Daily Diet Blog

August 12, 2008

Milk OK, but Only Low Fat

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 6:28 am

It’s long been heralded as one of the best ways for people to get their daily dose of calcium, especially women, who have had problems in older age maintaining bone density and calcium in the bones due to estrogen levels dropping with age.  It’s the ever popular, sometimes snubbed, health food that is milk.  But oh no, milk is not always good, and I still belive personally that milk should be consumed in moderation because I do believe it can cause havoc to the digestive system if it’s consumed too much.

However, if you are going to drink milk, make sure it is of the lowfat variety.  I like to personally drink milk that has the lactaid enzyme added to it (Lactaid brand), because it has the taste of good, fresh milk, without the discomfort that regular milk gives me afterwards, because it contains the digestive enzyme in it that makes it as though the lactose is not even present, which is a Godsend to anyone who is the least bit lactose intolerant, like me.

Low fat dairy products are suspected as a great helper in the battle of the bulge, and have even been prescribed by lots of diet gurus to those who are trying to lose pounds as a way to help take the fat off the body, and leave the lean muscle.  For whatever reason, it is thought that low fat dairy products can help inhibit fat formation on the body, or maybe that just means it somehow blocks the fat from even be digested.

At any rate, you should probably limit your consumption of dairy, but as our previous post states, don’t replace it with soy products, because these can do more harm than good, just make sure you switch to low fat varieties of dairy products such as cheese and milk, and you should enjoy a slimmer waistline! 

July 27, 2008

Tasty, Low Cal Vegetarian Chili

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 6:47 am

Got another tasty, low calorie recipe that’s super easy to make for ya, and it happens to be vegetarian as well, so for any of you who don’t like to eat soy, you could substitute the soy meat crumbles with ground turkey, but the soy meat crumbles are good and are a very low fat, high protein, easily digested option to meat, so just keep that in mind too.

Here’s what you’ll need for the easy recipe :

One can of black beans

One can of finely chopped tomatoes, preferably the kind that are recipe ready - I like Del Monte’s with green peppers and onions added because it adds extra flavor and texture to my recipes.  You can even use two cans of tomatoes if you want, it will just make it slightly soupier, which is always fine.

One bag of MorningStar vegetarian soy crumbles

One large can of tomato puree

Chili Powder

One half onion, chopped fine

Garlic paste or garlic minced - about a teaspoon, for taste and added healthy benefits - garlic’s great for you!

Teaspoon of Cumin, teaspoon of sage

Seasoned salt to taste

Dash of worcesteshire sauce

All you do it blend everything together - since the “meat” substitute needs no browning, this recipe is super fast and easy, since you can basically just throw all the ingredients in a big pot and simmer away.  I simmered mine for almost two hours, then I usually let it sit in the fridge overnight before I take my first bowl, since it’s always better the second day after all the falvors meld together.  Oh, and I like to add a bit of olive oil to mine as well, maybe a tablespoon or so to the whole pot, for good measure since it gives you that dash of omega 3 you need!

July 3, 2008

Low Fat, High Taste Green Bean Recipe

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 5:02 am

What’s that saying, that most recipes are born of boredom and “cleaning the cupboard out”. Oh wait, that’s my own credo, not anything else anyone said. This new gem of a green bean recipe is very simple actually, and was born of both boredom and desperation one day when the only veggie I had left in the freezer to make was whole green beans (I used Bird’s Eye, in my opinion, the best non-organic brand), and we needed a veggie to go with our meat, but I wanted to make something that was flavorful and yet not loaded with fat or butter or salt.

So here’s the recipe ingredients for this impromptu, tasty green bean dish with zero fat :

Whole green beans - Bird’s Eye are best I think.

Powdered Cumin spice (a popular Indian spice, very tasty, and very good for you)

Either seasoned salt or some sort of multi purpose seasoning with a little salt added

Garlic powder - I like California Style, with the green fleck in it too, but I don’t know what they are

Half an onion, chopped or slivered julienne style

Lot’s of butter flavored non fat cooking spray

So as you can see, as long as you have the green beans around, you really only need to keep a few other staples around - the cumin is key, but you could probably improvise with the other spices. I just take the beans and throw them in a large, deep frying pan that has a tight fitting lid, with the bottom sprayed generously with Pam (butter flavored). I put my onions in too right off the bat.

I then flavor with the spices mentioned above to my taste, and spray the Pam again generously over the beans and other ingredients, coating the beans and other ingredients for flavor and protection against burning. Put the lid on tight, this creates a steaming environment so they soften up enough. Sautee all ingredients for about 20 minutes, or until soft enough. What you get is a savory green bean dish with NO FAT!

