I've been making little changes in my diet to help with the "diet" side of my post-pregnancy weight loss. These are just healthier choices. Some things I've been doing for a while and some are new. Try doing this yourself, if you are not already!
Drink skim milk instead of whole or 2% milk. You will acquire a taste for it, I promise! I was raised on whole milk (a Southern thing) and refused to drink skim milk. My husband actually started buying skim milk. However, it wasn't until I was taking one of my health classes at UF that I learned that skim milk has all of the nutrients that whole milk has, it just doesn't have the fat! Win-win!!
My favorite breakfast right now is non-fat vanilla yogurt with low fat granola, strawberries, and blueberries. You can freeze the blueberries (I put them in the yogurt frozen) and use them when you need them. Frozen fruit has all the good stuff of fresh fruit too!
Get rid of your white bread! Switch to whole wheat or whole grain. Again, you will acquire a taste for it! I discovered that white bread actually has no taste and I prefer whole wheat bread now. I really like Arnold Honey Wheat Bread, which is often buy one get one free at Publix. It has an identical nutrition label to the regular wheat bread and it tastes awesome! When making sandwiches, I don't use mayonnaise anymore...I use fat-free Italian dressing. It's so good!!
I eat salads pretty much every day. Get rid of iceberg lettuce and switch to romaine, or better yet, spinach! I used to eat ONLY iceberg lettuce and now I only eat baby spinach in my salads! Load up your salads with vegetables: carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, corn (my favorite), etc. I sometimes add some lean sliced turkey, tuna (without anything added to it), or rotisserie chicken to it. Top off with some fat free dressing and some slivered almonds or fat-free croutons and you've got a yummy, nutritious salad!
Love pizza? Get some whole grain pitas, organic tomato sauce, turkey pepperoni, and fat free cheese...yummy pizza without all of the fat! It is so satisfying and has about 2.75 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, and 265 calories. Success!
Lastly, drink a ton of water, eat your veggies and fruits (just load up on them!), and let yourself have ice cream every once in a while. It's all about moderation and good choices. :)
here is a little pizza trick- I know for me at lunch, even the pita can be too big sometimes. Get whole grain or whole wheat english muffins (i get the weight watchers ones) put on some of your sauce, use a low fat string cheese and tear it up on it and then put ham, and if you like pineapple, use one ring of pineapple (split it if you are going to eat both sides of the english muffin) and you have a YUMMY hawaiian pizza. I have been doing weight watchers (i've lost about 30 lbs) and this is a 4 point for both sides! Its really good.
ReplyDeleteI love adding frozen fruit to yogurt! I let it sit a bit and it freezes up the yogurt a bit to where it's almost ice cream like! :) I slowly made changes like this over the last few years and have come a long way...it's wonderful that you are taking on such healthy habits! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso...hummus or avocado is a great way to not miss mayo on your sandwich! and it's got healthy fat and protein so bonus!