Lose Weight Now

Have you ever noticed that when you started eating better and more nutritious food that your skin looked a lot healthier. Eating a balanced and nutritious diet, benefits your skin greatly. Your skin is the biggest organ you have and it needs certain vitamins and nutrients. By not eating healthy, you are depriving your skin of those nutrients. In return, your skin will look dull, discolored, or you may get frequent acne breakouts. You can simply change the appearance of your skin and bring it back to life with a healthy diet and plenty of water.

 So, no only will the inside of your body benefit from a healthy diet, but the outside will too. At the same time you are losing weight, you can be making your skin glow and look radiant. Try adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet day by day and you will soon see your skin clearing up and looking healthier every day.  

Photo Credit: bobike@www.sxc.hu

After I went grocery shopping two days ago, my husband turns to me and says,  ”We need to buy more meat. All you buy is chicken.” Now, I do still make meat meals such as meatloaf, meatball subs, and taco meat for salads and even pot roasts. What other meat does he want? The thing is that I do make a lot of chicken. It’s healthier and it’s easier to prepare in a healthy way. I guess he is getting sick of the chicken already. We are not big fish eaters, so chicken is like the diet staple for me. How do I convince my husband though to eat 3 times a week?

 I tried to look up different chicken recipes online, but there are only so many that are  considered healthy or I could tweak to make them healthy. I’m not going to make chicken and then add a cream sauce or tons of cheese to it. It defeats the purpose. So, what’t your favorite healthy chicken recipe? Do you have a chicken recipe that is unique and not like everything else. Because I really don’t want to have to make two meals at night because my husband stops eating chicken!

Have you ever been sick of food? I get like this often. Nothing sounds good to eat, I’m not hungry and food is just not appealing right now. I’m not sure why I get this way but it’s actually not good. I’m not sure if I’m dehydrated and by body is telling me to  drink water or if it’s a mental issue.  Today is one of those days that I just don’t want to eat. I basically forced myself to eat a piece of cheese and a piece of turkey lunch meat (I did not want the bread at all) for lunch but it was so unappetizing. (yes, my craving for Taco Bell yesterday is gone, and no I had a salad for dinner and not Taco Bell)

So, what am I do to on these days except force myself to eat and drink. I can’t go all day without eating as I will have no energy and my metabolism will slow down to nothing. Sometimes I find that after I workout, I get hungry, so that helps sometimes. Do you ever get this way? You are just plain sick of food and want nothing to do with it. (On an average basis, I love food!) What helps you get out of this slump?

So I was watching TV earlier and a commercial for Taco Bell came on and I about started drooling. When I was pregnant with my child, all I ever craved was Taco Bell and Chipotle. Well, I thought that once I wasn’t pregnant anymore these cravings would subside, but apparently not.

Cravings are the worse when you are trying to lose weight. When you have an intense craving, nothing else is going to do. If you want nachos and instead you eat a salad, you are still going to feel hungry and want your nachos. Now, there are some cravings that will go away within a couple of minutes and you never think about them again. But, then there are other cravings, like this Taco Bell one I am having that stick with you for a long time, and I’m talking days, not just hours.

So, what are you to do when you have these intense cravings when trying to lose weight? Well, you could give in completely and devour your craving until you don’t want anymore.  You could just try to ignore and hope and pray that it goes away soon and keep eating your carrot sticks. Or you can deal with it the healthy way and give into your craving the sensible way. For me this may mean that I get a soft taco fresco style which doesn’t have sour cream or cheese on it, but rather a tasty pico salsa on it. Giving into your cravings will help you to realize that you are not punishing yourself on your diet and that you can incorporate real food into your healthy eating. You just have to watch your portions and pick the healthiest version of your craving.

Photo credit:cohdra@www.morguefile.com

The Super Bowl is tomorrow and if you are going to be hosting or attending a Super Bowl party, there most likely is going to be greasy, fattening foods. I mean isn’t that the basis of a Super Bowl Party. Well, there is a healthy alternative.

Here’s an idea for your dip. Instead of making the calorie laden 7 layer dip, make a fresh salsa instead. Chop up some tomatoes, onion, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro. Add a little bit of salt and pepper to taste and you have a simple, yet very healthy dip for your Super Bowl party.  Allow the salsa to sit for at least a couple of hours to allow the flavors to mix. Then serve it with some baked tortilla chips or better yet whole grain tortilla chips. If you think that your guest won’t like the whole grain, then put out regular tortilla chips also.

No one is going to miss the fattening 7 layer dip with this tasty salsa and you can save tons of calories on Super Bowl Sunday!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it’s important that you eat a healthy and balanced breakfast if you want to lose weight. Here is a great choice for the perfect healthy breakfast.

Egg white veggie omelet - use only egg whites to consume less calories, if you want you can add in one full egg with the yolk. Cook the omelet in light cooking spray. Add as many veggies as you wish, some of the veggies that I like are onions, spinach, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini. If you like salsa you can even add some salsa or hot sauce to the top of your omelet.

