Weight Loss Made Easy

When you get kids cooking you have the opportunity to teach them to eat properly and cook healthy foods. Since eating habits are mostly learned from our parents you can teach a lot about health when you get kids cooking for themselves.

Gather some healthy recipes, using healthy ingredients, and get kids cooking their own meals and meals for the family. Make them happy when you let them make treats.

If you need to entice them to cook you can get kids cooking by telling them if they do a good job they’ll get to make cut out cookies next time. For most kids it won’t take much to get kids cooking, just the chance to do something fun with their parents is usually enough.

You know that little feeling you get in your gut that you think means you’re hungry? You know you just ate an hour ago, so you know you shouldn’t be hungry, but there it is, teasing you and making you think that you must me. Suddenly all you can think about is how to make this feeling go away.

Stop! It’s not hunger. It’s a trick you’re body’s playing on you. Some how, some way, your body has gotten another body function mixed up with hunger.

What is Hunger?

If it really was hunger your stomach would be making that growling noise and would be rumbling around. Is it doing that? Can you actually hear it? Can other people hear it? If the answer is no, then you’re not really hungry.

Then What Is It?

That feeling that you’re mistaking for hunger is actually your stomach digesting the food you just ate. That feeling means that there’s still food in your stomach, so you don’t need to go adding more food.

What Should I Do?

You still want to make that feeling go away. I know, it’s really annoying. Here are some things you can try:

• Drink some water, tea or something else
• Go for a walk or bike ride
• Play with your kids or pets
• Do a puzzle or other activity
• Work in your garden
•  Something, anything to keep your mind off food

This is my own personal diet. I’m going to lose weight and gain control of my bad eating habits once and for all with this little trick. So far so good. The first few days are hard, but once you get the hang of it, it really starts getting quite easy.

The main goals of the diet are:

• keep from getting hungry
• keep blood sugar level
• keep calories low
• cut out cravings

Here are the main rules of the diet:

• eat every 2 hours
• eat between 150 calories at each most meals
• breakfast, lunch and dinner can from 150-400 calories
• you can eat whatever you want at these meals, but you’ll feel better and have more energy if you eat healthy foods.

Some of my favorite foods for this diet:

• cheese (low fat)
• yogurt (low fat, sharp)
• cereal (high fiber, low fat milk)
• half sandwich (turkey, chicken)
•  fruit or veggies
• oatmeal or cream of rice

Believe it or not, if you fill your house with fruits and veggies, and get rid of the chips and candy, your kids will be just as happy, but a lot healthier.  Fruit has long been known as nature’s candy. If you have a variety of fruit in your house your kids won’t get bored with it.

Fruit can be used in many recipes. Cut it up and make a fruit salad. Add shortbread and whipped cream for a sweet treat. There are so many things you can do with fruit that your kids will soon be asking you to make something for them with fruit as the main ingredient instead of chocolate.

You see them everywhere. They’re listed as healthy alternatives to the snacks you really enjoy. But are they really? Reading the labels is more important than ever with all these snack foods out there trying to fool you. Just because they’re listed as low fat or low sugar, it doesn’t mean they’re low calorie, and it certainly doesn’t mean they’re any healthier for you than the original.

Next time you’re at the grocery store pick up a box of Oreos and a box of fat free Oreos and compare. You’ll find that although the fat free version has less fat it has more sugar. The savings in calories is negligible. Try comparing other items that you like to buy and see if the same holds true.

For years companies  have been replacing fat for sugar and sugar for fat. Low fat ends up meaning high sugar and low sugar often means higher fat. There are exceptions. Items made with sugar substitutes like Splenda will be low calorie. Items make with fat substitutes may also have less calories. You decide.

Everyone knows that frying your food is not good for you. It’s high in fat, mostly because you soak your food in fat when you fry it. Instead baking is better and can create foods that are pretty close to the taste of fried foods if done right. When baking though, your food is still  sitting in it’s own fat. So although it’s healthier, it’s still not healthy.

Try broiling or try using a rotisserie. Both styles of cooking allow all the excess fat to drip off your food while you cook it, making it better for you. Broiling must be done carefully though, otherwise you’ll end up with dry or burned food. Done right though, you have something that tastes great.

Eating while watching TV is a sure fire way to eat too much and pack on the pounds. While you’re sitting there you have no idea how much food you’re stuffing into your mouth. Before you know it your dish, or bag, is empty and you don’t have any idea what the food really tasted like. Then your body craves more, so you eat more.

If you turn off the TV and focus soley on your food, you’ll find that you eat less. Your food will taste better too. Take your time and just eat, nothing else. You’ll also eat less because your bored from sitting at the table with no TV. If you want to turn the TV back on, put your dish in the sink and be done with eating.

So your mom ate a lot when you were a kid, and she expected you to do the same. Fill your plate and eat it all, she would say. After all, there are starving kids on the other side of the world who would be really happy to have your food.

You’re all grown up now, it’s time to forget about what your mom said and start eating the right way. Don’t fill your plate anymore. Don’t cook for two people when it’s just you eating. Don’t finish it all if you don’t want to.

It’s better for the extra food to be in the garbage then in your body adding calories. It’s time to grow up and do what you know is right.

Do you eat when you’re sad or when you’re really happy? How about when you’re bored? This is my favorite, eating when  you’re depressed about being overweight. Most overweight people have one or more of these problems.

What you need to do is think before you eat. If it’s not mealtime, or if you’ve already had your meal, then you shouldn’t be eating. If you think you’re hungry and it’s not mealtime, think about why you thing you’re hungry. Decide if you’re really hungry, of if you’re just bored.

If you really think hard before you eat, you may  just realize that you’re not really hungry at all. If it’s only an hour until lunch, you can wait that long.

Adding a little flavor to your food will help you like your low fat diet food better so you won’t crave the high calorie alternatives. This can be done in a low calorie way by just adding a little spice to your life. Here are three ways to make your food a lot tastier.

1. Pesto is a mix of basil, pine nuts and garlic. It’s only 80 calories per tablespoon so add this to your chicken or other foods to add flavor instead of butter or oils.

2. Pimenton is a smoked Spanish paprika. Because it’s much more flavorful than regular paprika it’ll make all your foods have an extra zing to them.

3. Instead of marinading your chicken or fish in an oily high calorie marinade, try rubbing the spices in. Combine a little bit of olive oil with your favorite spices and rub it on really good. Your food will taste great.

When you’re out and about at a restaurant, get what you really want. Even healthy food has calories. If you get the healthy choice you may end up eating more. This is because you need to feel satisfied before stopping. The healthy food didn’t satisfy you as quickly, so you just keep eating.

Also, you may underestimate just how many calories are in that healthy food. So you eat more of it thinking it’s ok to eat more of it. You can eat what you want, as long as you use portion control. This means don’t eat out every night, maybe once a week instead.

Here’s a really easy way you can loose weight while still eating the same foods you eat now. The trick is to not eat everything you’re given. For instance, if you have a blueberry muffin for breakfast, eat all that you would normally eat of it, but this time, leave 3 generous bites on your plate. When you eat your roast beef hogie for lunch, leave 3 generous bites on your plate.

Leave 3 generous bites on your plate of everything you eat from now on. If you don’t normally eat the whole sandwich, eat 3 bites less. If you do this with every meal you’ll save 50-75 calories per meal. That’s 150-225 calories less per day.

Get your body started in the morning by giving it the energy that it deserves. Eat a high protein, high fiber diet and you’ll be ready to take over the day. Here are three health, low calorie ways to start your day.

1. Cereal - Not just any cereal though. Your cereal need to be high protein, this means about 6 or more ounces of protein per serving, but not more than 200 calories. I recommend either Kashi Go Lean or Kashi GO Lean Crunch with half a cup of fat free milk.

2. Egg Sandwich - One scrambled egg and half a slice of melted American cheese on a toasted whole wheat English muffin.

3. Yogurt Parfait - Take some fat free yogurt and add half a cup of berries and an ounce of almonds to it, yum.

If you want to lose weight, make sure you eat breakfast every day. Studies have shown that people who thin eat breakfast and are less likely to gain weight. This is mainly because eating breakfast ensures that you’re not starving come lunch time. If you’re starving at lunch then you’re more likely to overeat or binge.

If you eat about 200 - 300 calories for breakfast, it’s likely that you’ll eat about 100 calories less during the day. Skipping breakfast is not an excuse for eating a lot the rest of the day. No longer will you need to use that excuse either. You’ll feel more in control of your diet if you don’t allow yourself to become famished.

Protein helps keep you full longer, so make sure you add protein to every meal and every snack. This will help you lose weight faster because you won’t feel starved all the time. You need to get at least 25% of your daily calories from lean protein. If you’re on a 1400 calorie diet then you need to have about 90g of protein in your diet daily.

Here are some easy ways to add protein to your diet.

- 3oz chicken breast 26g
- 3oz lean beef sirloin 22g
- 4.4oz 1% cottage cheese 15g
- 1/2C kidney beans 7g
- 1oz cheddar cheese 7g
- 22 almonds 6g
- 1 hard boiled egg 6g
- 6oz Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt 5g

Cheese may seem like a necessity on your sandwich, but it’s really  not. It’s just something extra you add to your sandwich that you don’t really need to have there. The cheese you add to your sandwich adds on an extra 100 calories or so. Leave it out and save 100 calories a day.

The same goes for that mayonnaise you add.  Mayonnaise adds about 100 calories per tablespoon to your sandwich. You probably add more than that. Instead use mustard. It adds flavor without the calories.

Then add some lettuce and a slice of tomato to the top of your sandwich. You won’t regret it. Adding lettuce and tomato really adds another layer of taste without the calories.

A regular size bagel that you get from your local bagel shop has around 350 calories in it. Add some cream cheese to that you you’re packing on some major calories. Cream cheese having about 100 calories per ounce, and you adding about 2 ounces to your bagel, you’re adding another 200 calories to that bagel for a total of 550 calories for just your bagel.

Eat half. If you only eat half the bagel you’ll still be getting a good snack, without that overstuffed feeling. By only eating half the bagel you’ll be saving yourself 225 calories per day. Save the other half for tomorrow or for another snack later.

