Author Archives: therapysoup

Thanksgiving Food and Delicious Substitutions to Keep You SKinny.

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I have eaten food substitutions on holidays for two years now and I have not gained a pound because I do it.  I am going to tell you how to do it here.

According to Sugarstacks.com, there are a lot of sugar cubes in one traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Do you really want to derail your diet or gain 5 pounds from one dinner, where you are eating things that are not necessarily absolute for a good Thanksgiving meal?  Did the Puritans really want you to eat these things?  Of course not!

Here is a picture of a traditional meal. This is the equivalent of almost 26 sugar cubes.

Traditional Thanksgiving Meal

Item Calories Sugar
Stuffing 160 2g
Turkey Breast, 4 oz. 142 0g
Gravy 25 1g
Sweet Potato Casserole 320 41g
Dinner Roll 110 4g
1/2 Tbsp Butter 50 0g
Cranberry Sauce (canned) 110 21g
Green Beans 30 2g
Mashed Potatoes 155 3g
Pumpkin Pie  w/ Whipped Cream 340 31g
Totals 1442 105g


(Calories from sugar:  420)

Sugarstacks breaks each item down with pictures.  http://sugarstacks.com/thanksgiving.htm

THE LOW CARB WAY TO DO THANKSGIVING:

TURKEY BREAST:  cooked instead of the whole bird or give the dark meat to the skinny guys, 4 ounces per portion

GRAVY:  A tablespoon or two of gravy won’t kill you.

LOW CARB BREAD STUFFING:  You could make stuffing with low carb bread like JulianBakery.com or even Sara Lee 45 Calorie Bread (and eat a small portion) or skip stuffing.  Do you really need it?

FRUIT:  Candied Cranberries are a bad idea.  Skip it.  Have sugar free jello instead or some delicious fresh fruit cut up and placed out in a bowl.  One serving could be about 11g of carbs.

VEGETABLES:  Go ahead, make your favorite veggies.  Don’t do the version where it is smothered in Cream of Mushroom soup.  If you absolutely must, here is a low carb recipe version of it:  http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/greenbeancasser.htm  (6 g net carbs vs. 17g per serving)

MASHED POTATOES are not the best choice, make mashed cauliflower (see recipe below).  Tastes great:  (If you must eat mashed potatoes, only a small one or two tablespoons worth)

DINNER ROLL:  Not a great idea.  Skip this or have a slice of low-carb bread like mentioned above.

PIE:  VERY LARGE AMOUNT OF CARBS unless you do a low carb pie.   Get a dessert that is low cal like low-carb ice cream (Breyers has a delicious Smart Carb Vanilla) or get a recipe for low carb pie and make that (see below for four links to low carb pie recipes).  Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries in it is also very good.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE:  Gotta be the most stupid Thanksgiving creation ever.  FORGET IT!  So many carbs, I don’t even know what to say.  Even the low carb version is 20 g  versus 40g of carbs for traditional casserole.  That is a lot.  http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/sweetpotatocass.htm

–HOWEVER:  This is a faux sweet potato casserole recipe and will be ok for your diet!  http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/low-carb-faux-sweet-potato-casserole

–ALSO, I make a really nice salad with cheese in it and serve that instead of Sweet Potato Casserole.

 

****BUT INSTEAD OF THE STUPID CASSEROLE OR MASHED CAULIFLOWER OR POTATOES, how about just this intead??? Now this looks delish.  I can’t wait to try it….****

Cyndi’s “Twice Baked” Cauliflower

 http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=499677

Submitted by: CYNDIDAVISUSA

Introduction

I got this idea from twice baked potatoes. You can cut the calories more than this if you use fat free or low fat dairy products. So good I could eat it every day. Great way to cut the potatoes out of a meal if you need to…

Minutes to Prepare: 15
Minutes to Cook: 20
Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

Cauliflower, frozen, cooked, 4 cup (1″ pieces)
Sour Cream, .25 cup
Chopped Chives, 1 tsp
Colby Cheese, .25 cup, shredded
Monterey Cheese, .25 cup, shredded
Hormel Bacon Bits, 2 tbsp
Butter, salted, 1 tbsp
Garlic powder, .5 tsp
Salt, 1 dash
Pepper, black, 1 dash 

