Healthy nutrition: what's the best foods for weight loss
Hi!
Today I had a colleague who asked me how I manage to stay so thin. It is not the first time I have had this question and I thought it might be interesting to take it up here.
Obviously, staying at the same weight is a matter of balance. I probably actually go up and down a little in weight like everyone else, but I do not realize it. I have had times when I was a few kilos up or down from my current weight which is somewhere around 65 kg. At my 1.80 m this is just fine. I do not want to lose weight. I would like to add muscle. I am not the least concerned about my weight, factually. I am interested in my body fat content, not my weight in kilos. >(or lbs).
But isn't it ironic? When I put on weight it goes on to my "jellybelly" and my hips. When I lose weight (last year I was very stressed and got down to 62 kg which is too little for me) I lose it from my face and my arms and legs, and the stubborn fat on my belly and hips stays. Sigh. So now everyone says I am thin, because my face is thin, while I am in fact quite ok. I am back to 65 kg.
So here is my recipe for staying slim. Many people think I can eat anything and just stay slim, but that is a total misunderstanding.
1. I avoid all kinds of sweets. No candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, as a matter of fact I try to avoid processed foods of any kinds (anything that has a nutrition label on it!). From my experience, eating any sweet just makes me want to eat more sweets, whereas avoiding them makes me lose the craving.
2. I never drink any liquids with any calories, except for my daily glass of red wine. Yes, you may think that is not good either, ok. But I am so good otherwise. I drink organic green and white tea and lots of (fresh lemon) water.
3. When I cook I only use organic extra virgin olive oil (and here it is worth investing in organic oil from a good farm, free from preservatives and fillers, since you only use so little but there are enormous quality differences between the oil), I avoid fried foods of any kind, and our evening meal is always only lean meats or fish or vegetarian and 3, 4, 5, 6 different kinds of veggies, both steamed and raw. Sometimes stewed. So we generally avoid pasta, rice and potatoes.
4. NEVER eat until you are full. I eat until I am satisfied and then I stop. I welcome leftovers: either they will be the start of another meal or my lunch someday soon. I freeze in any and all leftovers and label them. I actually feel very uncomfortable feeling full.
5. NEVER eat or drink DIET products. Generally they are bad for your health and full of chemicals which are worse than the original product (did you know that aspartame was developed as an ant repellent? Ha!). Do you really think the Diet Product industry wants you to lose weight? Of course not! Then you would stop using their products. Take less of the normal product instead. However, if you are a Coke fan, it is better to use a sugar-free variety if you cannot be without; at least if you want to lose weight!
5. Break all of the above rules. Just do it very seldom:)!
And if you eat rice, make it brown rice or at least parboiled; pasta is available as whole-wheat; and take fresh potatoes. Once again, every rule can be broken: there is nothing wrong with eating french fries now and then. Just don't do it often.
Yes, I do a very mean lasagna. But nowadays I use turkey ground meat. Sometimes I eat a small piece of chocolate (only dark chocolate though! or a cookie. I may be pressed socially on somebody's birthday to take a small piece of cake or pie. I break all my own rules. Just very seldom.
So what does my day generally looks like? Lots of fruit and vegetables!
Breakfast is generally a bowl of 2 to 3 different fresh fruits (my husband also loves fruit, so if we have less than 3 different fruits available, IT'S AN EMERGENCY!), Apples, pineapple, mango, kiwi, oranges, mandarins, melon, watermelon, pears, bananas, grapes (we buy whatever is on "Extrapris", the special deals). In order to have the full health benefit I don't cut the fruit until we are actually going to eat them. So, I do not prepare my bowl beforehand although if you are really pressed for time in the morning it is an option). Then I'm nuts about nuts: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, other nuts and linseed. Yoghurt: half natural, half some fruit yoghurt (people mistake this for healthy food but it contains 3% added sugar). If you can manage 100% natural yoghurt it is even better.
Sometimes I use muesli or granola, currently it is only nuts and seeds. I also love to add a dash of organic cinnamon. I don't buy everything organic, that is just too expensive, but when you do not use lots of it such as the EV olive oil and herbs and tea, I try as much as possible to buy organic).
Dinner is always fish or seafood, (lean) meat (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and occassionally the more exotic ones such as duck, dove, ostrich or whatever) or an omelette with vegetables. Lots of vegetables. Generally I serve at least 2 raw vegetables and at least 1 steamed. We don't normally eat rice, potatoes or pasta. Again: break the rule sometime. There is nothing wrong with eating some rice, potatoes or pasta. Just do it seldom.
Dessert: ach yes, here in Sweden it is the most important part of the meal. Swedes love their sweets. We only do dessert when we are at a family party, and even then I will try to avoid the cakes and cookies and ice cream in spite of the social press. At home, it will be fruit at most.
Remember though: children have different needs. My teenage children do eat rice, potatoes and pasta. And dessert. They are growing and they need the calories and the carbs and they need much more fat than we do (having the fat-soluble vit. A, D, K & E among others). Just try to instill healthy habits into them. I have found that it is very useful that while I am cooking and they are in the kitchen I have some bowls with raw or steamed vegetables on the table from which they can snack. We very seldom eat chips, instead we sometimes have a bowl of cut vegetables and a dip sauce. Lead by example! Children don't do what you say, they do what you do (most of the time, and you have to wait long for the results!),
tripleclicks.com
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Today I had a colleague who asked me how I manage to stay so thin. It is not the first time I have had this question and I thought it might be interesting to take it up here.
Obviously, staying at the same weight is a matter of balance. I probably actually go up and down a little in weight like everyone else, but I do not realize it. I have had times when I was a few kilos up or down from my current weight which is somewhere around 65 kg. At my 1.80 m this is just fine. I do not want to lose weight. I would like to add muscle. I am not the least concerned about my weight, factually. I am interested in my body fat content, not my weight in kilos. >(or lbs).