June 22, 2008

Fill Up on Soup Before Your Meal

Filed under: Weight Loss, Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 3:27 pm

Another idea came to me that’s been out there for a long time about losing weight and using tricks to fill up on low calorie stuff so that you don’t totally go nuts when the main entree comes, and one of those long standing tips to help lose weight or stay on track with your diet when you go out to eat is to order a broth based soup to come before your meal.  It has to be broth based though, because the rich and thicker creamy ones are loaded with calories and fat (unfortunately the better soup tastes, the more fat it likely has, it’s that quandry mother nature put on us about fat and how bad it is for us, but how good it tastes).

So for example, if you are choosing between a fancy bisque soup, and a beef broth based vegetable soup, you definitely need to go for the lighter of the two, the broth based veggie soup.  The broth will help fill the stomach, because it is hot, and hot liquids make you feel fuller faster, and the saltiness and the veggies will also help you feel fuller so that you don’t fill up on bread or your main entree and eat too much.

A salad before your meal can also help, just make sure it’s not loaded with cheese, croutons and a lot of heavy dressing.  Try ordering an oil based dressing, or a light vinagrette and that will help you to curb your hunger and fill you up before you get your main entree so that you can eat less. 

The key is to make sure the “meal before the meal” is light and not loaded with fat or carbs.  Typically fattening pre-meal foods are bread with butter, creamy soups, deep fried appetizers and other fattening or cream-laden appetizers that just pile on the fat and don’t really do much as far as taking up space in your stomach to make you feel substantially satiated so that you don’t eat as much at your meal. 

It’s hard to stick to these rules, especially when you’re starving and are faced with a tempting, steaming basket of hot bread just waiting to be buttered and eaten, but if you can stick to these most of the time when you eat out, it adds up to lots of bonus points for maintaining that sleek physique you want.  The foods brought up here today act as a natural appetite suppressant so that you don’t go buckwild on the stuff that adds fat and pounds to your thighs and belly. 

June 20, 2008

Alcoholic Drinks Really Packed on Calories

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 8:40 am

We went out to eat at a chain Italian restaurant last night, and it brought to mind how much sugar and calories we ingest, somewhat unknowingly even sometimes, when we go out and have a few of those fun, fruity little martinis that seem so small, but pack a huge amount of sugar in them because they are made with sugary alcohols and other fruity juices and syrups that contain high fructose ingredients.  High fructose means a lot of sugar, and this word is a dieter’s nightmare because it is one of the worst kinds of sugars to ingest since it is metabolized by the body before fat. 

We really got some surgary drinks last night, one of them was delicious but you just knew after that first sip that you were drinking nothing but pure sugar.  It contained Dekuypers Banana liquor, and then 2 other kinds of liquor that were flavored ( a telltale sign that a liquor is loaded with sugar is when it’s flavored) and then on top of that, the base was a pineapple juice.  Pineapple juice is one of the highest sugared juices there is, and you’re much better off eating the pineapple itself, since the fiber balances out the sugar, than you are the juice unfortunately which is one of the best tasting juices there are.

Another one we got had several different liquors in it that were flavored, but no juice base.  Still, even with no juice base it tasted very sugary - just more alcohol-y also.  When you’re out having a good time eating dinner with family and friends, it’s easy to forget that you may be watching your calories, so just ask the bartender what they can make that is made with reduced sugar, like maybe a diet coke and some sort of rum (although rum’s no angel either in the sugar or calorie department), or get a good old dry martinin with an olive, since all that is is chilled liquor with an olive in it. 

Just remember, any specialty martinis at any restaurant are usually going to have extra calories and sugar, and that you should probably avoid that menu, unless there is a low cal specialty that catches your eye.  Remember that supposedly all alcohol metabolizes and is broken down as a sugar in your body when it all comes down to it, but ultimately you can still choose the lesser of two evils at least. 

May 2, 2008

Crystal Light Portable Packets

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 5:45 am

I have grown to really love Crystal Light since it’s debut in the eighties (or was it the nineties).  I’ve always wondered how they pack so much darn flavor in those sugar free crystals that also seem to be colored so brightly (incidentally, not something I’m too fond of, but I guess I have to take the bad with the good here).  Crystal Light has come out with some of the most useful smaller one cup packets that are easy to carry along with you in your purse or on your person for a quick refreshing glass of sugar free fruity drinks.

A friend of mine’s mom actually takes the packets with her when she goes out to bars so that she can mix her own sugar free (except for the liquor of course) cocktails, which I think is a great idea if you’re watching your weight and don’t want those high calorie mixers to add a couple hundred calories easily to your daily calorie consumption.  Of course in this case, you still have to be careful of what you consider watching sugar because alcohol is metabolized as sugar, which can sabotage weight loss and weight maintenance effort if consumed in anything other than common sense moderation.