Directions

Cook cauliflower until tender [I use frozen and the microwave with NO water added for 10 minutes on high]. Preheat oven to 400F. Chop fine with pastry blender, potato masher or knife. Add all ingredients together in a medium bowl, fold until mixed. Use cooking spray on 4 seven ounce ramekins or other small oven safe dishes and spoon mixture into dishes. Place all small dishes on a cookie sheet for easier handling. Bake for 15 minutes on middle rack and then broil for a few minutes until top is golden brown. Makes 4 servings, but you may want to make extra, cuz…OMG this is good. 

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CYNDIDAVISUSA.

IN CONCLUSION:

Below are the cauliflower and pie recipe information.

Please consider carefully before you subject yourself, your family or your guests to an unnecessarily high-calorie, high-carb Thanksgiving dinner.  Try the substitutions that I mentioned. Plan ahead and happy holidays!

Recipe for Surprise Mashed “Potatoes”

 

4 cups cauliflower florets

1 ounce I can’t believe it’s not butter

1 ounce Lake O’Lakes fat free half & half

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

 

Steam or microwave the cauliflower until soft. Puree in food

Processor, adding the butter spray and the half and half to taste. Season with salt and pepper.

 

4 servings – 60 calories, 1 ½ g fat, 3 g protein,

11g carbohydrates

Recipes for Pies:  (Pumpkin, Chocolate, Key-Lime, Pecan)–also good for diabetics.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/pumpkinpie.htm

http://healthyindulgences.net/2009/04/healthy-low-carb-chocolate-pie/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/key-lime-pie—low-carb-version/

http://www.lifewithlisa.com/pecan-pie-recipe-perfect-for-low-carb-atkins-south-beach-or-diabetics

Thanksgiving: Time to be with friends and family, not time to pig out!

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It is Thanksgiving time.  I will devote the next few blog reports on how to deal with Thanksgiving and your diet!

You are going to be surrounded by holiday candy, pumpkin bread, pies, etc.  I meet a lot of people who give up on their diet at the holidays or don’t even start with the excuse that they will start after the holidays are over.

Don’t do it!

You need to take control of your life.  You cannot have this excuse again.  You have had it for years and it is the reason you are heavy or gain the weight back.  Something has to change.  How you view food has to change.

So, it is the holidays.   You think that the Thanksgiving pilgrims thought that you should gorge yourself with carbs at the holidays for them?  NO.  The message behind these holidays is about being grateful and celebrating a special day.  It has nothing to do with sugary carbs.  Thanksgiving was about sitting down and “breaking bread”, so to speak,  with the American Indians, in the spirit of cooperation.

WHAT THE PILGRIMS ATE:

The first Thanksgiving feast would have looked very strange to our modern eyes, consisting mainly of corn and meat. The spirit of the celebration would be easy for us to understand, because then, as now, Thanksgiving is a reminder of the bounty of the Earth and the importance of hard work and cooperation.

Cheese:

You might be surprised to know how different the first Thanksgiving dinner was from what we enjoy today.  They might have had cheese made from goat’s milk.

A Variety of Meats

The pilgrims and the Indians had some type of fowl and venison. The pilgrims often hunted fowl for a special feast follwing the harvest. Wild turkeys are native to New England, as are pheasants. Both were enjoyed by the pilgrims and Native-Americans alike and were included in the feast. The Native-Americans brought venison; some of the braves went hunting and brought back five deer to share. Other meats that may have been on the table include lobster, seal and swans.

The food was placed on the table, and people helped themselves to it.

Fruits, veggies without sugar, meats, and corn

Thanksgiving today includes many vegetables available, but in the 17th century, vegetables were not always plentiful. Special meals, even the Thanksgiving meal, centered around many different kinds of meat.

Common fruits and vegetables included pumpkin, peas, beans, radishes, carrots, onions, lettuce, plums and grapes. Walnuts, chestnuts and acorns were also plentiful. Though there was no pumpkin pie, the Pilgrims did make stewed pumpkin. They had cranberries, but no sugar, so they did not make cranberry sauce. Sweet potatoes were not common, so those were probably not on the Thanksgiving table.

