

One of my favorites is yogurt mixed with granola and berries. Quick and easy and sustaining.

Have time to cook – fix a veggie omelet or toast a whole wheat or whole grain muffin.

You can also prepare dishes in advance.

One of my favorites is Cranberry Cinnamon Bran Muffins.

Ingredients

– 1 cup wheat bran
– 1/2 cup 100% Bran cereal such as All Bran
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1 cup skim milk
– 1/2 cup boiling water
– 1/3 cup sugar substitute (I use Stevia which requires a lot less – 2 packages)
– 1 cup dried cranberries
– 1 egg
– 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
– 1/4 cup canola oil
– 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
– 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Combine the cereal, wheat bran and salt in a bowl. Add the boiling water and stir well. Then stir in the cranberries and milk and set aside.

2) In another bowl whisk the egg, sugar, and oil together. Stir this into the bran mixture.

3) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

4) In another large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda together. Then pour the bran mixture over the flour mixture and stir just enough to combine them.

5) Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups (lined or greased).

6) Bake for 20 minutes and test with a cake tester.

These will store for 2 days at room temperature or you can freeze them for about a month. If it’s hot weather, refrigerate them.

These are low-fat and high-fiber. They work great for a snack or eat with yogurt for breakfast!

Enjoy!

I have a recipe from Denise Austin that you’ll love if you love Thai Food!

Broiled Beef Slices With Bangkok Salad

Ingredients

– 12 ounces lean boneless beef top round steak, trimmed of all visible fat
– 1/2 tsp. crushed red-pepper flakes, divided
– 1/8 tsp. salt
– 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
– 2 tablespoons fish sauce (sold in the international foods aisle)
– 2 tbsp. olive or canola oil
– 1 tbsp. sugar
– 1 garlic clove, crushed through a press
– 6 cups shredded red and green leaf lettuce, romaine, or mixed greens
– 1 cup sliced cucumber
– 1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet white onion
– 1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
– 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
– 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint

Preparation

Preheat the broiler. Line a broiler pan with foil and coat the rack with cooking spray. Rub the steak on both sides with 1/4 tsp. pepper flakes and the salt.

Broil the steak 4 to 6 inches from the heat, turning once, for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on thickness, until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 145°F, for medium rare. Transfer to a plate.

In a large salad bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, oil, sugar, garlic, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes. Mix with a fork. Spoon one tablespoon of the dressing over the steak on the plate, and let the steak stand for 10 minutes.

Add the greens, cucumber, onion, radishes, cilantro, and mint to the remaining dressing and toss to mix well. Divide among individual plates.

Cut the steak into thin slices on an angle and arrange on top of the salads. Spoon the steak juices over the top.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 223 calories, 11 g carbohydrates, 22 g protein, 11 g total fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber, 735 mg sodium

Enjoy!!

I’ve incorporated 4 powerful techniques into my lifestyle that have helped me lose weight and keep it off and I am going to share them with you in hopes that they’ll be helpful to you as well.

1) Create A Contract/Covenant With Yourself

Make your health a priority. Outline clearly your weight loss goals. Determine how you’re going to do it – food choices and exercise options. Write down your specific long-term and short-term goals.

Be sure to include a non-food reward for both short-term and long-term goals. Using this information, create a contract with yourself that you actually sign and post in a visible spot.

2) Keep A Food Journal

Keeping track of every bite of food that goes into your mouth is a powerful tool for losing weight. Include what foods/drinks you consumed and your emotional state that day.

You’ll quickly identify your eating habits and be able to pinpoint what changes are required in order to attain your weight loss goals.

3) Keep Track Of Milestones and Achievements

Give yourself a starting date and a deadline. Include your exercise, meal times, and menu planning time on your monthly calendar so you see it at a glance.

Remember, losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifestyle, not a fad diet.

Mark on the calendar when you’re going to quit drinking soda or stop snacking on chips. When you reach the goal, celebrate!

Visual tracking of your success is a powerful key to making sure you lose weight and stick with your new healthy habits and lifestyle.

You’ll be inspired and motivated to keep moving forward and never go back to being unhealthy and unhappy.

4) Create a Photo Record

Photographs are not going to lie. Take photos of yourself at the beginning of your weight loss journey and continue to do so until you reach your ultimate goal. Take photos from the front, back, and a silhouette from the side.

Accountability is a great motivator for some people.

If that’s true for you, do a scrapbook about your weight loss journey and include photos, food tips, exercise tips, etc.

You’ll be encouraged and so will others who can relate to your struggles and successes.

Proteins and healthy fats are best eaten for breakfast so your body has an excellent source of energy to start your day. Lunch can still consist of lean protein, but be sure to add fruits and/or vegetables too.

Dinner is best eaten prior to 7PM so your body has a chance to process your food before you go to bed. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up for weight gain.

Opt for smaller portions of protein for dinner along with more emphasis on fruits and vegetables.

Weight loss efforts are typically sabotaged late in the day. That afternoon slump or just being plain tired at the end of the day can push you to make poor food choices that will cause your body to hold on to excess calories overnight, resulting in unwanted weight gain.

If you must eat at the end of the day, opt for a piece of fruit with perhaps a few nuts or some cut up veggies.

Drink More Water and Eat Lots of Fiber

These are two simple lifestyle changes that have great impact on weight loss. Fiber makes you feel full, so you’ll eat less.

Eat whole-grain foods, vegetables, and fruits that contain higher amounts of fiber and you’ll end up eating less overall because you’ll be satisfied.

Drink water throughout the day. Keep a water bottle on hand at home and in your vehicle. Green tea is an acceptable beverage if you desire something other than water.

Cut out all sugary drinks and you may see a dramatic weight loss, up to 5 pounds or so, simply from following this tip.

Is it really possible to trick your mind into helping you lose weight? Absolutely.

For example, smaller portions of food on a smaller plate tricks your mind into thinking you are getting a lot of food instead of feeling deprived.

You will find that you’re more satisfied over time if you eat from smaller bowls and plates and drink from smaller cups. Try this technique for a few months and see if you’re not eating less, but feeling satisfied at the same time.

Now, just because you know you’re using smaller containers, doesn’t mean you go back for seconds!

Dining out can be a challenge, but instead of getting anxious about it, try this tip.

When you order your meal, ask the waiter to immediately place one-half of your entrée into a to-go box and then ask him to serve you the other half of your meal on a smaller plate. Voila, you can trick your mind dining out too.

Use Hypnosis To Lose Weight-Learn How Here

A well-respected nutritionist, Barbara Rolls, PhD, created the Volumetrics Eating Plan. She understands a human beings’ need to eat more food rather than less food, even when trying to lose unwanted weight.

Volumetrics is based on eating foods that have low-density energy rather than high-density energy. For example, foods that contain more water than heavy calories will fill you up make you feel satisfied, and help curb the cravings that come along with eating high-density energy foods. The diet focuses on eating more food, but foods that are not packed with calories.

Dr. Rolls says that if you’re told you can only eat a certain amount of food and nothing else, you might be able to stay on the diet for a short time, but will eventually break down and return to what is comforting for you – your old eating habits. Of course, the weight will also return.

She gives you plenty of tools with which to work in order to achieve your desired weight on the Volumetrics Eating Plan. The plan calls for learning how to choose low-density energy foods, keeping track of your food intake and exercise daily, and provides several recipes from which to choose so you won’t get bored or frustrated.

Foods You Can Eat

The focus is on foods with low-density energy, which are foods that don’t have a lot of calories.

Low-density energy foods

– Soup broths
– Non-starchy vegetables
– Fruits
– Non-fat dairy products

High-density foods however pack a lot of calories in a very small serving. These are foods you want to avoid.

– Potato chips
– Desserts – cookies, cakes
– Butter
– Nuts
– Oils
– Chocolate
– Crackers

Of course, Dr. Rolls encourages a healthy intake of water each day, 8-10 glasses, but drinking water alone will not fill you up and satisfy the cravings or hunger like eating the right foods will do for you. No foods are forbidden, so if you have a craving for that dark chocolate mousse, go ahead and indulge. Just don’t eat as much of it!

Exercise

Dr. Rolls doesn’t tout a specific exercise program, but does say that you should work up to a minimum of 30 minutes of heart-pumping cardiovascular activity per day. As you get stronger and fit, work up to 60 minutes per day.

Costs

The book costs around $11.00.

Pros

– Eat more food, lose weight
– Feel full after eating instead of hungry
– Focus is on healthy foods
– No food is off limits
– Over 100 recipes included
– Teaches you how to choose healthier foods
– Safe weight loss – 1 to 2 pounds per week
– Not a diet, it’s a lifestyle

Cons

– Recipes are based on making meals from scratch – time consuming for some
– Water empties out of your body quickly – may feel hungry in between meals
– A daily journal may be time consuming for some people
– Slow weight loss – 1 to 2 pounds per week (too slow for those who want immediate results)

Summary

The Volumetrics Eating Plan is a solid and reasonable lifestyle of eating and exercising. It’s attainable and realistic. It’s not restrictive like many diets out there, so you’ll enjoy eating foods you love and foods that will keep the weight off for years to come. Dr. Rolls’ principles for losing weight slowly and safely are sound.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots (also known as an idiot proof diet) is an online weight loss program that promises you’ll lose up to 9 pounds every 11-day cycle.

The diet is based on the idea that you eat just until you begin to feel “full”, at which time you cease eating for that meal. Meals are spaced throughout the day so your metabolism stays high in anticipation of the food the body receives at the next meal. This technique, according to the creators of Fat Loss 4 Idiots, burns more fat and you lose more weight.