If you want to save even more calories, find something besides cream cheese or butter to add to your bagel. Maybe a low calorie jam, or a low fat spread instead.

If you stuff your mouth full of food, you’re not tasting it all. Take smaller bites and chew slowly. This is a funny phrase for me because I always told my kids when they were eating to “take small bites and chew good”. I told them that so they wouldn’t choke, but it works for weight loss too.

If you can’t taste every bite, then you can’t enjoy your food. If you’re not enjoying your food then your body will think it didn’t have enough and will want more. Then you eat more because your body no longer knows when it’s full.

Another good reason to eat slowly is that your body doesn’t know it’s full for up to 20 minutes after you’ve started eating. The slower you eat, the less you’ll eat by the time your body tells you it’s had enough.

There’s also the saliva factor. You need saliva in your mouth to break the food down. It takes a couple minutes for the saliva to start working. If you take your time getting started with eating and eat slower, more of your food will be digested easier.

“the French report that only about 11% of people there are obese” ~The French diet connection

Have you ever noticed that French people are thin? They believe that it’s not what they eat so much as it’s how they eat. “French women eat with all five senses”, says  Mireille Guiliano. She describes the way the French eat as very slow and extremely enjoyable.

Let’s give this a try, then everyone post here to let us know how it works for you. Let me know if you’ve lost weight of size in those weeks.

For the next couple weeks try to eat really slow. Before you even take a bite of your food, look at it, smell it, imagine eating it. Then take a small bite and let it sit on your tongue for a second before starting to chew. Chew slowly tasting every nuance of the flavor. Put your food or fork down between bites and just concentrate on the food you’re eating.

Here’s a little trick to make your body think that it’s had a big dessert when it hasn’t. If you’re like me you eat a piece of cake and then you want another. So instead of having two pieces you just cut one big one. When you’re finished your body still wants another piece. Here’s what you can do instead.

Cut yourself a small piece of cake. Eat is slowly, one bite at a time. Savor every morsel. Then when your body is ready for that second piece, cut another small piece. Your body still thinks it’s  had two pieces and is satisfied. It doesn’t know how big the pieces are.

By doing this you can still indulge in your favorite dessert once in a while, but you’ll be satisfies with less calories. Just don’t make a habit of eating high calorie desserts. One a week should be your maximum. Other nights you should have something low calorie, like fruit.

Some weight loss bars or diet drinks are low in calories but also low in everything else. Then you’re hungry again in an hour, what good is that? When choosing weight loss bars, drinks or meals look for something with substance. Read the label.

Does that weight loss product have fiber in it? How about protein? Fiber and protein are two things that help you feel full longer. You don’t want a weight loss product that has a lot of carbs but nothing else.

If you’re going to use the weight loss product to replace a meal then it’s even more important that it have fiber and protein in it. Look for meal replacement products to have a minimum of 10g of protein and 3g of fiber, more if possible. Otherwise you’ll just be hungry again and want to eat more.

Natural, whole foods are the best for giving you energy. Foods high in vitamins and minerals are also high energy foods. Protein and fiber should be eaten with every meal to help give you constant energy throughout the day. Omega 3 fatty acids keep you healthy and make your brain work faster. Here are some foods that help to give you energy:

- Baked potato, with the skin
- Orange, instead of orange juice
- Fish and shellfish
- Eggs
- Poultry and lean beef or pork
- Low fat dairy
- Avocados, olive oil and canola oil
- Whole grain bread, rice, pasta and beans
- Fruits and veggies
- Nuts and seeds

Many of us think that one serving of meat is about half the size of our plate. It’s just not true. One serving of meat is about the size of the palm of your hand.

A serving of cereal is not a whole bowl filled to the top, it’s about 1/2 cup to 1 cup. Read the label on your box, then measure it out to see how it looks in your bowl.

If you love your pasta, rice and potatoes then you need to know how much the appropriate serving size it for them too. A serving of pasta should not cover your whole plate. It’s only about 1/2 cup for pasta, rice and potatoes.

Fruit can be measured by size, or by measurement. If it’s a whole fruit, one serving is about the size of a baseball. A grapefruit or banana counts as two servings. If it’s berries or cut up fruit one serving would be about 1/2 cup.

It’s important to read the labels and get used to what one serving of your favorite foods really look like.

When you eat too fast you don’t give your body a chance to know when you’re full. Eat slow, real slow. Give your taste buds a chance to taste what you’re actually eating and give your stomach a chance to know there’s food in there.

Another reason to chew slow is to give the saliva in your mouth a chance to do it’s work. Saliva’s job is to break down the food before it reaches your stomach. By letting the saliva do it’s job your body will be better able to digest the food quicker. These means more food moving through your system and less being stored for later.

This is what you need to do. Take a small bite. Now put down your fork and focus on what it is you just put in your mouth. Taste it, savor it, enjoy it. When that piece of food is totally gone, then and only then can you take another bite. Not only will you enjoy your food more, you’ll feel full faster thus needing to eat less and feeling full longer.