No  pies or other sweets.

They did not have an oven to bake pies, and even though they brought sugar over on the Mayflower, it had all been used by the time of the first celebration.

The Pilgrims had little in the way of grain, they only had wheat flour.

So, try to eat more like a Pilgrim than a Piggy for the holidays!  Tomorrow’s blog will show the carb chart on so-called “Thanksgiving” food.  You must choose wisely.

The Little-Known Hero of Weight Loss: SLEEP!

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More information is out about how sleep influences body fat composition.  The moral of this story is that a piece of the weight loss puzzle is that you must have a consistent bed time, a consistent wake up time and not get between 6.5 and 8.5 hours per day.

sleep-unsung-hero-fat-loss

http://www.elements4health.com/sleep-quality-and-timing-influences-body-fat-composition.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+elements4health%2FmTrh+%28Elements4Health+%29

The main findings from the study, published online in the American Journal of Health Promotion:

  • A consistent bed time and, especially, a consistent wake time are related to lower body fat.
  • Getting less than 6.5 or more than 8.5 hours of sleep per night is associated with higher body fat.
  • Quality of sleep is important for body composition.

It is important to go to bed and wake up around the same time daily.

  • Study participants who went to bed and woke up at, or around the same time each day had lower body fat. Those with more than 90 minutes of variation in sleep and wake time during the week had higher body fat than those with less than 60 minutes of variation.
  • Wake time was particularly linked to body fat: Those who woke up at the same time each morning had lower body fat. Staying up late and even sleeping in may be doing more harm than good, Bailey said.

“We have these internal clocks and throwing them off and not allowing them to get into a pattern does have an impact on our physiology,” Bailey said.

 

 

Healthy/Tasty Lite Steak Quesadilla Recipe for Your Diet

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A Taco Bell steak quesadilla is 96g of carbs for the whole thing.  That is outrageous.  This is mostly in part because regular tortilla shells are HIGH in carbs. You have to specifically buy low-carb tortillas.  I have blogged on this before and had recipes.  There are low-carb tortillas that are lower than the ones in today’s recipe.  See the following link to see what I have blogged about before, because you can eat a tortilla for less than 10g of carbs.

(remember: To lose weight, you want between 50g and 100g of carbs per day)

https://skinny-rules.com/2013/09/25/low-carb-taco-bell-esq-crunchastic-supreme/

Steak Quesadilla recipe.

Just a note.  Portion size, you could eat this particular tortilla and it would be lighter for you if split this with someone, making it about 16g of carbs per person.

A friend of my husband’s made this particular recipe and loved it.  She added guacamole to it.  She said it took 30 minutes and was delish!  Here is her picture:

quesadilla

 

Actual recipe:

guilt-free recipes, courtesy of Hungrygirl.com

HG's Double-Stuffed Steak Quesadilla
HG’s Double-Stuffed Steak Quesadilla

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. shredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese
5 jarred jalapeño slices, finely chopped
1 portabella mushroom cap (stem removed), sliced
2 oz. thinly sliced raw lean beefsteak filet
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. onion powder
Dash black pepper
1 medium-large high-fiber flour tortilla with 110 calories or less (like La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious SoftWraps)
Optional toppings: salsa, fat-free sour cream

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine shredded cheese, cheese wedge, and jalapeños. Stir until uniform.

Halve portabella slices widthwise. Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat. Add portabella pieces, and cook and stir until softened and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add sliced steak, sprinkle with seasonings, and cook and stir for about 2 minutes, until just cooked through.

Lay tortilla flat and spread with cheese mixture. Evenly top one half with cooked steak and mushroom slices.

If needed, clean skillet. Re-spray and bring to medium heat. Place the loaded tortilla flat in the skillet, and cook for 2 minutes.

Using a spatula, fold the cheese-only half of the tortilla over the filling, and press lightly to seal. Carefully flip and cook until crispy, about 2 minutes. Slice into wedges, and enjoy!

