Category: Lose weight easy

Eat More Vegetables for Easy Weight Loss!

 

Tired of struggling with weight loss and/or maintaining your weight? Eat a diet loaded with vegetables to cut back on calories easily and naturally! It helps you feel more satisfied physically and psychologically. It is a great strategy that curbs things like high calorie snacking, and going back for unnecessary seconds — which can sabotage your healthy eating plan.

Five Ideas for Adding More Vegetables to Your Day


1)  Add an extra serving! Reach for two servings of steamed veggies with your protein and carbohydrate. Steam two different types of vegetables for variety!

Don’t have time to go to the farmer’s market? Buy frozen organic vegetables. They’re easy to cook, usually cost less, and you don’t have to worry about them going bad!

2)  Eat more salad! Get a healthy serving of vegetables by having salad with one of your daily meals! It will keep you from overeating. Just be sure to measure the dressing carefully. Two tablespoons is usually a serving. Choose one hundred calories or less per serving when buying bottled dressings.

3)  Add veggies to your entree! When cooking at home, pick “light” recipes that are loaded with vegetables. Some ideas are pastas, rice bowls, stir-fries, hearty broth-based soups, and stews. These can be veggie rich and still give you the protein and carbohydrates you need to fuel your body properly. Sites like Cooking Light and Eating Well are good resources for recipes.

4)  Snack on them! Try cutting up veggies like  carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, snap peas, & celery for go-to snacks.  Serve them with a single serving of hummus, cheese, peanut butter, or light ranch dressing. Add a serving of pita bread or crackers to help you feel more full and get the carbs your body needs.

5)  Have them for breakfast. Try adding vegetables to your morning fare. Add spinach or last night’s leftover steamed vegetables to scrambled eggs. Or, try putting raw spinach or arugula on an egg sandwich.

Like smoothies in the morning? Try adding kale, celery, cucumber, spinach, or parsley to your blended drink. If you’re too busy to make one, check your local grocery store for smoothies with vegetables in the ingredients. (Check out my friend Christiane Marshall’s smoothie recipe below.)

A healthy eating plan loaded with vegetables is one of the easiest ways to lose weight without dieting or feeling hungry. Add regular exercise and you have the best recipe for long term weight loss there is!

To your health and fitness!

Jennifer

Ginger Snap Kale Smoothie for Two or Three (by Christiane Marshall)

 

Green smoothies are an acquired taste, so I’m sharing a recipe with lots of options! Ginger gives this smoothie a little bit of a snap, so go slowly at first. Taste test it as you go along. (The beauty of ginger is both the taste and its ability to minimize inflammation. I use a lot of it.)

Blend all together: (Chop ingredients more finely if you have a challenged blender!)

1 to 3 cups of ice or water or coconut water (to taste) See tips below.

1 cup washed and chopped organic kale (or collards — kale is sweeter)

1/2 avocado for smoothness and healthy fat

1 cup fresh ripe mango (you can also use banana) for smoothness and sweetness

1/2 organic apple

1 small piece of fresh ginger (to taste)

1/4 cup of chopped celery (and/or carrots)

a pinch of Himalayan salt

Optional: 1 Tablespoon raw almond butter (makes it more hearty)

Tips:

1. Because the water in the fruit and vegetables vary, play around with the amount of liquid. Your texture preference matters too!

2. Begin with 1 cup of water, adding as you go. Blend till smooth with the least amount of liquid to get everything through the blades, but not so little that the blending stops. Add water to taste after everything is smooth.

Enjoy!

 

 

Lose Weight With These Easy Portion Control Tips

Did you know that the average restaurant meal is now four times larger than a meal in the 1950’s?  It’s no wonder that the average adult is 26 pounds heavier than sixty years ago!

You can lose weight with portion control. That’s one of the most important secrets behind weight loss.  When you cut back on portion sizes and take a balanced approach to healthy eating, you will see your weight drop.

Unlike restrictive diets which can lead to binging, portion control teaches you how to eat the foods you like in moderation. You may be asking how to control portion sizes without scales and various other measuring tools, or what to do when you eat out. Great questions!

Five Simple Tips for Portion Control:

1)  Read the fine print!  Yes! The labels will tell you how many calories, but make sure you read how many servings are in that bag of chips, energy drink, soda, box of crackers, etc.  Most snack size bags are actually two servings — not one!

2)  Are your plates super sized? Over the years it’s become fashionable to have large plates. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to get new dishes! However, a plate that is smaller will appear fuller and may satisfy you more.

If you feel like you need the extra visual help, you can purchase plates that have the portion sizes built into them. Everything from plastic to china. Another way I combat the empty looking plate is to use bowls. They appear fuller and I am able to scoop out the proper portion sizes with a ladle.

