Making healthy decisions can be tough sometimes, especially for someone who when asked what their favorite food is can’t ever decide between responding with, “Mexican” or “pizza.” So the past year or so I’ve accumulated a few simple tricks to cut out unnecessary calories and more importantly, add in nutrients…. and most importantly, still enjoy what I eat and drink. A few of these tips are from Hungry Girl (if you aren’t familiar subscribe now- I cook at least one recipe a week from their daily e-mails).
On eating…..
· Substitute non-fat, all natural, plain Greek yogurt in any recipe that calls for sour cream or mayonnaise. I always use the Fage brand. It’s not only less calories, but Greek yogurt is really good for you.
· Start buying Laughing Cow cheese- it’s delicious and something like 1/3 of the calories of regular cheese. Super easy to spread on wraps, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, etc.
· Substitute lean ground turkey or ground chicken in any recipe that calls for ground beef. I did this for months in our spaghetti and chili before my fiancé realized it, and even then I only had to spill the beans because he looked in the pan when I was browning the meat and got really worried about the beef looking so light in color.
· Instead of buying tortilla chips in a bag, which are fried and drenched in salt, I buy one package of corn tortillas, lightly brush them with extra-virgin olive oil, slice them into fourths with a pizza cutter, and bake them. This saves calories, salt intake, and money.
· Over a year ago my sister and I started buying peanuts and raisins in bulk and mixing them and dividing them up into baggies for the week to take to work. It’s a great healthy snack. (I know it seems like you could buy this premade but most of the mixes include M&M’s or other stuff too).
· Split, split, split. My fiancée and I split almost everything we order at restaurants, and contrary to some of our servers’ reactions to this, it is not because we’re cheap. It’s because our society has been trained to expect ridiculously sized portions of food, so ONE entrée is typically more than enough food for TWO people. And it does save a little money too, and you even get used to the feeling of leaving a restaurant without being so full you feel sick.
· And last but not least, it would just be wrong to not give a shout out to my natural homies: fruits and vegetables. They’re what we’re supposed to eat.
On drinking….
· Incorporate green tea into your day. My new favorite is the Just Green Tea in a bottle from Honest Tea (thanks Katy!) It has zero calories (like all real green tea) and ¼ the caffeine of a cup of coffee. Green tea is one of my favorite simple pleasures, and it’s actually from the earth too which I’m of course a fan of (see previous post, “Of The Greatest Worth”). For current tea-lovers: make sure you check the label before you grab a bottle. It’s upsetting when you actually look at a lot of the bottles on shelves, how many added sugars and syrups are in so-called natural teas. True green tea should have no sugar and no calories.
· Best cocktail ever: vodka, no-sodium soda water, fresh lime juice, sliced cucumbers. I actually read about this spritzer in Real Simple years ago, and just added the vodka into the mix. So good, and a lot less unhealthy than most alcoholic beverages.
· Water: One of my guy friends who is a crazy gym-goer and health nut, once told me that your body can confuse thirst for hunger. I haven’t done any research on that, but just in case, I try to always stay hydrated and drink plenty of water. I figure it can’t hurt!
On keeping with it…
· I love this link from SELF; type in any food and you get the nutritional information: http://nutritiondata.self.com/.
· Before I go out to eat I try to look at the menu and nutritional information online and have in mind what I’m going to order. Here’s a handy-dandy calculator for a staple restaurant in my life, Chipotle: http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=nutrition_calculator.
· And last, but not least, the genius Hungry Girl – I highly recommend signing up! http://www.hungry-girl.com/.
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