Since I started my weight loss journey more than six months ago I've learned a lot about eating. I've gotten recipes, developed my own tricks in regards to eating habits, snacks that will help with weight loss etc. So I figured why not put the info in a thread so everyone can learn from it and add their own recipes, tips, tricks, etc. Now I'm not a dietician and what I'm saying worked for me it might not be the case for everyone and this is with a good regimen of excercise, I hit the gym 4-5 days a week for 1.5 - 2 hours. So lets not turn this into I know better than you if something is wrong just point it out and offer a better solution. Although to my credit I have to say that since starting my journey I have lost 45 lbs so for me these things work.
To start it is critical to know how much calories are being consumed and how much are being burned. So having a calorie tracker app or some way to track calories is a must. I wont talk about it because there is a thread about fitness apps that has good recommendations.
Balance for me is the most important thing. So when I started to lose weight I did it without making a drastic change in what I ate. Instead I ate smaller portions and snacked less which was helped by tracking my calories. Now I already ate pretty good, wholewheat instead of white break, skim milk, almost no sugar or salt. My guilty pleasure is snacking and chocolates was my weakness. Once I ate one thing with chocolate I had to finish the whole package lol So keeping this is mind here are some of the recipes, tips and tricks I've used on my journey so far.
Tips
Don't skip breakfast it is the start of the day and your body is hungry. This also ties into the next tip.
Throughout the day eat every 3 hours this keeps your body from going into starvation mode which then stores sugars as fat. This doesn't mean to eat a full meal every 3 hours it just means to bring little snacks with you to eat. When I say snacks I'm talking more about things like yogurt, carrots, cellery and fat free salad dressing, rice cakes, etc. Snacks that will not add to your calorie intake drastically, aren't full of fat and that will make you feel full longer. As an example daily I have breakfast at 6:30AM, have a yogurt at 9:30AM, Lunch at 12 or 12:30, yogurt/rice cake at 3:30 and dinner at 6:30 or 7PM
Cut down on soda even diet - Drink water or fruit juices mostly water. Cut down doesn't mean to stop cold turkey or that having soda once in a while is a sin. Just keep a good balance and set a goal for yourself to gradually do it. I have gone from having 5 or 6 cups a day to 3 cups a day to no more than 1 cup a day and now my newest goal is to have 2 cups a week and the rest of the time I drink water.
Be honest when tracking calories - There will be times when you know having a snack or food will put you over your daily calorie limit. So ofcourse the thing most people will want to do is just leave it off and tell yourself that you will make up for it tomorrow. Don't do it because you are really just cheating yourself, be honest put the food into the tracker and be over. In the end leaving it off the tracker is not changing anything because the only one tracking the calories is you. So who cares if you are over it's a part of life there will be ups and downs but by being honest it gives you a correct picture of your calorie intake.
Tricks
Fat free snacks - I'm a big snacker and most of the times the snacks I would have are chocolates, chocolate bars, chips, salted peanuts, beer nuts. So I switched to eating snacks that were fat free instead, Marshmallows, Jujubes, Jelly Beans. I would still moderate it in an effort to curb my snacking habit so instead of eating half a bag of marshmallows I would have either 2 or 3 per day on the days when I felt like a snack. It would sort of satisfy my sweet tooth and instead of something that was full of both sugar and fat these were fat free. It was the lesser of two evils but I also only ate them in 1. moderation - up to the amount listed on the calorie listing of the package and no more 2. Early enough that I could burn off the sugar because the body will turn the sugar into fat if it isn't burned off anyway.
Check Chewing gum or drink water when snacking crave hits - When I felt like snacking I knew that it was either because I was sitting watching TV or I usually ate some snacks at the time(weekends). So instead I would chew some gum which had less calories or I would grab a glass of water. I did cheat every now and then like I said it's all about balance but if my calories were all gone for the day I would not have any snacks. It was hard at first like breaking any habbit but after 2 or 3 weeks I was amazed that even when my wife was snacking I didn't have the urge to snack and it felt good.