To make this an even more balanced meal, add half a grapefruit, an orange or strawberries to the side. Add a glass of skim milk to drink and you have a healthy balanced breakfast that is tasty. You have the protein from the eggs, you have your veggies and fruit and then you have your dairy from the milk. This is a great go-to breakfast for anybody looking to lose weight and eat healthy.

What sounds better on a cold, snowy day than a nice hot bowl of chili. Well, if you are trying to lose some weight, a bowl of chili can add up in the calories. But, thank goodness chili is one of the recipes that can easily be fixed to be healthier and less in calories. Here is how I make my chili a little bit healthier when trying to lose weight.

*Use the leanest ground meat available or better yet use ground chicken or turkey instead of ground meat. It will give it a slightly different taste but to me taste just as good!

*I like my chili spicy so that I don’t need other food items in my chili. If I have spicy, flavorful chili I see no need for cheese or sour cream to add flavor. Sour cream and cheese are the biggest calorie foods that you can add to your chili. Avoid them or try to only add a small amount of the low-fat versions.

*I saute my onions in cooking spray instead of olive oil to save some calories.

*If you need crackers for your chili, try whole wheat ones instead of plain saltines.

*Add plenty of vegetables top your chili. I like to add onions, green peppers and red peppers to my chili.

*I’m not a big fan of beans, but adding beans to your chili can pump up the protein and make you feel full longer even when you eat less.

So, go ahead and have that bowl of nice hot chili. I know I am!

So, I had such a craving for pasta salad and of course, pasta salad is not a weight loss friendly food…. but as I watching the food channel yesterday (yes, I was punishing myself) I came up with a way to make my pasta salad a little more figure friendly. Now,  I am not saying that you should eat this pasta salad all the time, but if you are having a craving for it, it’s a lot less calories and a lot better than you than regular pasta salad.

The key to my healthier pasta salad is to add lots and lots of veggies! For my pasta salad I added broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, red pepper, onion, and green pepper. Make the veggies the majority of the salad

Next I used whole wheat pasta noodles and I limited the number that I added, again ,making the veggies the main ingredient.

For the dressing, I used the Kraft free dressing of the Zesty Italian. It has less calories than a normal Italian dressing and it still has taste and some kick to it.

Last, I used the low-fat 2%milk cheese for the pasta salad.

Like I said, this was a treat for me and it’s just an example of how you can take a craving and make it a little healthier.

There are many health benefits to consuming fish. Eating fish while trying to lose weight is a great way to still eat tasty foods that are low in calories and fat. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids which help everything from your heart and circulation to your skin. When you eat fish not only are consuming less calories but you are adding essential vitamins and minerals to your body making it healthier.

A serving of fish has half the amount of calories than red meat does (depending on the fish). This means that you could eat two servings of fish for what you could only eat one serving of red meat. Who doesn’t want to be able to eat more and lose weight?

Some healthy options for fish are tuna (if canned, make sure packed in water), flounder, catfish, halibut, cod, haddock, mahimahi, and salmon. Also some shellfish are excellent for weight loss also such as shrimp, crab and oysters.

The thing that you have to remember when eating fish and weight loss is the way that you prepare the fish. Do not batter and fry the fish. Instead use methods like grilling, steaming, and baking. Use fresh herbs and lemon juice to flavor the fish. Avoid drowning the fish in butter and try using a serving of olive oil instead.

Also, make sure that you are getting fresh fish from a reputable fish monger or store, as you can get quite sick from spoiled and rotten fish!

There are many people who believe that when they start a weight loss program that their groceries will be even more expensive. For me, I have actually found this to be the opposite. I can actually save money on my grocery bill when I am trying to lose weight and eat healthy. Here are some ways that I am able to save money at the grocery store.

*I only drink water, which is free from my faucet at my house. Every once in awhile I will buy a sugar-free drink mix as a splurge. This saves money on not having to buy pop or juice which can be expensive.

*Check out what lean lunch meats are on sale for the week at your grocery store. I only buy the ones that are on sale, unless they don’t have any specials on lean lunch meats this week. Making a sandwich for lunch everyday is a lot cheaper than eating out or eating frozen meals.

*Even though veggies and fruits may cost a little bit more, it’s still cheaper to stock  up on them than to buy bags of chips and cookies. Also, I look for what fruits and veggies are sale that week and try to use recipes and snacks based on that. Usually your grocery store will have the in-season fruit and veggies on sale.

*My grocery store often runs specials on bulk skinless, boneless chicken breast, often at buy one, get one free. I will buy a big package of the chicken breast and get one the same size free. I then divide the chicken breast into Ziploc freezer bags so that I can have plenty of chicken in the house and get it for a cheap price.

*When losing weight, you end up not buying as much food because an apple or an orange will fill you up for longer than a cookie will.

Basically, pay attention to what is on sale at your grocery store. Chips, pop, cookies, and ice cream are not the only sale items that stores have!