Losing Weight without an Official Diet

It's not always easy to make the best choices about what to eat, especially when we can't immediately think of the healthier alternatives. This article from Cosmopolitan gives some suggestions on how to cut calories at every meal with out sacrificing satisfaction or ending the meal and still being hungry.

Easy Ways to Cut 100 Calories at Every Meal

These food subtractions are so painless, you won’t be able to tell the difference—until you’re pulling up your skinny jeans.

BY ZOE RUDERMAN

The science is simple: Eating fewer calories makes you drop pounds. But depriving yourself by skimping on meals and banishing snacks only makes you hungry and pissed off. Plus, you are more likely to binge in the end anyway. The real solution lies in cutting out just a few little extra items from each meal (truly, your taste buds won’t even realize their absence) as well as making some food swaps so you sacrifice one fat-bomb ingredient and replace it with a more flavorful option. Incorporate a few of these ideas into your day and you’ll soon feel lighter and—as a bonus—healthier.

•Instead of one croissant, eat two pieces of whole-wheat toast with a smidge of butter or cream cheese on each slice.

•Scoop out the white-bread inside of your plain bagel.

•Order or whip up an egg-white scramble with two pieces of turkey bacon rather than a whole-egg omelette with two pieces of pork bacon.

•Use 4 tablespoons of hummus instead of 2 tablespoons of regular mayonnaise on your sandwich. Or go with mustard, which is practically calorie-free (just 3 in each little packet!).

•Dress your salad with 1 tablespoon each of oil and vinegar in place of creamy ranch dressing.

•Eat your French-or Italian-bread sandwich/hero open-faced so you consume only one slice of bread.

•Opt for a 1-cup serving of no-butter microwave popcorn rather than munching on a bag of potato chips.

•Snack on a medium-size cup of low-fat frozen yogurt in lieu of a candy bar.

•Skip the croutons, halve the Parmesan dressing, and say no to extra cheese on top of your Caesar salad.

•Eat two part-skim string cheeses instead of a plate of three crackers with whole-milk cheese cubes.

•Skip the cheese and sour cream that often come as toppings on a bowl of chili or a baked potato.

•Pass on the roll or pretzel stick that arrives with your soup or salad.

•Order your burger sans cheese.

•Nosh on a handful of pretzels at the bar during happy hour rather than the same amount of nuts.

•Say no when your server offers fresh grated Parmesan cheese on your pasta.

•Replace your vodka tonic with a vodka soda. (Soda water, like regular water, has nada calories.)

•Dunk 10 tortilla chips in salsa, not guacamole.

•Share a small order of spicy wings on the bone instead of breaded chicken wings.

•When you cook at home, use a spray like Pam to coat the pan (spritz for one full second) instead of using a tablespoon of olive oil.

•Put a dollop of Tru Whip on your slice of pie or cake rather than 2 tablespoons of hot fudge or chocolate syrup.

What 300 Calories ACTUALLY looks like

Bobbie found this on a friend's blog at BuddySlim and wanted to share it with us. This article, originally from SparkPeople, really puts things into perspective. I was pretty shocked, but am definitely going to keep this in mind when choosing what to eat.

What Does 300 Calories Really Look Like?

See Pictures of 300, 350, and 400-Calorie Meals

– By Nicole Nichols, Health Educator

Wonder what 300 calories looks like? 300 calories look drastically different when you’re eating in instead of dining out. Choosing healthier, more nutritious foods–at home and away–means you can eat much more food and still lose weight. Check out these 18 meal comparisons to see for yourself, share forward this story to your friends!

Breakfast: 300-Calorie Meals & Portions
Here are three morning meals that each weigh in at 300 calories. Healthy and quick homemade meals (left column) pack whole grains, fresh fruit, and protein–a filling combination that will keep you fuller longer. You could only eat a fraction of the comparable restaurant meals (right column) for the same number of calories.

Lunch: 350-Calorie Meals & Portions
These midday meals contain 350 calories each–the perfect amount to keep you going without wrecking your diet. Packing one of the homemade lunches on the left doesn’t take long, and look at all those low- cal and filling veggies you’ll get! Notice how seemingly healthy options like the restaurant foods on the right can be very misleading! Those 350-calorie portions are pretty small.









Dinner: 400-Calorie Meals & Portions
Many people consume a larger meal at night, so we picked 400-calorie dinners here. By combining whole grains with lean protein and vegetables, these homemade dinners (left column) are a snap to prepare–and they’ll keep the late-night munchies at bay! In contrast, the high-fat and high-calorie meals on the right don’t offer much in the way of nutrition or volume.

The bottom line is that you can eat more and lose weight when you know how to pick the right foods and the right portions. Use the images and portions above as a guide to create your own healthy, diet-friendly and nutritious meals every day!

Stress Reducing Foods? Bring it on!

My mom loves to send me articles from various websites about health and stress...here is one that she's sent me a few times and I thought it would be great to share up here as well. She found this one on MSN.

9 Foods That Reduce Stress Levels

From Marie Claire

Reach for these items next time you're feeling under pressure, under the weather, or just too close to that breaking point. Munching on these stress-free foods will help pull you back into the game.

Oranges

vitamin C helps reduce stress and return blood pressure and cortisol to normal levels after a stressful situation. Vitamin C is also well-known for boosting your immune system.

Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes can be particularly stress-reducing because they can satisfy the urge you get for carbohydrates and sweets when you are under a great deal of stress. They are packed full of beta-carotene and other vitamins, and the fiber helps your body to process the carbohydrates in a slow and steady manner.

Dried apricots

Apricots are rich in magnesium, which is a stress-buster and a natural muscle relaxant as well.

Almonds, pistachios and walnuts

Almonds are packed with B and E vitamins, which help boost your immune system and walnuts and pistachios help lower blood pressure.

Turkey

Turkey contains an amino acid called L-tryptophan. This amino acid triggers the release of serotonin, which is a feel-good brain chemical. This is the reason many people who eat turkey feel relaxed, or even tired, after eating it. L-Tryptophan has a documented calming effect.

Spinach

A deficiency in magnesium can cause migraine headaches and a feeling of fatigue. One cup of spinach provides 40 percent of your daily needs for magnesium.

Salmon

Diets high in omega-3 fatty acids protect against heart disease. A study from Diabetes & Metabolism found that omega-3s keep the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline from peaking.

Avocados

The monounsaturated fats and potassium in avocados help lower blood pressure. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says that one of the best ways to lower blood pressure is to consume enough potassium (avocados have more than bananas).

Green vegetables

Broccoli, kale, and other dark green vegetables are powerhouses of vitamins that help replenish our bodies in times of stress.

More stress-busting tips:

• Exercise reguarly
• Drink an energy shake for breakfast
• Eat small meals throughout the day, which will keep your blood sugar stable (when blood sugar is low, mental, physical, and emotional energy decreases, and stress increases).

"Health in your 20's"

Excerpt from Marie Claire

5 Health Move Musts

-Dr. Michael Roizen

The health choices you make now will dictate your health in the future; start being healthy today and you'll feel the positive

1. GET A LIFE.

People who feel a sense of purpose in life and a responsibility beyond taking care of themselves—like organizing adopt-a-thons at the animal shelter or throwing not-to-be-missed soirees for friends—tend to deal with stress better than those who don’t, Dr. Roizen says. These activities give you a strong sense of self and a support system to ground you when stress strikes.

2. FLOSS.

Everyday. Not flossing can increase chances of periodontal disease, which could increase your risk of giving birth to a premature or low-birthweight baby. Inflammation from periodontal disease can also set you up for heart disease.

3. LEARN TO COOK.

This makes you more likely to eat at home, which is better for your heart and your weight than living on takeout.

But one warning: Most people use too much oil when they sauté and end up deep-frying food accidentally, Dr. Roizen says. For two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, you need no more than one-and-a-half tablespoons of oil.

4. STOP SMOKING.

Other than major life stressors nothing ages the body like cigarettes. Quitting is the best thing you can do for yourself—and your health, and your looks …

5. WALK EVERYWHERE.

A daily, brisk, 30-minute walk is the closest thing we may get to a wonder drug