Healthy Restaurant Eating
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Healthy Restaurant Eating
Here is my plan of attack whenver I am on vacation, traveling for business or just in a situation that has me ordering out more than I am able to cook.
I do what I call "damage control": Do the best I can, with what I've got and have an awesome time on my trip!
Prepare my "emergency kit". I will pack and take with me: walnuts, almonds, almond butter, organic turkey and beef jerky, apples and pears. None of these need refrigeration so they will keep well wherever you are. If I'm in a situation where there is no protein handy (like when it's time for a snack), I've got my nuts and jerky to tie me over. If you don't have something handy, you just may find yourself grabbing pretzels and potato chips (or whatever other horrid food people eat while away).
Breakfast
There is always a protein on the menu, no matter what. Omelets, or smoked salmon are my favorite choices but I've even gone to places that now carry turkey bacon and turkey sausage on the menu. Stay away from the heavy and deadly pancakes and waffles. This is a blood sugar disaster waiting to happen. Eating a sugar loaded breakfast like this will only set you up for hunger and cravings the rest of the day. And, just may ruin an otherwise great day.
Lunch and Dinner
I have said this before. Most of us know what is healthy on the menu but we still continue to order the crappy stuff. Yes, I do believe in a treat and a cheat meal once or twice a week, but definitely not every night of your vacation. Some people eat and choose items off the menu like they are being sent to starvation camp when they get home. This is not an "all or nothing" deal. You've committed to eating healthy for a lifetime. Don't worry. The food will always be there whether you eat it all at once or space it out over a lifetime.
Ok, back to my point. First, items on the menu that you know are drenched in heavy sauces are an instant No-No. Fettuccine Alfredo? Come on now. Are you serious? Can you get the steak, veggies and salad instead and be just as happy? Or, the Chicken Cacciatore with a side of broccoli rabe? (Yes, we're at an Italian restaurant). Often times, our taste buds are really just as happy with a healthier choice. No, this is not deprivation. This is choosing to feel good, be healthy and eat good food at the same time. Comprende?
Desserts
I love desserts too and I will definitely get myself a yummy piece of apple pie or chocolaty treat while I am away. But if the piece of dessert is bigger than the size of my head, I will not eat the whole thing. There is no need. My taste buds are just as happy with a few bites (and my body is happier too). Remember, we're not going to starvation camp after this. Trust me, there is enough apple pie, chocolate or (insert your favorite dessert here) to have a small amount at a time for the rest of your life.
The Trolls
The who? Yes, you know who the trolls are. Those people who tell you to "just eat what you want", or "don't torture yourself". These people always seem to come out of hiding when dining with you at a restaurant. (They are also present at parties and family functions. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid). Don't let anybody else tell you that taking care of yourself and feeling great is a bad thing. I don't mean to talk bad about your family and friends, but chances are they are not too thrilled with their current weight and health and really just upset that you actually started to eat healthy and take control of your life.
Remember, there is no need to avoid restaurants and vacations (but please do avoid fast food joints). You just need to focus on the healthier options and have a great time!
Here's one of my favorite desserts, Chocolate Pudding, completely Diet Solution approved, that you can easily make at home: www.thedietsolutionprogram.com
Is Milk really Healthy?
The answer to both of these questions is NO. We do not need to drink milk as part of a healthy weight loss plan or to obtain a healthy amount of calcium each day.
Consider the following facts:
1. Americans drink the most milk of any other country, yet we still have the highest rate of osteoporosis.
2. Pasteurization kills off all the necessary digestive enzymes in the milk (This is why so many people are now suffering from lactose intolerance).
3. Pasteurization also makes the major part of the calcium contained in milk insoluble, in other words making 50% of milk's calcium unusable by the body (This contributing to the high rate of osteoporosis).
4. Milk sugar (lactose) converts into sugar your body uses very quickly, leading to blood sugar highs and lows and an up and down energy rollercoaster ride for you.
How could this all be true? Isn't milk supposed to do a body good? Well, yes it does, but milk was really only intended to be consumed in its natural state (unpasteurized). Sound scary? Many states in the US and most organic farmers will ONLY drink milk if it's unpasteurized and they are extremely healthy.
The other fact we need to consider is that most cows are being given an excess of growth hormone just to keep them producing massive amounts of milk. This, in turn, makes them sick, at which time they are given antibiotics. The growth hormone and antibiotics get into their blood stream and then into the milk they produce. Who drinks this chemical laden milk? We do! (Actually, I don't and maybe you're starting to consider whether you do).