Crystal Light comes in tons of flavors too in these smaller one serving packets, but one of my favorites is the lemonade flavor.  When I first started drinking the drink, I was stuck on the Raspberry Ice flavor, but quickly dumped that one for the fresh and lemony, light flavor of the lemonade.  I also like the Sunrise flavor which is a nice light orange flavored drink, and the iced tea flavor isn’t bad either. 

I’ll have to branch out a bit more and see if I like any of the other flavors, or perhaps since I went crazy buying them one time in the grocery store a year ago (yes, I still have several left, they were on sale and I couldn’t resist bulking up on them), they’ve come out with new flavors in the convenient little pack.  At any rate, Crystal Light is still a favorite of mine! 

April 27, 2008

Spice Up Your Meals

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 7:38 pm

Usually, when you think of nutritional sources of antioxidants, a variety of food choices come to mind.  In addition to antioxidant rich foods, such as blueberries, everyday spices and seasonings add not only flavor to your foods, but increase your antioxidant intake at the same time.
 

The addition of herbs and spices also has the benefit of enhancing food’s flavor without adding fat or calories.  Spices are only recently being studied for their nutritional value to us.  Areas of research on the study of spices realated to our health include certain spice’s possible ability to reduce inflammation, boost our metabolism and promote a feeling of fullness after we eat.
 

Some of the ordinary everyday spices that appear to have the greatest possible benefit to our health are ginger, cinnamon, oregano, red popper, thyme, tumeric and rosemary.  Herbs and spices are categorized as fruits and vegetables and since we eat them in a dehydrated form, they deliver lots of antioxidants in small portions.
 

Adding a variety of spices to the entrees you enjoy eating anyway can be very simple and will only make your meal more palatable as well as better for your health.  For example, cinnamon is a welcome addition to cereal, oatmeal or toast for your breakfast meal.  Oregano can easily be added at lunch or dinner meals.  Oregano enhances the flavor of soups, salad dressings and any Italian food.
 

Ginger and cinnamon are wonderful flavor additives for any fruit or dessert.  At dinnertime or lunchtime, side dishes such as roasted or mashed potatoes can be livened up with a sprinkling of rosemary leaves.  Rosemary is also a delicious seasoning for any chicken or poultry dish.
 

By adding spices to your food, you’ll be adding flavor and enjoyability to your meals without the calories and with lots of antioxidants.  Overall, adding spices to your diet is a very health conscious strategy.

April 22, 2008

Meatless, Healthy Side Dish and Snack Idea

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 6:18 am

I had ordered takeout from a local restaurant from where I work, an Indian restaurant that makes all kinds of healthy meals that include a lot of indian seasonings, and mostly vegetables that are light and low in calories, making it an ideal place to go if you want a light, non belt-busting meal while at work or out with friends for dinner.  It gave me an idea to make something for much less money at home like what they made and what I ordered. 

It’s delicious, and it’s made with low calorie ingredients and foods that are high in omega 3 fatty acids, so you will feel fuller and get the heart health benefit as well as the added benefit of healthy fat burning that comes with the proper combining of foods with omega 3’s and fibers. 

The two foods I’m talking about are a cucumber and tomato salad, and hummus.  Humus is a low fat dip that is really popular right now as a snack food and a low fat and calorie alternative to fattening dairy and sour cream dips.  Below I’ve included my spin on these two recipes because they are easy and you can find these ingredients in any grocery store without making special trips to organic stores.

Easy Hummus recipe :

1 can of chick peas (also called garbanzo beans) - I prefer organic, which can also be found at the grocers. 

2 tablespoons of olive oil - preferably organic, and preferably extra virgin olive oil for best flavor and best health benefits

1 teaspoon lemon juice fresh squeezed.

couple shakes of pepper and sea salt

Tahini or sesame seed oil, flavored to liking

crushed garlic - one tablespoon or 3 cloves of garlic crushed in a garlic press

Blend all of these ingredients together.  I like to dip either whole wheat pita pieces in this, or slices of cucumber.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad :

Dice one cucumber into small cubes, do the same with about two fresh, ripe tomatoes.  Then, dice about 1/4 small onion.  Add this all in a bowl with a lid on it.  Add about two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of either fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, about one fourth of a packet of Good Seasonings Italian dressing dry powder mix, and a touch of crushed garlic to taste, as well as a little cumin and ground pepper, and also you can add some parsley for taste as well.  Shake it all up with the lid on, and voila, you’ve got a nice side dish that feeds 2-4 people, depending on the size of the veggies you sliced and diced. 

