Tag: healthy diet

Ten Tips To Cooking Easy Healthy Meals

Ledford0416-7655

Eating at home is one of the key ingredients to maintaining a healthy diet. When you know what’s in your food, you have more control over the portion sizes and the quality of the food you consume. However, with today’s fast-paced lifestyles, it can be difficult to carve out the time to cook.

HERE ARE TEN QUICK AND EASY COOKING SHORTCUTS FOR HEALTHY EATING

These tips come straight to you from my personal kitchen.

As a wife, homemaker, fitness coach, and doggie mom, I have a limited amount of time I can spend in the kitchen. Here are some shortcuts I use to help streamline the meal preparation process.

1) Use cookers that need no supervision.  I use my rice cooker all week long.  I make rice, quinoa and steamed vegetables in it.  While one part of the meal is cooking, you can prepare the rest.  Slow cookers and crock pots are perfect appliances for the  busy person that wants to cook healthy meals.   The food is cooking while you are doing other things like working, running errands, exercising, or spending quality time with friends and family.

2)  Choose recipes that take twenty minutes or less.  I recommend choosing simple recipes for busy weeknights.  Save the longer “project” meals for nights you can take your time.

3) Use pre-made sauces.  I usually make my own pasta sauces and salad dressings but there are times that I will substitute healthy pre-made sauces in recipes instead of making them all from scratch.

For example, I make lamb burgers that call for a “raita” sauce. The recipe isn’t hard. However, Trader Joe’s sells a yogurt cilantro sauce that works well in place of it. If you add up the time and cost of buying the ingredients and making the sauce, it is worth the few dollars I paid for Joe’s version. Just be sure to check labels when buying pre-made sauces. Make sure you recognize each ingredient and avoid things like partially hydrogenated oils, soybean oil, and high fructose corn syrup.

4)  Become a great assembler.  Years ago I complimented one of my friends on what a great entertainer and cook she is.  Her response to me was “I don’t really cook, I just know how to assemble food well.”  That stuck with me.  If cooking seems like too daunting of a task, try grilling a piece of meat or buying a pre-cooked chicken and add some healthy sides like a salad made with pre-washed lettuce, frozen veggie combos,  or precooked organic grains.

5) Speed up the veggies.  Pre-washed and pre-cut organic vegetables are a great way to save time.  Check the frozen section for a great variety as well. Frozen veggies are better than canned because they preserve more of the nutrients without preservatives.

6) Prep well. Do all of your cutting, chopping, and mixing before you start cooking, including a side salad. This will save you time, and your meals will come together seamlessly.

7) Recruit in-house.  My husband and I have a lot of fun cooking together. We open a nice bottle of wine, turn on some music and enjoy quality time. The families I work with turn cooking into family time. The kids look forward to working in the kitchen, and mom and dad get to teach their children while getting a little help.

8) Create a meal plan.  Plan your meals one week in advance with the groceries in the house. If you have to stop at the store multiple times per week, you will lose a lot of time shopping. And this can tempt you to eat out. If you are not sure how to meal plan, check out Meal Planning Helps You Lose Weight for detailed steps.

9) Have a back up.  I always keep a few easy meals in our freezer and pantry just in case the day does not go as planned. Frozen organic pizzas and a fresh salad make a great last minute dinner. By making your own pizza, you have more control over the ingredients than if you went to the local pizzeria. Dry pasta and minced canned clams make an amazing linguini and clams dish. Add a salad on the side and your family will think it’s gourmet all the way!

10) Buy freeze dried herbs.  Freeze dried herbs become “like fresh” when they are moistened. Use these to avoid all of the chopping without sacrificing flavor. They are great in the winter when your herb garden isn’t producing, and it saves having to buy an entire bunch of herbs just for a couple tablespoons.

Please let me know which strategies are the most helpful, or share your own time-saving tip below.  I love to hear from you!

With Love,
Jennifer

Lose Weight For Good By Creating A Healthy Lifestyle

Have you struggled with losing weight, staying on a diet, or sticking to an exercise program? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. Forty five million Americans diet each year. We spend a whopping $1-2 billion per year on weight loss programs. Yet, Americans are still struggling to lose weight and keep it off for good.

A 95% Failure Rate!

 

So why aren’t these weight loss plans working? The answer is simple. Diets have a 95% failure rate and new research is telling us that exercise without nutritional intervention shows minimal to no weight loss either.

I am not here to discourage you. However, I want you to know the truth because the media tries to sell you a bunch of garbage and hype around health and fitness on a daily basis.

Now for the good news!

 

The way you lose weight and keep it off for good is by creating a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle is created by adopting a healthy habit one step at a time. Once a habit becomes as natural as brushing your teeth, it has become a part of your lifestyle and is very hard to break. It’s simple. However, it does take effort.

The top habits for weight loss and a healthy lifestyle!

 

1) Baby Steps.  It’s important to remember that this is a journey for life and not a sprint. Be conservative when setting weight loss goals.  Under-promise and over-deliver to yourself. One habit will lead to another, which leads to weight loss and management you couldn’t even imagine existed. To learn more about setting successful weight loss goals, read Baby Steps Lead to Permanent Weight Loss.