Once you have purchased the download, you simply go online and input your food preferences. The site then generates daily menus for you to follow based on those preferences.

Grab Fat Loss 4 Idiots Here

Foods You Can Eat

Lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, whole grains, and vegetables are all acceptable food choices on the Calorie Shifting plan. The plan allows for 4 meals per day. You are not required to count calories or carbohydrates. You’re not to worry about portion size either, but it’s highly recommended that you eat meals 2 ½ hours apart to keep your metabolism guessing.

10 glasses of water per day is also highly recommended to flush fat out of the body.

You must avoid fast food choices altogether while on this diet.

Exercise

This plan recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of intense cardiovascular exercise at least 4-5 days a week, if not more. In addition, resistance training is recommended at least 3-5 days per week.

Cost

Fat Loss 4 Idiots program includes a downloadable e-book called The Diet Handbook and access to an online community. The cost for the download and online access is $39.00. An additional e-book resource called “Beyond Calories” is also available at the time of membership for another $17.00. (Prices always subject to change)

Pros

– Lose weight quickly
– Affordable
– Online community for support
– Eat several meals a day – won’t feel deprived
– Create personalized meals based on your favorite foods
– No foods are necessarily forbidden other than fast food
– Fits into almost any lifestyle

Cons

– No fast food allowed
– Unsafe to lose 9 pounds in 11 days – very unlikely for some people
– Could lose muscle mass on this diet
– Difficult to maintain a healthy weight on this diet – no long term results
– Metabolism could react by dropping permanently once you quit the diet
– No specific exercise regimen provided
– Could cause other health problems as result of rapid loss of weight

Summary

Calorie Shifting – Fat Loss 4 Idiots may be a good way to jump start a weight loss program, but it’s not wise for a lifestyle of maintaining a healthy weight. It can help you lose weight, but you should also be aware that unless you keep to a reasonable diet and a solid exercise program, you would inevitably gain the weight back again. If you opt for this diet, it would be best to consult your physician before beginning.

Grab Fat Loss 4 Idiots Here

The Big Breakfast Diet will appeal to anyone who loves the idea of eating a Sunday-style breakfast every day. This diet is based on the idea that by eating a huge breakfast that includes all of your favorite proteins and sweet foods, you’ll rev up your metabolism first thing in the morning.

Daniela Jakubowicz, MD created the diet based on evidence that people who eat a healthy breakfast lose more weight, are more satisfied throughout the day, and seem to be able to maintain their weight more successfully.

Jakubowicz says that people who feel full will not experience the cravings that carbohydrates cause, cravings that usually make people eat things they shouldn’t throughout the day. The result is weight gain. On The Big Breakfast Diet, carb cravings are reduced permanently and the result is sustained weight loss.

Foods You Can Eat

It’s a 28-day plan. The basic outline for the diet is as follows:

– Breakfast – 600-800 calories consumed at breakfast before 9 a.m. These calories must include 7 servings protein (2 of those should be from dairy), 2 fat servings, 2 carbs servings, and 1 sweet food.
– Lunch – no carbohydrates permitted. For lunch, eat 3 servings protein, 2 servings sweet vegetables, 3 servings low-calorie veggies, and 1 fruit serving.
– Dinner – it’s best to consume no protein at dinner, but if you must, limit it to 3 servings protein. You can eat as many servings of low-calorie vegetables as you like, 2 servings of sweet vegetables, and you can enjoy 2 fruit servings.

So, essentially, eat what you want for breakfast, as long as you’re finished by 9 a.m. Want real bacon? Gingersnaps? Chocolate brownie? Jellybeans? Pancakes? Country sausage with biscuits and gravy? Eat them all!

Exercise

No specific exercise regimen is mentioned.

Costs

You can find the book on Amazon.

Pros

– Eating breakfast is a good practice
– Promises significant weight loss in a short time
– Accelerates metabolism
– Feel full – curbs cravings over the day

Cons

– You must make and eat a huge breakfast within 15 minutes of getting out of bed
– Large amount of food first thing – may cause sleepiness and sluggishness
– Specific times to eat – breakfast before 9 a.m., lunch by 2 p.m. and dinner by 4 p.m.
– Calorie intake for day is not heeded – could result in weight gain for some
– High amounts of fat and carbs – could be issue for heart health

Summary

The Big Breakfast Diet could be the answer some people have been looking for, but it should be noted that overall calorie count throughout the day still makes a difference when it comes to successful weight loss. If you keep your total calorie count between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day, you’re more likely to lose weight than if you opt for a larger breakfast that amounts to more like 3,000 calories per day. Eating breakfast is always a good choice, but it’s still important to pay close attention to the number of calories you eat and the types of food you consume for ultimate health.