Let’s consider a snack first. A mere half ounce of, my favorite, potato chips is 80 calories. That’s about what you get in one of those little bags. But if you’re getting all the calories you need each day. (We did the calculator yesterday.) 80 calories a day adds up to eight extra pounds in a year.
French fries are another vice. If you regularly eat a large order of McDonald’s fries you consume 500 calories. If you reduce 250 calories, you cut 25 pounds in a year.
Do you like pasta? Many portions of spaghetti are about two cups. That’s 420 calories. You save 210 calories by having only one cup. Saving 210 calories a day would be 21 pounds in a year! I think you’re getting it now.
TODAY: CALCULATE HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU CAN KEEP OFF IN A YEAR BY CONSUMING HALF PORTIONS OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS.
Salads can hide calories with the mask of eating healthy. All that green crunch has to be good for you right? Well, just 2-tablespoons of the salad dressing you drizzle on top can contain up to 140 calories if it’s creamy. A lot of times you don’t even realize how much you put on, especially when it’s at a salad bar. You really don’t need to drench every bit of salad with goo. Vegetables really do have flavor. The dressing is supposed to just add to the flavors, not mask them.
Here’s a tip to help you use a LOT less dressing, yet still enjoy the flavors you savor. Put a small amount of dressing in a cup on the side. Then dip the tip of the tines of your fork into the dressing before gathering a portion of the lettuce and veggies. The flavorful dressing will dance on your tongue before mingling with the cool stuff. It’s that easy. Use less dressing and cut calories with your fork.
TODAY: REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF DRESSING YOU USE ON SALADS.
I love chicken wings. They’re great diet food as long as you fry them “naked” with no batter or crust. You can make a sauce that’s to your heat liking with just hot sauce, melted butter and a some cream. Or keep the calories down by sticking to hot sauce. Just dip the wings, don’t drench them. They’re easier to eat. Decadent, yet still reduced carb.
Discovering that hot sauces are low or no carb was a huge thing for me. It definitely is not all about the heat. There are an amazing variety of flavors from habanero to mustard. The Tabasco brands are a mainstay. But one of my current favorites is Wild Turkey hot sauce. Yes the bourbon is in it. I got it as a gift at Christmas and have to find more soon.
Keep a variety of hot sauces on hand and try it on anything and everything from eggs to veggies. It will spice up your diet in more ways than one.
TODAY: EXERCISE EXTRA TO MAKE UP FOR YESTERDAY!
It’s “The Incredible Edible Egg”. Low carb diets are a lot easier thanks to these protein packed babies. I start the day with two, sometimes with cheese, sometimes with bacon or sausage. My previous experience with the Atkins diet gave me so much egg cooking experience that I never need a spatula to turn them. Just a small saute pan with rounded sides, a dollop of butter and a flick of the wrist after they are a little solid. (You can tell when they are ready to flip because they will slide around the pan easily when you swirl it.) Don’t add any salt, we want to reduce the sodium. Besides you can add any low carb condiments later. God old yellow mustard adds a great flavor to fried eggs. But it doesn’t stop there.
Think of eggs as the base for many meals. If the kids are having pizza, you can too. Make a thin omelet and add the pizza toppings. It will satisfy the cravings and still be low carb. Same for tacos. Those two strong flavors will go a long way. Besides it makes eating eggs a lot more pleasing than that scene from Rocky where Sylvester Stallone drank the glass of them. I always wonder how many takes that took.
TODAY: DO SOME STRETCHING EXERCISES. TWIST YOUR TORSO SIDE TO SIDE, BEND OVER AND TOUCH YOUR TOES (okay… TRY) THEN STRETCH UP ON YOUR TOES AND REACH FOR THE CEILING. THEN REPEAT TEN TIMES
It’s been a strange winter, and cold temperatures have been hard to come by in some places. But when the chill returns you may be able to burn more calories just by keeping warm. Because your body has to work to stay warm it’s putting in more effort and burning more calories. As long as you refrain from those hearty carb laden comfort foods you can use it to your advantage. You can take it one step further it seems with cold drinks as well. I found a statistical analysis of the calories it takes to melt an ounce of ice. It seems that it’s the same amount as forty push-ups. For a cup of ice that’s 347 push-ups! Of course you could do the push-ups and then cool off with the ice.
TODAY: DO SOME PUSH-UPS. WELL… AT LEAST TRY TO!
A hot snack that will fit into any diet is a can away. Just get some chicken broth. Swanson’s is really tasty, has only 10 calories, no fat and 1 gram of carbs. When it’s cold out or when you just need a quick snack it can’t be beat. Keep some cans on hand at work and at home. If you want to add some more substance to it its easy to chop up some veggies. Celery and onion are great, sliced mushrooms different, mix up the choices to add to the low calorie soup. Anything works. Crack an egg and you’ve got some more protein for a hearty snack that will keep you going.
TODAY: DO SOME STRETCHING EXERCISES AND TRY A COUPLE OF PUSH-UPS.
Dear Diary,
Today I ate…
That might be how you start keeping a food diary. It’s the first step in figuring out the rest of your diet. It’s also key to long-term weight management. Don’t lie though. A study showed that women can tend to have some “inaccuracies” when keeping a food record being short by about 1,000 calories. But why go to the trouble of keeping a diary if you aren’t going to be honest? Nobody is going to see it but you.
Include:
- What you ate
- How much you ate
- When you ate it
- Your cravings
- How much water you drink
If you don’t want to track fat and calories that’s fine. Just writing down how much you eat over the course of the day. You may find that you’re overeating and don’t know it. After a few days, go back and read your diary to see where you might want to change your habits or reduce calories. Remember you should also make sure you’re eating something every four hours. It keeps your body from slowing your metabolism.
TODAY: WALK, WALK, WALK!
Daily Nag, Tips & Tricks | Diet Nag | 
January 13, 2016 6:07 am | 
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