The next big concern is "How will I get enough Calcium?" As mentioned above, most of the Calcium in milk is not absorbed by the body. More calcium is absorbed from foods such as green leafy vegetables, broccoli, sardines (with bones preferably) and salmon. This makes sense that more calcium come from greens since cows preferably eat grass and they have a lot of calcium inside their bodies (Please don't eat grass. This really only works for cows).
If reducing your risk for Osteoporosis is your goal, do the #1 activity that prevents this debilitating disease: Exercise! Weight bearing exercise has been shown to be the #1 way to prevent osteoporosis. Putting small stresses on your bones via strength training helps to re-build them stronger. No one, and I mean no one, should be neglecting some exercise into their life.
Here are my tips on drinking the right kind of milk, calcium and preventing osteoporosis:
1. If you consume dairy on a regular basis, try to find raw (unpasteurized) milk. www.realmilk.com is a great resource for this.
2. If the thought of raw milk scares you, purchase the next best thing: certified organic milk products. They will be free of antibiotics and hormones.
3. Since most of milk's calcium is not absorbed by the body, make sure to get your calcium from these other sources: leafy green veggies, broccoli, sardines (with bones) and salmon.
4. Commit to a strength training routine on a consistent basis. Not just for your muscles and for the way you look in the mirror (although this does help) but for your bone's sake.
Milk and dairy do not have to be a staple in your diet in order to absorb adequate amounts of calcium and achieve an ideal level of health. You can establish and extremely healthy way of eating, reach your weight loss goals, and feel great each day without drinking milk.
To get started on your own Heatlhy Meal Plans right away, read this eye opening Fat Loss Report.
Is Whole Wheat Bread fattening?
I am not a big fan of bread or bread type products. Actually, I think most people could feel a thousand times better if they stopped eating so much bread every single day. Toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, bread basket at dinner%u2026we could feed a small village with the amount of bread I see some people consuming in one day (or several villages depending on who you're talking about).
No, I am not saying to never have bread ever again (Hey, its life, you gotta enjoy it, right?). What I am saying is that 4-5 servings of some kind of bread type product every day is making thousands of people gain weight, preventing them from losing their unwanted weight and worst of all, bringing about diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease.
I don't eat very much bread at all and I really don't even miss it. I guess I have just come to enjoy all the other delicious food I eat each day that I don't even feel bread is missing from my meal plans.
Here are my "bread free" strategies and exactly how you can lower your own bread intake each day:
1. When you think of breakfast, don't automatically think toast, bagels, or a roll. A couple of hard boiled eggs over sliced tomatoes is delicious. You can also make a quick batch of oatmeal and add walnuts and berries. How about cottage cheese and pineapple? The breakfast options are endless.
2. Pack snack foods and take them with you to work. In less than 2 minutes, I can throw natural peanut butter, raw almonds, dried fruit (no sugar added), an apple or banana and baby carrots all in a bag and be out the door. Taking these food items to work with you will help you stay away from the employee room bagels or donuts. (Don't even get me started on how evil donuts are). Slap some peanut butter on an apple and munch away at that, all while making fun of the people eating donuts (Just Kidding, that's not nice.)
3. Don't depend on sandwiches as lunch every day. How about some salmon, broccoli and brown rice? Leftover chicken from last night and a sweet potato? Imagine that lunch is another version of dinner and not just a mid day sandwich inhaling contest.
4. Make "the bread basket" a once-in-while experience. You really do not need to be serving a bread basket for dinner at home if you are offering healthy carbohydrate choices like salad, cooked vegetables, brown rice, millet, or quinoa.
5. Oh, and how could I forget? Don't think that eating "100% Whole Wheat" is any better. It is still refined flour (maybe just not bleached) and a huge contributor to weight gain. I could go on and on about this but I have covered all the details about how detrimental wheat products are to your weight loss efforts in Chapter 9 of The Diet Solution Program.
Start to think outside the "bread box" today for healthy alternatives to your daily bread intake. What one thing can you do today to get started?
Find out what foods may be preventing you from reaching your own Fat Loss Goals here: www.TheDietSolutionProgram.com
3 Simple, Healthy Meal Plans You Can Start Right Now
Is it possible to put together a simple and healthy meal plan? One that is not going to be complicated and hard to follow? Yes. It is possible and I will show you how. The healthy meal plans below will help you achieve your health goals while simultaneously shedding fat off your body.
Here are 3 healthy meal plans you can get started on right now.
Breakfast
Protein should be included in every meal throughout the day and breakfast is no exception. Make sure to include organic eggs, cottage cheese, raw nut butter or smoked fish as one component of your healthy breakfast. Carbohydrates should also be included in the form of oatmeal, sprouted grain bread, fruit and/or vegetables.
3 great sample breakfasts are:
Oatmeal with almond butter, topped with fresh berries and a bit of Stevia to sweeten.
2 hard boiled eggs, 1 slice sprouted grain toast and ½ grapefruit
Smoked salmon over sliced tomato and 1 green apple
Lunch
The same rules apply as breakfast. An easy way to ensure that you always have a healthy protein available for lunch is to pack leftovers from dinner the night before. Leftover hamburger, chicken legs or wild fish are all great to include in a salad or over vegetables.
3 great sample lunches are:
Baked Tilapia over sautéed spinach, green salad with chick peas (oil and vinegar as dressing) followed by ½ cup of pineapple.
Leftover chicken legs with ½ sweet potato and broccoli.
Lean hamburger over portabella mushroom and brown rice. Cooked vegetables or a green salad. 1 orange.
Dinner
You can really be creative with dinner. Look for recipes that are quick and easy and modify them with your own healthy ingredients as needed. Again, always remember to include protein and carbohydrates.
3 great sample dinners are:
Mexican salad: Ground beef over shredded lettuce and tomato, guacamole and brown rice.
Grilled Salmon over asparagus, green salad (oil and vinegar as dressing) followed by a fresh fruit salad.
Buffalo meat balls over rice pasta with sautéed broccoli.
Snacks
You never want to let your body get too hungry. Hunger often leads to binge eating of unhealthy food and makes sticking to a healthy eating regimen much more difficult. It's important to keep snacks handy so you never experience hunger or a blood sugar low without having a healthy option nearby.
3 great snacks are:
2 Tbsp almond butter on ½ apple
Trail mix made up of walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit (no sugar added)
Cottage cheese and pineapple
Incorporate just a few of these meals into your daily eating regimen and you will see an incredible difference in your weight loss results. Following simple and healthy meal plans like these is the first step in achieving your health and fitness goals.
To get started right away on your own fat loss goals , download these Simple and Healthy Meal Plans right now.
A little bit of Exercise Motivation
One possible reason could be that, yes, exercise can be challenging when you first begin your program or you just give yourself the excuse "I just don't have the time."
What I have figured out for myself and for hundreds of my clients that no matter which exercise program they choose, it must be something they enjoy. Especially when it comes to the setting and location.
For me, I have converted the 2nd bedroom of my house into my "home gym".
NO, home gym does not mean I have the most expensive, high tech equipment. To be honest, the only items that make up my home gym are: an exercise ball, 2 adjustable weights, an exercise mat, and an old Spinning bike that I bought used from a local YMCA. That's it! Nothing expensive or high tech about it.
Many times in the past I have joined gyms and told myself I was going to go. But like many other gym members, I never go! Now, I do really enjoy exercising so why wouldn't I actually use my gym membership?
I figured out that I really love my exercise room. It's my private time to myself and I don't have to worry about who else needs the equipment or who's lurking around the gym. I get an hour to myself and it's a great way to start my day.
I asked myself if this could possibly be what's stopping many people from exercising. "Is this most people's problem? Do they not like where they work out so they just don't want to go?" So it's really not the actual workout but the environment that they're in.
Now maybe for you the situation is just the opposite. You don't like working out in your home and you would much rather get out and be motivated by other healthy people. Whatever the case may be, choose something you enjoy! You will never make a lifestyle change to include exercise on a consistent basis if you don't enjoy it. Who wants to do something that feels like torture? Not me. I love my morning exercise time and if it felt like torture, I just wouldn't do it.
My question to you is: What do you have to do to make your workout time enjoyable? Or (heaven forbid) something you actually look forward to? Join an adult sports league? Start your own exercise group? Join a new gym? Set up a home gym? Find a workout partner? The choices are endless.
Try many different options and figure out which activity you would enjoy best and I assure you, exercise never has to be a drag.
Get started on a new healthy nutrition and exercise plan right now with the meal plans and exercise programs in The Diet Solution Program.
How does Sleep affect Fat Loss?
Can being sleep deprived cause you to gain weight? Yes! Many people don't realize the many health implications of sleep deprivation. It may even be hindering your fat loss efforts.
How does sleep (or sleep deprivation) affect your weight loss efforts?
Here are just a few reasons why sleeping may be the missing link to your weight loss efforts:
1. When you're tired, it is so much harder to make healthy choices. I'm not sure if this is more about psychology or physiology or a combination of both. However, I know I have experienced it firsthand. When I get a good night's sleep, sticking to my regular exercise and healthy eating routine is a cinch. But when I'm sleep deprived, I somehow think that chocolate and sugar will make me feel better. The truth is, it never does! It actually makes me feel worse. Much worse, because the blood sugar highs and lows makes me more tired and cranky than before I ate the sweets.