 

April 16, 2008

Low Calorie, Low Fat and Low Sugar Breakfast Idea

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 10:02 am

Well, I have two thoughts to share with you today.  First has nothing to do with my breakfast idea, which by the way happens to be a scrumptious treat that almost seems like you’re indulging in a sumptious dessert instead of eating a healthy, balanced breakfast, but it has to do with something that a coworker forwarded to me that I thought was a novel idea.

The novel idea is a restaurant in the sky.  Yep, a restaurant, fully functioning, where you eat, suspended by what I assume is a crane of some sort, in the sky!  Actually I saw the picture of it with people all sitting around tables at seat and chefs and food at the tip of the table (I hope they were all strapped in somehow, that’s actually scary!), for a meal in the sky.  It must be pricey, because it seemed like the website catered to corporate meetings and high-priced client meals for big names and those with bigger wallets. 

I honestly don’t think that’d be for me. I don’t even think I’d be able to enjoy my food, for fear the whole thing might just collapse.  And I want to know how these people stay in their seats I guess, that would be my main concern.  I’m not a fan of tall heights, as you can see, and my vertigo is getting worse with age. 

OK, on to my most recent breakfast creation.  I love this - I’ve been eating it for the past few mornings and I think I might make it my new regular breakfast since I’ve burned out on yogurt and berries for now.  I take two pre-made cups of the Jell-O brand sugar free pudding in chocolate - but you could choose any flavor you like.  Those are each 60 calories, adding up to 120 for the pudding. 

I then heap on blackberries that I find in the frozen section, without any added sugar.  You can of course use fresh, I just use frozen because of the convenience.  I of course thaw them before I add them to my yogurt, so I might leave the bag in my fridge for the week and just keep taking from it.  I then sprinkle on about a tablespoon of raw slivered almonds for a nice crunch. 

Let me tell you, it’s not only filling, but it’s very low fat, the only sugar in it is natural from the berries and should have minimal impact on your blood sugar, and the almonds add the omega 3 factor for added fullness and satiety.  Also, the almonds represent a great way to help burn fat as a supplement for health and fitness and fat loss.  You’re probably looking at about a 250 calorie breakfast, which is perfect!  I’m telling you, this keeps me full until my mid morning snack, and not many breakfasts can do that (that are healthy anyways). 

 

April 7, 2008

Hormel Ready Made Roasts, Meats Easy and Fit Dinner

Filed under: Low Cal Ideas — EatingToLive @ 10:35 am

I have made one of the best discoveries in the grocery store for convenience and tasty low fat meal ideas that are easy and fast.  Well, at least for myself, so I figured I’d share it in case this sounds like something that might be right up your alley as well.  I for one am extremely busy on the week days.  I have a 9-5 job, and I come home and have a million and one other things to do that require immediate attention almost as soon as I walk in the door after work. 

I rarely have time to whip up a real meal, one that I cook from scratch, so I rely on easy, ready made foods primarily that will only take a few minutes to prepare or something that I can put in the microwave that will be done in just a few minutes that I can add with a veggie side and also one of my favorites, a low fat cream based soup, to fill us up.  I found the meat centerpiece for our dinners at the local Giant Eagle here because my boyfriend had made them a staple when I was gone on a trip for a week and he had to fend for himself with dinners.

They are the Hormel prepared meats that can usually be found in the referigerated section of grocery stores, where the bacons and sausage products are usually found, or at least in that same general vicinity.  They come in a variety of types, my favorites being the meatloaf and the beef roast au jus.  They’re not bad on carbs, and are pretty low fat as well, and are the perfect serving size for two people. 

I like that, because we tend to overeat if I just make a whole roast myself, so this limits our portion sizes to a good amount of calories so we are not gorging ourselves at dinner, which is the worst time to gorge oneself since the calories don’t have time to be burnt off as they do when you eat during the day.  The other varieties of the Hormel ready made main dish meats are Swedish meatballs, turkey with gravy (haven’t tried this one yet), and a savory pork roast au jus. 

I was fortunate enough to find these on sale just a few days ago, and bought them in bulk, so we have a whole freezer of them now, and it gives me peace of mind knowing that I have all these dinners already premade essentially, so I won’t have to think of easy dinners to make for these coming weeks after work has already stressed me out. 

Like I said, they’re good, because for us, whom it seems like has a constant need for natural appetite suppressants because our appetites are so big, it’s a perfect size, and you can just add easily made side dishes of veggies to them and you have a whole decent meal that’s not too caloric. 

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