MAKES 1 SERVING

Serving: entire recipe (1 quesadilla)
Calories: 318
Fat: 11g
Sodium: 815mg
Carbs: 33g
Fiber: 8g
Sugars: 6.5g
Protein: 29g

PointsPlus® value 8*

 

Processed Foods Can Cause Weight Problems

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processed-foods-supermarket

I have put food items on my blog that are “processed foods.”  But, when losing weight and you are NEW to changing your lifestyle, it is very hard at first to give up everything.  I do believe in making the changes and not worrying too much about processed foods until you hit a point where your sugar cravings have disappeared and you are used to eating smaller portions of proteins six times a day, with two small servings of fruit and four small servings of veggies.

So, let’s assume you are used to your new eating plan.  What are processed foods and how are they bad?

Processed food has a bad reputation as a diet saboteur. It’s blamed for our nation’s obesity epidemic, high blood pressure and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. But processed food is more than boxed macaroni and cheese, potato chips and fast food. Whole-wheat bread, homemade soup or a chopped apple are also processed foods.

goodfood

Different types of processed foods:

Minimally processed foods :

  • bagged lettuce, spinach, etc, cut vegetables and roasted nuts — are often simply pre-prepped for convenience.

Moderately processed food, processed at their peak to lock in nutritional quality and freshness:

  • canned beans, tomatoes, frozen fruit and vegetables, and canned tuna.

More than moderately processed foods with ingredients added for flavor and texture:

  • sweeteners, spices, oils, colors and preservatives) include jarred pasta sauce, salad dressing, yogurt and cake mixes.
  • Ready-to-eat foods, like crackers, granola, and deli meat, are more heavily processed.

The most heavily processed foods:

  • frozen or pre-made meals like frozen pizza and microwave dinners.

worst procssed foods

 

Some processed foods are ok:

Processed food can be beneficial to your diet.

  • Milk and juices are sometimes fortified with calcium and vitamin D, and breakfast cereal may have added fiber. Canned fruit (packed in water or its own juice) is a good option when fresh fruit is not available.
  • Some minimally processed food like pre-cut vegetables are quality convenience foods for busy people. Bagged vegetables and salads are helping people eat more vegetables.  They’re more expensive, but if your choice is between paying less and chopping it when you know you’re not going to do that, and paying a little more for the bagged vegetable you know you’re going to eat, the [bagged vegetable] is a better choice.

You need to read the ingredients list and review the nutrition facts panel.

Look for Hidden Sugar, Sodium and Fat

Eating processed food in moderation is fine, but consumers should be on the lookout for hidden sugar, sodium and fat.

Sugar:

Sugar isn’t just hidden in processed sweets. It’s added to bread,pasta sauces and cereal. The number of carbohydrates on the nutrition label also includes naturally occurring sugars which may be a significant amount in foods like yogurt and fruit. Instead, review a product’s ingredients list and look for added sugars among the first two or three ingredients such as sugar, maltose, brown sugar, corn syrup, cane sugar, honey and fruit juice concentrate.

Sodium:
Most canned vegetables, soups and sauces have added sodium. We need some sodium, but we often consume much more than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ recommended 2,300 mg a day (1,500 mg a day for those over 51 years of age, or African-Americans, diabetics and those with hypertension or chronic kidney disease). High sodium intake is linked to hypertension, or high blood pressure.

Three quarters of our sodium intake comes from processed foods.  Only 20 or 25 percent of it comes from salting our food.

Canned vegetables, soups and beans can be packed with nutrients, so don’t cross them off your shopping list entirely. Instead, look for reduced or low sodium on labels. Also, always rinse canned beans and vegetables and reduce sodium content by about 40 percent.

Fat:

Some fat in your diet is good for you.  It isn’t the fat that is the problem in weight gain….it is SUGAR and CARBOHYDRATES.  Your body needs fat.  It doesn’t need sugar or carbs.  But, your brain and body can get addicted to sugar and carbs.

realfood

SO HOW TO DEAL WITH GETTING AWAY FROM PROCESSED FOODS:

Tossing everything in your pantry out all at once is a good way to waste money, but gradually replacing processed foods with fresh alternatives helps curb cravings and hunger. Highly processed foods are low in nutrients, causing the body to seek more food to find the nutrients it needs, which leads to a vicious cycle of overeating.

  • You don’t have to empty the pantry all at once, but slowly start making swaps like fresh fruit and yogurt for protein bars (which can contain as much sugar as a candy bar) or hummus and fresh veggies instead of nutritionally devoid pretzels.
  • Eat fresh food.  Fresh meat, salads, fruits and vegetables.
  • Learn to Cook!  It isn’t that hard.  Find time. Your iPAD games or Playstation is not more important than your health.  You can prepare foods and have leftovers for days.  Some things take little time to cook.

    http://blog.fooducate.com/2013/11/17/9-tips-for-healthy-and-affordable-grocery-shopping/

     

groceries

 

  • Learn about Genetically Modified Food and how it is ruining your body and keeping us overweight and sick.  Start to read labels on whether the items you are purchasing are organic, grain fed or not.

Genetically modified food is a huge problem for people and has been, since it was introduced 30 years ago.  Notice the obesity rate has increased since they started messing with how they grow or raise our food?!  There are also more stomach and colon issues because our intestinal balances are completely being messed up. GMOis a whole other Oprah and perfect for another blog day.  If you want to read more, Foodbabe.com and Fooducate.com!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28747.cfm

 

Housekeeping and Chores Can Help You Lose Weight as Much as Exercise Can

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chores-burn-calories

You can lose weight by walking, hiking, doing an exercise class, job, run, bike, weight lifting….but you can also lose weight by doing things around the house–killing two birds with one stone.

exerciseweight

Examples of simple ways to lose 150 calories, or 300 if you just double the times…..

Chores will provide a 150-calorie burn when you:

  • Shovel snow by hand or sweep for 22 minutes
  • Spade your garden for 26 minutes
  • Push a power lawn mower for 30 minutes
  • Rake leaves for 33 minutes

Beautify your home as you burn calories by:

  • Painting the house for 27 minutes
  • Doing home repairs for 29 minutes
  • Washing windows for 30 minutes

Indoor chores might be tedious, but they do burn calories:

  • Scrub the floor for 30 minutes
  • Dust or vacuum for 53 minutes
  • Iron clothes for 58 minutes

choresweight

New Rules: Your Doctor is Going to Tell You to Lose Weight Next Year

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obesity (1)

http://news.yahoo.com/doctors-told-serious-obesity-200937050.html

Expect to hear more about your weight issues from your doctor in the near future. The medical profession is asking their doctors to get their clients on board with weight control.  The new medical insurance out there will provide counseling and programs for people to lose weight.

Obesity is a huge medical problem  There are so many diseases that it can cause.  Losing just 10 pounds and having regular exercise can lower the risks for almost all of the issues.

Here are 10 things that could hurt or kill you, unless you take weight control SERIOUSLY!

medical complications of obesity

1. High Blood Pressure — is the primary cause of death among Americans older than 25. About 75 million people suffer from high blood pressure or hypertension, which is a major risk factor for heart disease.

2. Diabetes Obesity is considered one of the most significant factors in the development of insulin resistance, and insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes.

3. Heart Disease — Obesity is a major risk factor for developing coronary heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. People who are overweight are at a greater risk of suffering a heart attack before the age of 45. Obese adolescents have a greater chance of having a heart attack before the age of 35 than non-obese adolescents.

4. High Cholesterol levels — High cholesterol is one of the leading causes of heart attacks. Cholesterol is transported through your blood in two ways: the low –density lipoprotein (LDL), which transports cholesterol to the cells that need it, and the high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is the healthy cholesterol that reduces your risk for heart attack.

obesity_heart_disease

5. Cancer — Being overweight increases your chances for developing cancer by 50 percent. Women have a higher risk of developing cancer if they are more than 20 pounds overweight.

6. Infertility — Being obese can cause changes in the hormonal levels of women, which can result in ovarian failure. Women who are 15-25 pounds overweight are at a higher risk of suffering from infertility and ovarian cancer. Our bodies need to be at an appropriate weight to produce the right amount of hormones and regulate ovulation and menstruation. Don’t think men are immune to infertility. Overweight men have a greater chance of developing motility and a lower sperm count.