Recipes
Cucumber sandwich - One of my favorite snacks is the cucumber sandwich. Cut a cucumber up into slices, on one slice put some hummus, cut up green pepper into diced pieces, put a few pieces on the hummus. Then put some hummus on another cucumber slice and put it on top of the green peppers. It tastes good, it's healthy and it is a great snack. I make 4 or 5 and I'm good for the night
To start it is critical to know how much calories are being consumed and how much are being burned. So having a calorie tracker app or some way to track calories is a must. I wont talk about it because there is a thread about fitness apps that has good recommendations.
Balance for me is the most important thing. So when I started to lose weight I did it without making a drastic change in what I ate. Instead I ate smaller portions and snacked less which was helped by tracking my calories. Now I already ate pretty good, wholewheat instead of white break, skim milk, almost no sugar or salt. My guilty pleasure is snacking and chocolates was my weakness. Once I ate one thing with chocolate I had to finish the whole package lol So keeping this is mind here are some of the recipes, tips and tricks I've used on my journey so far.
Tips
Don't skip breakfast it is the start of the day and your body is hungry. This also ties into the next tip.
Throughout the day eat every 3 hours this keeps your body from going into starvation mode which then stores sugars as fat. This doesn't mean to eat a full meal every 3 hours it just means to bring little snacks with you to eat. When I say snacks I'm talking more about things like yogurt, carrots, cellery and fat free salad dressing, rice cakes, etc. Snacks that will not add to your calorie intake drastically, aren't full of fat and that will make you feel full longer. As an example daily I have breakfast at 6:30AM, have a yogurt at 9:30AM, Lunch at 12 or 12:30, yogurt/rice cake at 3:30 and dinner at 6:30 or 7PM
Cut down on soda even diet - Drink water or fruit juices mostly water. Cut down doesn't mean to stop cold turkey or that having soda once in a while is a sin. Just keep a good balance and set a goal for yourself to gradually do it. I have gone from having 5 or 6 cups a day to 3 cups a day to no more than 1 cup a day and now my newest goal is to have 2 cups a week and the rest of the time I drink water.
Be honest when tracking calories - There will be times when you know having a snack or food will put you over your daily calorie limit. So ofcourse the thing most people will want to do is just leave it off and tell yourself that you will make up for it tomorrow. Don't do it because you are really just cheating yourself, be honest put the food into the tracker and be over. In the end leaving it off the tracker is not changing anything because the only one tracking the calories is you. So who cares if you are over it's a part of life there will be ups and downs but by being honest it gives you a correct picture of your calorie intake.
Tricks
Fat free snacks - I'm a big snacker and most of the times the snacks I would have are chocolates, chocolate bars, chips, salted peanuts, beer nuts. So I switched to eating snacks that were fat free instead, Marshmallows, Jujubes, Jelly Beans. I would still moderate it in an effort to curb my snacking habit so instead of eating half a bag of marshmallows I would have either 2 or 3 per day on the days when I felt like a snack. It would sort of satisfy my sweet tooth and instead of something that was full of both sugar and fat these were fat free. It was the lesser of two evils but I also only ate them in 1. moderation - up to the amount listed on the calorie listing of the package and no more 2. Early enough that I could burn off the sugar because the body will turn the sugar into fat if it isn't burned off anyway.
Check Chewing gum or drink water when snacking crave hits - When I felt like snacking I knew that it was either because I was sitting watching TV or I usually ate some snacks at the time(weekends). So instead I would chew some gum which had less calories or I would grab a glass of water. I did cheat every now and then like I said it's all about balance but if my calories were all gone for the day I would not have any snacks. It was hard at first like breaking any habbit but after 2 or 3 weeks I was amazed that even when my wife was snacking I didn't have the urge to snack and it felt good.
Recipes
Cucumber sandwich - One of my favorite snacks is the cucumber sandwich. Cut a cucumber up into slices, on one slice put some hummus, cut up green pepper into diced pieces, put a few pieces on the hummus. Then put some hummus on another cucumber slice and put it on top of the green peppers. It tastes good, it's healthy and it is a great snack. I make 4 or 5 and I'm good for the night
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