2) Meal Plan.  If you want to guarantee your success and remove the stress, then plan! In the beginning you may think you just don’t have time. Meal planning will save you time and is a critical part of successful weight loss. Not sure how to meal plan for weight loss? Refer to Meal Planning Helps You Lose Weight for  an easy step by step guide.

3)  Eat Out Smart. I encourage you to eat out and enjoy a great meal. Unfortunately, eating out often can sabotage your weight loss efforts! The average American eats out 4-5 times per week. Eating out this often can add an additional 670 calories to your weekly consumption. That’s an extra 10 lbs per year!

Eating out used to be a treat when I was growing up. However, with today’s fast paced lifestyles and global business market, it has become a major part of our diet. If it’s impossible for you to avoid eating out you, can avoid gaining weight if you follow some simple guidelines.

Start off by using sites like healthydiningfinder.com. Type in your current location and review the nutritional information for restaurants in the area. Or, try an on line app if your restaurant is not listed. Most apps will have general guidelines for restaurant meals. Stick to lower calorie meals and beverages that have little to no calories — unless it’s a special occasion.

4) Ignore the outside chatter! Stick to what works for you. There will always be some new diet or pill, a well-meaning friend, and Lord knows the magazines waiting to tell you that your plan is not ambitious enough. Or, that their way is better. My favorite is the person posing and asking “don’t you want to look like me?”

Now, I’m not saying to be closed-minded on a better way of doing things. I’m saying you should always question if a health or fitness idea fits into your life and values.

5)  Speak Success! Tell your body what you want, not what you don’t want. When you look in the mirror, use phrases like “I am losing weight,” or “I have a flat stomach.”  In the beginning this can be tough. You tend to think “you are lying.” However, you are not. In my favorite success book, The Bible, it says “speak as if it is already.” This is called faith my friend! You are believing you can accomplish your goals!

Negative thoughts will enter your mind. That’s normal. You’re human! Just don’t let them leave your lips. Replace each negative thought with a positive statement. If that’s tough in the beginning, use one of my favorite personal quotes. If you don’t have anything nice to say about yourself, don’t say anything at all. You wouldn’t say something that mean to a friend, so why say it to yourself?

Leave notes around the house as reminders to speak positively about yourself. This will help you build the mental muscles you will need to make success talk a habit.

6)  Don’t Quit! One of the number one reasons people fail is they give up. They don’t see results fast enough so they quit. Consistency is key. Use your “baby steps” to create healthy habits that you are able to maintain long term.

These really are the secrets to my clients‘ and my own personal success with personal weight loss. As you can see, there is nothing exceptional about them. You just have to get started and stick to it. I believe in you and I know you can do it!

Have a question or healthy habit you’d like to share? Please leave a comment below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

With love,

Jennifer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lose Weight With Easy Low Calorie Recipes!

Eat at Home for Weight Loss

One of the easiest ways to lose weight without dieting is to make meal planning and eating at home a regular habit. Preparing meals at home not only helps you lose weight, it ensure that you are putting healthy food in your body. When you control the calories and the ingredients in your food, your chances of successful weight loss and good health are much higher.

If you are used to eating out often, the idea of cooking at home can seem a bit overwhelming. Other commitments like after school sports, exercise, business engagements or deadlines, and homework can leave little time for cooking meals.  At the end of a hectic day, the take out window looks pretty appealing.

Keeping it Simple!

So how do you accomplish cooking healthy, low calorie,  great tasting food without adding another project to your day? The trick is to keep it simple!

The first thing to consider when planning meals for the week is what your calendar looks like. How long will your chosen recipes take to prepare? Choosing recipes that take no more than 20 minutes will allow you to eat healthy and lose weight without feeling totally overwhelmed.

Five Steps for Quick and Easy Home Cooking

1)  Plan your meals for the week.  Choose quick low calorie recipes for each night you plan on cooking. I recommend Cooking Light’s Super Fast Recipe Selection. These recipes are 20 minutes or less and they are delicious! Add a salad as a side to your meals to feel more full, and get extra fruits and veggies in your diet.

2)  Make a shopping list. Make a list of all the ingredients you will need before heading out to the store. This will eliminate last minute trips to the store which can suck up your time or tempt you to opt for take out.

3)  Make extra! Make extra servings that can be used for lunch or dinner the next day.

4)  Have a back up! Keep healthy frozen meals in the freezer for the days that do not go as planned. I keep frozen organic pizzas, wild caught fish sticks, frozen vegetables, and french fries on hand at all times.

Pick a few staples that appeal to you for your own freezer. Or, freeze leftovers to keep on hand for a last minute meal.  Make a salad while the meal is heating in the oven, and you’ll have a healthy meal to keep your weight loss efforts on track.

5)  It’s okay to cheat. Buy pre-made items that will save you time. Things like organic pasta sauces, jarred salsas, and sauces are great time savers when recipes call for making these sauces from scratch. Avoid buying anything with partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup in it. It’s best when you recognize everything on the label.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen to eat healthy. And, you do not have to be a master chef either. Keep it simple and you will lose the weight without adding the overwhelm.

Have a quick and easy low calorie recipe you’d like to share?  Please comment below! I would love to hear from you!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer