As we add fruits and veggies to our diet to meet the five (or more) a day goal, let’s look at lunch.
- Salad bar? Stack on the dark green leaves and other vegetables instead of so many of the extras like eggs, bacon and cheese.(keep the dressing ON THE SIDE)
- Add frozen veggies to any pasta. (Even the canned stuff.) You get more good stuff and more flavor too.
- Skip the fries and add a vegetable. Most all restaurants will do that. (Even the fast food places offer a value size salad.)
- SMACK! Have a V8!
- Have fresh fruit for desert.
TODAY: LOOK FOR WAYS TO ADD MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES TO YOUR LUNCH.
Eat your vegetables! I’ve never had to be told more than once. I’ve always like veggies, but I couldn’t be a vegetarian. (Have you ever seen an overweight vegetarian?) Three servings used to be the norm. Now the USDA says eat five. That’s a good thing. Though you may think it’s a lot, it’s easy to do. I’ll give you some suggestions over the next few days.
Let’s start with breakfast.
- Add fruit to your cereal, oatmeal, waffles or pancakes.
- Punch up you eggs with fresh sliced veggies or some frozen spinach.
- Top whole grain toast with raisins and cinnamon.
- Create your own yogurt flavors with plain yogurt and different of fresh fruit.
- Wrap a banana in a whole wheat flour tortilla with some peanut butter for a quick grab and go meal.
- Don’t forget the juice!
Lunch tomorrow.
TODAY: START ADDING MORE FRUIT AND VEGGIES TO YOU DIET.
I’ve mentioned having two $1 double cheeseburgers and a $1 side salad from McDonald’s as a quick low cost, low carb meal. It’s quite a value, they add lettuce instead of buns and put them in a container. Years ago when the Atkins diet was first on the scene I ordered the burgers without a bun and they actually did them with all the condiments and wrapped them in paper like a regular burger.
The other day I tried Burger King to see what the same money would buy. They have Whopper Juniors for $1 but no inexpensive salad. But since the Whopper comes with lettuce and tomato I decided to order three without the buns. Well instead of the 4 patties at McDonald’s I only had three. Though they put all the salad stuff in a container it was a bit smaller in total size.
Though the char grilled flavor of the meat was a nice change, but the $3 meal at Burger King was far less filling. Because we sometimes need a quick meal on the go, the challenge will continue to other fast food establishments.
TODAY: TRY A DIFFERENT LOW COST, LOW CARB, LO CALORIE MEAL PLACE.
You always hear the advice to eat more fiber. I’ve touted Fiber One cereal as a great snack. Fiber is added to things like bread, cereal and other whole grain foods, which actually have fiber naturally. (Hence the WHOLE grain name.) You can also get more fiber by leaving the skin on fruit, eating the potato peel and by taking diet supplements. But what does it do? Well, to be frank, it cleans you out. When you digest food, some of it gets stuck or lingers in your colon. As a result you have some nasty things going on in there. Fiber acts like a magnet or a broom and takes away the… crap… that doesn’t want to move out. The fiber also absorbs water that can moisten things up and break up hard stuff. (okay… crap) So eat more fiber. It will both fill you up and empty you out.
TODAY: ADD SOME FIBER TO YOUR DAILY DIET.
Jelly can be a source of hidden calories. Sure, you think it’s just a little dollop of goodness. It’s made from fruit, so how bad can it be? Well… most jelly os almost pure sugar and a tablespoon is a whopping 50 calories. But I found a great jelly that is actually low cal and sweet and even has fiber! At just 10 calories per tablespoon Polaner Sugar Free has now also added 3 grams of fiber to that. So if you’re following Atkins you actually get back 3 grams of carbs. So that can offset some of the carbs from a slice of whole grain toast.
I also like to skip the toast and just use a spoonful as a condiment with sausage, or ham and eggs. The berry ones are great with meats and I even skip the meat entirely and fry a couple of eggs hard and top them with some orange marmalade. I know… it’s odd, but it has a flavor a little like a crepe. So add a jar of the Polaner Sugar Free jelly to your pantry and have a guilt free treat.
TODAY: DO SOME STRETCHING EXERCISES.
Don’t deprive yourself of your favorites just because you’re dieting. You can eat anything you want. Just do it every now and then rather than all the time. Keep the portions reasonable too. No huge bowls of ice cream with chocolate sauce every night! A scoop or so every now and then is okay. If you deny yourself all the time you’ll end up resenting your healthier lifestyle. Just continue to eat les and exercise more and it will all work out. So go ahead, have a treat this weekend, and even during the week sometimes. Make sure you enjoy it. You may find it better than you remember when you were having it all the time.
TODAY: DO JUST A LITTLE MORE WALKING THAN YESTERDAY.
Eating less doesn’t mean you will weigh less. Starving yourself isn’t healthy and can lead to craving and binging. (Followed by severe guilt.) A moderate, healthy diet is best. So stay satisfied by eating food that is low in calories but high in bulk anD fiber like veggies, whole grains and low fat soups. Add a reasonable amount of healthy fats like olive oil, nuts and protein with some cheese and you are on your way. By the way, that’s sometimes called a Mediterranean diet. In addition to being satisfying it’s very healthy.
TODAY: TAKE THAT WALK… EVEN IF IT’S A LAP AROUND THE MALL.
Daily Nag, Food Choices, Healthy Recipes | Diet Nag | 
April 28, 2011 6:10 am | 
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