To enjoy your food and count calories too, try the following suggestions:
* Choose lean meat, such as round steak and flank steak, and trim off visible fat.
* Leave the chicken skin on your plate or remove the skin prior to cooking, so you won’t be tempted to eat it.
* Broil, boil, poach, steam, or roast foods rather than frying.
* Go easy on the mayonnaise, salad dressing, butter, or margarine.
* Choose low fat dairy products.
* Treat yourself to an exotic fresh fruit such as mangos, raspberries, papayas, or kiwi fruit instead of a rich dessert.
* Take only one serving of foods- watch those seconds.
* Eat slowly – savor each bite – and enjoy eating healthy while keeping your calorie count lower.
Helpful Hints:
* When you go out to a party or restaurant try to remember there will always be special occasions and you don’t need to overeat. Choose between your immediate and long-term goals.
* Eating at a fast food restaurant – order a regular hamburger with mustard instead of the larger burger with mayonnaise – order lowfat milk instead of a shake – peel the skin off the fried chicken and the coating off the fried fish.
* Traveling – request a special lighter meal from the airline – carry some fruit, cheese, crackers, or nuts for nutritious on the road snacks.
* It’s all right to be less than perfect – don’t feel guilty for eating, just remember the equation, eat less + exercise more = weight loss.
* Reduce food’s priority in your life and increase the priority for lower weight.
While you’re in that area of the store, consider other ways to jazz up your meals.
* Basil, oregano, and Italian seasoning add exotic flavor to vegetables, pasta, and poultry.
* Carrots, winter squash, and creamed spinach taste better with a dash of nutmeg.
* Dill weed or dill seed make an excellent seasoning for potato soup, cooked cabbage, or cole slaw.
* Simmer a bay leaf with your soups and stews for a subtle boost in flavor and aroma.
* Sage is an excellent accent for roasted poultry, poultry stews, and stuffings.
* Add a pinch of thyme to peas, lima beans, and other legumes.
Did You Know That…
– dieting can stop you from growing to your full height? Your body needs calories and other nutrients to grow and develop fully.
– adding a big dollop of dressing to your salad can make it higher in calories than a hamburger? Pizza and hamburgers can be healthful food choices if you know which toppings to choose.
– vitamin pills won’t give you energy? Energy comes from calories in food. Vitamin pills have no calories.
– when you have a period you lose iron? If you don’t eat iron-rich foods to replace this loss, you will feel weak and tired.
– your bones take in the most calcium during your teen years and early twenties? Calcium gives your bones strength, and the best sources are milk, yogurt, and cheese.
– chocolate and greasy foods do not cause acne? Changing hormones may aggravate acne.
– if you don’t eat breakfast, your body is like a computer without power?