One of the most popular myths surrounding weight loss is you have to abandon the foods you love and opt for only so-called “healthy” foods. That means no more ice cream, baked goods or grandma’s apple pie – ever again! But that line of thought couldn’t be further from the truth. While your overall health will benefit from eating a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and nuts, you don’t have to cut out the foods you love to receive those benefits and lose weight.
Simple Substitutions
One of the easiest ways to lower your caloric intake and even improve your health is to substitute high calorie ingredients with their lower calorie counter parts in the foods you cook. For example, if your recipe calls for 1 cup of whole milk you can replace that with 1 cup of skim milk and save yourself roughly 60 calories with one simple substitution. For more recipe substitutions check out our Baking Substitutes article. Try sneaking a few of these substitutions in at your next family dinner and see if anybody even notices.
Meal Starters
Did you know that you can lose weight by adding another course to your meal? Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well, according to recent studies it may be just that easy. Researchers have shown that eating low-calorie soup at the beginning of a meal may reduce your overall caloric consumption (soup plus meal).
Also, eating water-dense foods such as vegetables and salads at the beginning of a meal will help give you that “full” sensation (without the added calories) so you’ll eat less of the more calorie-dense main dish.
Burn Calories
This is a no-brainer, but burning more calories in a day through exercise or other physical activity is a great way to improve your health and lose weight. But, you hate exercising you say? That’s fine. You’re not alone. There’s many ways to burn more calories just by doing the things you already do on any given day. For example, park your car farther away from the grocery store and walk when you go shopping, take the stairs instead of the elevator and so on. Check out our Easy Exercise tips for fresh ideas on how to burn calories the easy way.
By permanently applying these healthy habits into your daily routine you will be able to enjoy all the foods you love and possibly even lose a few pounds in the process.