7. Back Pain — Obesity is one the contributing factors of back and joint pain. Excessive weight can cause injury to the most vulnerable parts of the spine, which carries the body’s weight. When it has to carry excess weight, the odds of suffering from a spinal injury or structural damage increase. Being overweight also raises the risk of developing osteoporosis, lower back pain, arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Losing 10-15 pounds can help you decrease the risk of developing these problems.

8. Skin Infections — Obese and overweight individuals may have skin that folds over on itself. These creased areas can become irritated from the rubbing and sweating, which can lead to skin infections.

9. Ulcers — Obesity can be a contributing factor to the development of gastric ulcers.Overweight men are at a greater risk of developing gastric ulcers than women.

10. Gallstones — Being severely overweight increases the risk of developing gallstones, especially in women. Gallstones are caused when the liver releases excessive amounts of bile, which is stored in the gallbladder. Gallstones are more common in older women and those with a family history of gallstones.

obesitycircl

 

Please consider starting to exercise and lose weight by following the RULES:

https://skinny-rules.com/2013/01/30/10-rules-so-you-can-lose-about-10-pounds-a-month/

Portion Control Is Key For Losing Weight and Keeping it OFF!

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You can’t just diet and lose weight. The larger the portion, the more calories for your body to burn off. Here are some suggestions that can help you better portion your food.

1: Use visual aids for common food serving sizes (example)

  • Meat, fish, or poultry = 3 ounces = deck of cards / iPhone (lowest in carbs)
  • Pasta, rice, potatoes = one cup = baseball (keep in mind that these are HIGH in carbs)
  • potato, yam = one unit = computer mouse (again, HIGH in carbs)
  • Nuts = 1/4 cup = golf ball (watch the carbs!)
  • Salad dressing or olive oil = 2 Tbsp = shot glass
  • Peanut butter = 2 Tbsp = shot glass (about 8g of carbs)
  • Ice cream = half cup = half baseball (high in sugar)
  • Cheese = 2 ounces = 2 fingers (stick with low carb)
  • handproteincardsproteinpasta_serving2serving

2: Read the serving size information on the Nutrition Facts on the package

Processed foods have a nutrition facts label and the first thing it shows is the serving size.  All the calorie and nutrient information that follows is calculated per serving. But sometimes the serving size is tiny compared to what people really eat.

For example, cereals usually list the serving as half a cup (one ounce). Even KIDS eat more than that. Read this carefully!

20130901-234733.jpg

3: Understand how many servings are in a package
As a follow on to the previous tip, it’s important to know how many servings are in a package.

A small bag of Doritos has about 2.5 servings! (That means two and a half times the calories you were expecting)

A bottle Naked Juice or POM actually has TWO servings of liquid. A serving of juice (or soda, or water) is 1 cup (8 fluid ounces), but these bottles usually provide you with double that amount, 16 ounces. (Share with a friend, or better yet, drink water!)

4: When eating out, ask for the small or kids sized portions

Restaurant and fast food meals have massively increased in the last 30 years.

A 280 calorie Caesar salad in 1985 is now over 700 calories! (The kid’s meals are actually the size of what was an adult meal 30 years ago!)

bagelsize

5: Never eat out of the bag or box

If you bought a family size bag of pretzels, or a gallon tub of ice cream, the worst possible thing to do is eat straight out of the package and especially in front of the TV or computer–or at your desk. It will cause mindless eating!

6: Put ONE SERVING ONLY on your plate in the kitchen and eat in the dining room and USE SMALLER PLATES!

The easiest way to overeat is having the serving dishes on the dining table within arm’s reach. Plate your food in the kitchen then serve it at the table. Don’t eat all over the house, as well.

The plates have increased in size over the years.  If you use a smaller plate for your food, it will feel like you are eating more when you fill it.  Use smaller plates.

platesize

7: Fresh fruits and veggies, eat more of them than the protein and carbs

Put fruit and mostly veggies on half of your plate. The fiber in produce will help you feel full and less hungry.

portion-plate

Can Lack of Sleep Make You Fat?

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Could lack of sleep be causing you to gain weight?

If you’re feeling sleepy at work, you may be tempted to reach for a doughnut for a quick shot of energy. Later you may skip the gym and pick up takeout on your way home to your family — no time to cook. When you finally find yourself back in your bed, you are too wound up to sleep.

Eventually, sleep deprivation can sabotage your waistline and your health.

The immediate result? You may be able to fight off sleepiness. Poor food choices coupled with lack of exercise set the stage for obesity and further sleep loss.

If you accumulate too much sleep debt, your body will crash.

Not getting enough sleep is common – especially in the U.S.

Understanding the Sleep-Diet Connection

PROA600-0_260X200_Harry's_UK

“It’s not so much that if you sleep, you will lose weight, but if you are sleep-deprived, meaning that you are not getting enough minutes of sleep or good quality sleep, your metabolism will not function properly.

On average, we need about 7.5 hours of quality sleep per night, he says. If you are a five-hour sleeper and start to sleep for seven hours a night, you could start dropping weight.

Exactly how lack of sleep affects our ability to lose weight has a lot to do with our nightly hormones.

The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin.

  • Ghrelin is the ‘go’ hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin.
  • Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin.”

More ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain.

“You are eating more, plus your metabolism is slower when you are sleep-deprived.

So, recommendation as part of your new way of life–eating right and following the rules, exercise (even if it is just 15-30 minutes a day of walking) and SLEEP!

SLEEP2

 

I Figured Out Why I Have Been 7 Pounds Away From Goal!

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Portions!!

Look, I had blood tests and they came out good.  Because of eating according to the rules, I have low sugar levels (no diabetes risk), by cholesterol levels are fantastic.  I get more than enough iron and since I take a mineral supplement daily, all is well!

I eat really well.  I eat six protein based meals, every 3-4 hours.  I have four small portions of veggies a day, two small portions of fruits per day (and I stick to lower carb fruits like berries and citrus) and two measured out salad portions a day (about a cup of lettuce).  I am very good about this.

I avoid grains, sugar desserts, rice and even most beans.

I count carbs (between 50g and 100g per day).

I exercise about 10 hours per week.

I lost all of my weight and then after having to go on steroids for itching last January, I put a few pounds back on and I keep fluctuating between being 7-9 pounds more than I want to be (goal).  I look thin, but I want the cushion of not being at the far end of acceptable.

So, I was looking at ready-made portions at Lindora today.  I realized that my protein portions have creeped up over time.  I have been mostly eyeballing my protein and I haven’t been measuring every meal as much as I used to do it.

So, crash course for me and you on portion control: 

Meat is about 4 ounces.  3 ounces for beef.  Last night I ate a lean burger (without a bun, as usual).  But, it was TOO much burger.  It was 1/3 a pound.  That is about 5 1/2 ounces.  I should have eaten half of it and brought the other half home.  I am going to be more cognizant of this.  What happens when you do a diet long enough (a way of life), is that your eyes get big and you forget how small the portion has to be in order to stay thin.  This happens, especially if you eat out.  The portions are outrageous.  I could have had half of the beef and half of the egg in the salad and just eaten the other half today.

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I have to eat less, more often!  6 times a day, 4 ounces, broken up!

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You have to remember this!

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Meat1-300x240  meat_serving

I am not fat like I was, but I don’t want to go back to fat either.  I am nipping this in the bud before it is too late.  I am sharing this with everyone because this is reality–this happens when you work on maintenance after a diet.

I have seen people who are hungry and overeat and don’t realize that they are eating the portion for two to three LARGER people.  Ordering a POUND burger AND fries–outrageous.  A 50-year-old man, not that active and not that tall–eating that much–it is just asking for medical problems.

Ordering a burger and a bag of fries, just for one person (especially an inactive female) –is fat waiting to happen. These people are all eating about 75g of carbs or more in one sitting.  But, I have to be aware that even if I eat meat, veggies and salad–if I overdo portion size, I might be having too many calories and messing up my own weight loss ability.

So, wish me luck on getting back to portion measuring and control.