But isn't it ironic? When I put on weight it goes on to my "jellybelly" and my hips. When I lose weight (last year I was very stressed and got down to 62 kg which is too little for me) I lose it from my face and my arms and legs, and the stubborn fat on my belly and hips stays. Sigh. So now everyone says I am thin, because my face is thin, while I am in fact quite ok. I am back to 65 kg.
So here is my recipe for staying slim. Many people think I can eat anything and just stay slim, but that is a total misunderstanding.
1. I avoid all kinds of sweets. No candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, as a matter of fact I try to avoid processed foods of any kinds (anything that has a nutrition label on it!). From my experience, eating any sweet just makes me want to eat more sweets, whereas avoiding them makes me lose the craving.
2. I never drink any liquids with any calories, except for my daily glass of red wine. Yes, you may think that is not good either, ok. But I am so good otherwise. I drink organic green and white tea and lots of (fresh lemon) water.
3. When I cook I only use organic extra virgin olive oil (and here it is worth investing in organic oil from a good farm, free from preservatives and fillers, since you only use so little but there are enormous quality differences between the oil), I avoid fried foods of any kind, and our evening meal is always only lean meats or fish or vegetarian and 3, 4, 5, 6 different kinds of veggies, both steamed and raw. Sometimes stewed. So we generally avoid pasta, rice and potatoes.4. NEVER eat until you are full. I eat until I am satisfied and then I stop. I welcome leftovers: either they will be the start of another meal or my lunch someday soon. I freeze in any and all leftovers and label them. I actually feel very uncomfortable feeling full.
5. NEVER eat or drink DIET products. Generally they are bad for your health and full of chemicals which are worse than the original product (did you know that aspartame was developed as an ant repellent? Ha!). Do you really think the Diet Product industry wants you to lose weight? Of course not! Then you would stop using their products. Take less of the normal product instead. However, if you are a Coke fan, it is better to use a sugar-free variety if you cannot be without; at least if you want to lose weight!
5. Break all of the above rules. Just do it very seldom:)!
And if you eat rice, make it brown rice or at least parboiled; pasta is available as whole-wheat; and take fresh potatoes. Once again, every rule can be broken: there is nothing wrong with eating french fries now and then. Just don't do it often. Yes, I do a very mean lasagna. But nowadays I use turkey ground meat. Sometimes I eat a small piece of chocolate (only dark chocolate though! or a cookie. I may be pressed socially on somebody's birthday to take a small piece of cake or pie. I break all my own rules. Just very seldom.
So what does my day generally looks like? Lots of fruit and vegetables!
Breakfast is generally a bowl of 2 to 3 different fresh fruits (my husband also loves fruit, so if we have less than 3 different fruits available, IT'S AN EMERGENCY!), Apples, pineapple, mango, kiwi, oranges, mandarins, melon, watermelon, pears, bananas, grapes (we buy whatever is on "Extrapris", the special deals). In order to have the full health benefit I don't cut the fruit until we are actually going to eat them. So, I do not prepare my bowl beforehand although if you are really pressed for time in the morning it is an option). Then I'm nuts about nuts: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, other nuts and linseed. Yoghurt: half natural, half some fruit yoghurt (people mistake this for healthy food but it contains 3% added sugar). If you can manage 100% natural yoghurt it is even better.
Sometimes I use muesli or granola, currently it is only nuts and seeds. I also love to add a dash of organic cinnamon. I don't buy everything organic, that is just too expensive, but when you do not use lots of it such as the EV olive oil and herbs and tea, I try as much as possible to buy organic).
Lunch is either a fresh salad from the most nearby supermarket, most have a salad bar nowadays, or leftovers. During the summer I might make smoothies out of any fruit with some yoghurt.
Salad with warm goat cheese (also excellent for dinner) and molten honey
Dinner is always fish or seafood, (lean) meat (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and occassionally the more exotic ones such as duck, dove, ostrich or whatever) or an omelette with vegetables. Lots of vegetables. Generally I serve at least 2 raw vegetables and at least 1 steamed. We don't normally eat rice, potatoes or pasta. Again: break the rule sometime. There is nothing wrong with eating some rice, potatoes or pasta. Just do it seldom.
Lamb steak with veggies & red wine mushroom sauce
Chicken cordon blue with alternative filling: turkey bacon and blue cheese.
Dessert: ach yes, here in Sweden it is the most important part of the meal. Swedes love their sweets. We only do dessert when we are at a family party, and even then I will try to avoid the cakes and cookies and ice cream in spite of the social press. At home, it will be fruit at most.
Remember though: children have different needs. My teenage children do eat rice, potatoes and pasta. And dessert. They are growing and they need the calories and the carbs and they need much more fat than we do (having the fat-soluble vit. A, D, K & E among others). Just try to instill healthy habits into them. I have found that it is very useful that while I am cooking and they are in the kitchen I have some bowls with raw or steamed vegetables on the table from which they can snack. We very seldom eat chips, instead we sometimes have a bowl of cut vegetables and a dip sauce. Lead by example! Children don't do what you say, they do what you do (most of the time, and you have to wait long for the results!),
tripleclicks.com
Bragg Organic Sprinkle 24 Herbs and Spices Seasoning Description
All Purpose Delicious Seasoning
Non-Irradiated
Salt-Free
Bragg Organic Sprinkle is an original blend of 24 organic herbs and spices. Contains no additives, no preservatives, no fillers. Original formula by Paul C. Bracgg, American's Health Pioneer. A delicious...
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