2. Now for some science. Researchers from several separate studies have found a link between sleep and the hormones that influence our eating behavior. Two specific hormones are involved. Ghrelin is responsible for feelings of hunger. Leptin tells the brain when it's time to stop. When you're sleep deprived, your ghrelin levels increase at the same time that your leptin levels decrease. The result is an increased craving for food and not feeling full (a hormone disaster as far as staying on track with a healthy eating plan). Nothing is worse than craving food and being hungry at the same time.
3. Many people don't know this, but your body adjusts itself based on your circadian rhythms and the amount of sunlight outside. Without getting too deep into the science, these rhythms and light tell your body to physically recover approximately between the hours of 10pm-2am and to mentally recover approximately between 2am-6am. If you aren't getting to bed until 12am, you are missing out on 2 crucial hours of physical repair. This can result in all sorts of aches and pains that do not get better, no matter what you try. I have seen clients relieve bad backs and aching joints by just getting to bed by 10pm. I have even seen people get smarter by sleeping til 6am (ok, I made this last statement up but wouldn't that be great?). All kidding aside, I have seen people act consistently sharper when they are well rested.
How are you going to get a good night's sleep to ensure you are not sabotaging your weight loss efforts?
Here are a few tips for getting a good night's sleep:
1. Don't watch TV before bed. You may not realize how fired up the news or your favorite TV show gets you before bed time. Instead grab a book or your favorite magazine and read in bed. This works wonders, especially a good fiction book that will help you forget the day's events.
2. Cut your caffeine intake early in the day. An afternoon coffee or tea can still be racing through your blood stream at 10pm. Cut out your last caffeinated beverage by noon. This includes all coffee and teas (except herbal teas). Once you catch up on your sleep, you won't be so dependent on your afternoon java kick.
3. Avoid Sugar before bed. (You were avoiding sugar anyway right?) Consuming sugar right before bed leads to a blood sugar roller coaster ride, potentially waking you up in the middle of the night due to a blood sugar low.
4. Put your work away before bed. There is nothing worse than a racing mind before bed. Crunching numbers and reading work documents right before bed may lead to dreams about work (or nightmares). End all work at least 2 hours before bed. If this is not possible for you, you may need to reassess your work schedule a bit.
Whatever the adjustments are for you, remember, sleep may just be the missing link in your nutrition, exercise and health regimen. Stick to your Diet Solution Meal Plans and tuck yourself in at 10pm each night and you will be well on your way to fat loss success.
Get started on your own Easy Fat Loss Meal Plans right away with this free Fat Loss Report.
Healthy Tips for your Children
The good news and the bad news is that our children mimic everything we do. Your habits will sometimes become their habits (scary huh?).
I'll never forget when my old neighbors said to me, "Isabel, our 10 year old woke up this morning and ate leftover chicken and veggies for breakfast, instead of the bagels we bought. I wonder where she got that idea?" I loved it!
When parents bring in their children into my office wondering why their child's weight has now become a health hazard, I always have to ask, "How is the whole family taking care of themselves or better yet, how are you taking care of yourself?"
I know this is a tough question to answer but these little people are looking to us for their answers and many times our actions speak louder than words. We are their role models.
So as a mommy, daddy, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa or just neighborhood friend, what can you do today to be a healthy influence to a child?
1. Develop one new health habit each week that involves your child. Want to go for a walk with Mommy to make our legs and our heart strong? Want to pack carrots in your lunch bag and see how many veggies we can both eat? Want to pick a healthy recipe and cook together? The options are endless. Make sure your child feels like he or she is an important part of your healthy life.
2. Let's try and stay away from words like "weight loss" or "weight gain" and definitely avoid the word "fat". Make it about "HEALTH". We are going to take a family walk so we can all be healthy together. These foods make my heart and my muscles strong. Want to see Mommy or Daddy do pushups? Cool, right? Let your child know that being healthy is fun.
3. Be the healthy change you wish to see in your child. Show your child that genetics, time, and nothing else can get in the way of you getting healthy. Work on your biggest health obstacle and chances are you will see the same change in your child.
Commit today to good health not only for yourself but for those wonderful little people in your life that look up to you and emulate you.
Take the first step towards health and weight loss with these healthy nutrition meal plans in The Diet Solution Program.
Take advantage of this free nutrition report and get started on your health goals right now.
by mandalahi1010
If your schedule has your traveling a lot or opting for take out often, use the ideas below to stick to your healthy meal plans while still enjoying y... more »
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