3)  Develop a simple visual system. Not all plates are created equal. so it’s helpful to know what a proper serving is. Here are some visual cues/examples to help you with portion size:

  1. Vegetables or fruit: about the size of your fist.
  2. Carbohydrates like pasta, rice, and starchy vegetables: A single serving is 1/2 cup or the size of a cupcake wrapper.
  3. Meat, fish, or poultry: the size of a deck of cards or the size of your palm (minus the fingers).
  4. Snacks such as pretzels and chips: about the size of a cupped handful.
  5. Apple: the size of a baseball.
  6. Potato: the size of a computer mouse.
  7. Bagel: the size of a hockey puck.
  8. Pancakes or lunch meat: the size of a compact disc.
  9. Cheese: the size of a pair of dice or the size of your whole thumb (from the tip to the base).
  10. A tablespoon of food such as peanut butter, salad dressing, hummus:  The size of your whole thumb.

4)  It’s okay to go back for seconds! Try serving from the kitchen counter to avoid reaching mindlessly for a second helping. If after 20 minutes you are still hungry, then go back and load up on veggies or a 1/4 to 1/2 second serving.

Eating out?  No problem. Ask your server about the portion sizes. Start with one or two dishes and then decide if you want more. The kitchen will still be there!

5)  You do not have to finish everything on your plate!  Many of us were raised not to waste. This was a really important thing to teach us as children, and I am grateful for that up-bringing. Unfortunately, this has been linked to overeating in adults.

I give you full permission to leave food on your plate. You will not be sent to your room! That may sound silly. However, so much of our childhood training affects the way we look at food. If you are like me and really dislike wasting food, then simply place whatever is left in a small container. You can have it as a snack or combine it with your lunch.

So there you go! These strategies can be implemented right away to help you with weight loss. Portion control is one of the best ways to begin cutting back on unnecessary calories without depriving yourself.

Have questions or tricks to share?  I’d love to hear from you below!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer

 

Ten Simple Weight Loss Tips that Work

Too Much Weight Loss Information?

 

There’s a lot of information available on how to lose weight. So much that it can be overwhelming!  And, I’ve seen some unhealthy advice, including some that can’t last long term.

Like most people, you are probably too busy to become an expert in health and fitness. And you’d like simple strategies to lose weight and keep it off for good. Good news! I’ve got ten simple weight loss tips that are proven to work and will help you keep the weight off for good!

Ten Weight loss tips that are guaranteed to work!

 

1)  Eat! The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics revealed that people who didn’t blow off their meals lost an average of 8 more pounds per year.

2)  Write it down! As a personal trainer, I witness quite a bit of resistance to keeping food journals. I believe it’s because people think they will be judged or told they have to give something up. This is very normal!

On average, people that keep food journals lose more weight. One study showed that women who kept track of what they ate lost 6 lbs. more on average. Food journals have a proven track record!

If you know you have a resistance to writing down what you eat, keep it private. In the beginning, don’t even share it with anyone else. Think of it as simply collecting data. Then, start to review the journals and see if there is anything you think should be modified to help you with your weight loss goals.

The easiest way to do this is with an online app like loseit.com. After entering all of the data, you will be able to see if you are successfully creating a caloric deficit that will equal weight loss, or not.

3)  Eat the skins! A University of Iowa Study found that a substance in apple peel increases muscle and healthy, calorie-burning brown fat. And, apples are in season right now. Bonus!

4)  Exercise in the morning! Brigham Young researchers found that 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise in the morning reduces your motivation for food.

If exercising at a different time works better for your schedule, stick to what works and apply the other tips in this article.

5)  Wear fitted clothes! Fitted clothes are usually more flattering and are a great reminder to make the lower calorie choices during meals. You’re more likely to go for unnecessary seconds in a pair of sweats!

6)  Save family style for special occasions! People that serve their plates from the stove instead of the dining table are shown to eat 10% less.

7)  Like bread when eating out? Dip in olive oil instead of butter. You’ll eat 23 percent less bread and 16 percent fewer calories says The International Journal of Obesity.

8)  Eat three meals plus snacks! Eating every three to four hours helps equip you to say no to the temptations that can sabotage your weight loss goals.

9)  Add some arms! When walking outdoor or on the treadmill, make sure to swing your arms.  Swinging your arms will increase your calorie burn.

10)  Eat breakfast! Eating breakfast releases enzymes in the body that kick start your metabolism for the day. Starting your day off by having breakfast is a secret weapon for successful weight loss!

The tips above are proven to work and easy to apply. Have a weight loss tip you’d like to share or a question for me? Please leave a comment below! I’m looking forward to chatting with you!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer