People that know me are probably rolling their eyes when they read that I want to loose a few pounds, but what woman doesn't? No, I don't think I'm fat, but I see the potential of going downhill fast. It's much better to stay on top of things now than to do damage control later.
Whenever I see the cover of girly magazines, I'm always enticed by headlines on the covers that proclaim to have ground-breaking tips that will change my life. "10 must-see tips to save hundreds at the grocery store!" turn out to be the same, tired tips we always see: use a club card, cut coupons, yadda yadda. The same holds true for healthy-eating tips - eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more water, start eating breakfast....it's always the same. Well, I really don't think I'm that much smarter than everyone else, so I bet my tips sound like everyone else's, too. Here's what I think helps the healthy eating habit:
1. Buy smaller plates - while I absolutely love the new plates and bowls Creighton and I registered for our recent wedding, the plates are bigger than I've ever had before. I never really thought about it before, but I've had to get used to what a real portion looks like on them. I find myself wanting to put twice as much as we used to eat on our dinner plates.
2. "No sugar added" hot chocolate is a great treat - Whenever I get that undeniable craving for chocolate that just won't go away, I love having a cup of no sugar added hot chocolate. The drink only has 50 calories, 8 grams of sugar, and zero fat. A Hershey's chocolate bar has 13 grams of fat and 22 grams of sugar. 13 grams of fat! I've found that I'm just craving the taste of chocolate, and really don't need an entire chocolate bar to fuel the craving.
3. Know the nutritional value of what you're eating AND drinking everyday - Speaking of hot chocolate - when I said it's a good treat, I didn't mean to go to Starbucks and buy a bucket of it every morning with a huge pile of whipped cream on top. A grande hot chocolate made with milk and whipped cream on top has 16 grams of fat and 40 grams of sugar!!! That's almost my entire daily goal for recommended grams of sugar, and it's still breakfast! And I haven't eaten anything! With the advent of a wonderful tool called the internet, I can pull up the nutritional value for anything under the sun in a matter of seconds.
4. Don't eat fast food. Just don't. - If you start getting a hankering to head down to McDonalds, just head to the nutritional page first to get a look at what you're eating. Don't forget to add the fries and coke to your totals (and then look up that huge Starbucks latte you had this morning). I eat fast food less than once every two or three months. I'm not going to say the word "never" because I have a weakness for Wendy's. However, I try to get chicken when I'm there, and skip the fries (though, that's pretty hard, sometimes).
5. Don't drink sodas. Just don't. - I've been on a kick lately to add lemon to my water, and I also buy sparkling water to have with dinner. I find that I like the carbonation, but don't need the tablespoons of sugar with my meal. There are tons of new options these days, so you don't have to buy expensive Pellegrino in a glass bottle.
6. Actually measure out what you're eating at home - I don't think you have to do it all the time, but most of us look at the total calories of what we're eating, and assume we're eating "about" a normal portion. For just one week, actually use measuring cups to portion out what you're eating. You'll probably be really surprised. I know I was.
7. Always have "safe" snacks at the ready - We ALL get to that point when we're ready to graze the entire kitchen. For me, I tend to wait too late to start making dinner, and then I'm super hungry before dinner is ready. I need to have a few options of tiny bites laying around since I'm going to eat whatever is in front of me at that point. Pre-cut carrot sticks (cheaper if you cut them yourself, but people rarely actually do that), low sugar granola bar, coupla cheese and cracker bites, etc.
8. More about portions - It's so simple, but I'm sooooo bad about it. I'll grab the entire "one pounder" bag of corn chips and start munching before dinner. And. I. Don't. Stop. What I need to do is pull out a small bowl to hold a handful of chips....and put the huge bag away.
9. Tell yourself that you can always get more later - I love the way people pile their plates at a buffet. I think most of this comes from a territorial feeling - people (myself included) are afraid that others are going to eat everything, so we hoard what we can to protect the supply. Now, there's no need to do that at home, too. Fill your plate with half of what you'd normally eat, telling yourself you're going to go back for more, instead of filling it to the brim so you don't have to get out of your chair later. I bet you won't eat as much food as you thought you needed.
10. Experiment, experiment, experiment - Food is the problem. Nobody knows how to cook anymore, so they grab take-out more often than not. There are a LOT of products out there for the culinarily impared. While I think pre-packaged salad is going too far (come on - it takes three seconds to chop a head of lettuce.....), there are short cuts out there that are way more healthy than eating Pad Thai three nights a week. Our problem at home is that it's hard to keep veggies fresh since our schedules may conflict, or I just don't feel like cooking with whatever I bought at the beginning of the week. So, I like to buy frozen veggies. They have tons of veggie mixes that are so simple to heat up to round out a quick meal. Trader Joe's has a great mix of soy beans, bell peppers and corn that is crunchy and sweet. Grocery stores have smoked salmon now that's ready-to-eat right out of the package - great for Creighton on those nights I can't get home to cook. So, go to the grocery store and spend at least an hour going down every aisle to see what new inventions they have in the food industry. You'll probably find more than one item that could change how you eat at home (and eat healthier than you have been).
Here's a great resource for finding out what produce is fresh in your area, AND it includes recipes on what to do with the stuff.
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