If you promised yourself you’d shape up your diet,here are the five easiest and healthiest habits to start today.
First thing , if it has a label , don’t eat it. Spend less time reading the fine print for calories and grams of fat by eating stuff that has no label.Whole fruits,vegetables,bulk grains and foods that haven’t been chemically altered have no labels.
Second would be , when in doubt , saute with garlic.Just chop up your veggies and saute them with olive oil,garlic and salt.This works for everything,If it’s something hard, like brocolli stalks or buttternut squash , simply cut the vegetable up really small.
Next , keep a food journal. It’s a powerful reality check of what goes into your mouth.You can also write down what’s going on in your life to determine when you tend to overindulge.
Fourth step, check ‘em grains. Trade refined carbs e.g. white pasta and white rice for brown rice ,barley,spelt,millet ,quinoa and buckwheat.
Last but not least ,create a salad bar in your fridge.After buying your greens, immediately wash,chop and store them, and make a week’s worth of salad dressing. Assemble your salad each morning before work !
It’s not just what you eat that counts on the road to losing weight,it’s about how much you eat too.How does your sense of portion control measure up?
What do you think a portion size of say,breakfast cereal or meat should be? I hope you’re sitting down because it will probably be a shock.I know it is to me every time i see the particular truth in black and white!
According to healthy eating guidelines,a serving of breakfast cereal should be one ounce and a serving of meat should be two to three ounces.Cereal belongs to the food group of which we can have 6-11 servings a day,but it could be very easy to eat and nuts,should be contributing 2-3 servings a day to our diet.Again,it’s astonishing how quickly that can add up.
Here’s a checklist of the sorts of foods we should be eating for healthybalance of nutrients.It gives a range for the number of daily serving (e.g. 6-11 servings).The upper end of range really intended only for a very active man;most of us,especially sedentary women,should took to the lower end.There are also a few handy little visual ideas of what that amount looks like.It helps to get good at estimating these by eye because you can’t carry around a set of scales everywhere you go.Well,you could,but it would look a little obsessive.
Bread,cereal,rice and pasta - 6-11 servings
A serving is :
1 slice of bread (the size of an audio cassette tape)
1 small bread roll
2 heaped tablespoons of boiled rice
3 heaped tablespoons of boiled pasta
2 crispbreads
2 egg-sized potatoes
3 tablespoons of dry porridge oats
Fruit and vegetables - 2-4 servings of the former,3-5 servings of the latter
This is based on US recommendations.In the UK,the suggested amount of fruit and vegetables is ‘at least 5′ a day.
A serving is :
2-3 small pieces of fruit,such as plums
1 heaped tablespoon of dried fruit such as raisins
1 medium-sized piece of fresh fruit suchas half of a grapefruit or a melon
1 side salad,the size of a cereal bowl
3 heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables such as carrots
Meat,fish,eggs,nuts,dry beans - 2-3 servings a day
A serving is :
60-90 g (2-3 ounces) of cooked lean meat,poultry or fish.This the size of a deck cards or the palm of your hand.
150 g (5 ounces) of white fish (or three fish fingers)
120 g(4 ounces) of soya,tofu or quorn
5 tablespoons of baked beans
2 tablespoons of nuts and nut products
Milk,yoghurt and cheese - 2-3 servings a day
A serving is :
200 ml milk
1 small pot of yoghurt
90 g (3 ounces) of cottage cheese
30 g (1 ounce) of cheddar or other hard cheese.This is roughly the size of matchbox.
Cut back on fat and you’ll reap rewards on your bum and your thights.Try some simple and painless ways to reduce fat in your diet.
If you’re reading this,no doubt your priority right now is on your behind.And,given that being overweight is a major factor in cellulite,it’s time to slash some of the naughty stuff from your diet.Let’s start with some home thruths about dietary fat:
Weight for weight,fat contains twice as many calories as sugar.
1 g of fat contains 9 calories,while 1 g of sugar contains about 3-4 cals – so one of the best ways to cutback on calories bis to reduce your fat intake.
Fat calories make you fatter than carbohydrate and protein calories.
That’s because fat is closest to the form it needs to be for storage – to metabolise it requires 3 calories for every 100 calories you eat.That leaves a whopping97 to be stored in your fat cells.
Compare this with the number of calories required to metabolise carbohydrates,about 10-15 calories which leaves only 85-90 to be stored.Proteins wins hand thought; it requires an amazing 20 calories to use it.So if you want to boost your metabolism,stick to protein and carbs and go easy on the fat.
Try sticking to a moderate fat restriction eating plan (where it accounts for between 30and 32 % of your total calorie intake).You are more much likely to keep the weight off this way than by restricting it to 20-25% because it’s more palatable and therefore easier to stick with.
You don’t have to suffer on a fat-free regime to lose weight.There are plenty of painless ways to cut back:
Ban margarine,butter or cheese in your sandwiches (and use tuna,turkey and low fat ham as fillings).Mustard and low-fat dressing make good alternatives to spreads.
Reduce red meat consumption by adding beans or root vegetables such as parsnips and turnips to casseroles or horpots to bulk up your servings.
Keep away from food preservedin oil; check the labels and stick to brine or fresh water instead.
Stop frying food ; instead barbecue/griddle or grill your fish or meat.
If you’re making meat casserole,leave it to go cold,then remove any fat on the surface.
Never add butter to your potatoes; try mustard or fromage frais in the mashed potatoes instead.
Drink clear broths or vegetable soups instead of creamy ones.
Never add cream to pasta sauces or soups.
Try these swaps:
Instead of steamed puddings and cream,opt for crumbles;they’ll keep your fruit intake high.Plus if you swap heavy crumble mixture for brown-breadcrumbs and a sprinkling of brown sugar you’ll keep it lower calorie still.
Instead of toast smoothered with butter try hummous – it’s a good source of protein,plus it’s high in soluble fibre which lowers cholesterol levels.
Love roasts?Swap red meat for white meat – and use spray olive to add taste and oils and balsamic vinegar and cut back on fat.
