1. Use the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Silly. The idea of
simplicity when it comes to losing weight may come as a surprise because
we get lost in the drama of our diet story. The do and don't rules,
restrictions and limitations of a quick fix diet abound when we're
confronting those extra 20 pounds and are desperate to lose it. And I
understand reacting in crisis mode having been there myself one too many
times.
But there's a mindset worth nurturing that will help you
every day, crisis or not, to make simple changes that take almost no
effort yet benefit the bottom line, your weight. After all, weight gain
comes down to a simple idea. More calories in than needed, the excess is
stored as fat. It doesn't get more complicated than that and yet many
women forget or overlook applying the Kiss idea in their daily lives
especially regarding eating.
What are some ways you can use kiss
as your guide. cut down on consumption, lose weight and rethink how you
eat and manage your diet?
2. Try applying flexibility, be open to
creativity and be willing to switch high impact foods and drinks to
lighter substitutions you can self-create. When you decide to eat
something that's high impact, resist for a moment and ask yourself how
you can tone it down, maybe substitute or leave something out so you can
control your own story. Keep in mind, whatever you choose to action for
yourself that improves an outcome is proactive and sharpens your
awareness. There are many opportunities every day to apply Kiss. For
example:
3. In coffee, Frappuccino's, Caffe Mocha, Latte's,
Smoothies, Alfredo's, switch to no-fat milk without whipped cream. Get
only one pump of the flavored syrup, or ideally, switch to the sugar
free syrup. Instead of all these high impact drinks that distract from
the pure pleasure of a great tasting coffee, why not return to the
basics and add your own signature flair? Try a double espresso with
nonfat foam layered right to the top. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg atop
the foam, some low or no fat milk, mix and presto, a delicious low
calorie foamy drink without a big impact. Experiment and enjoy how great
the pure taste of coffee is when its not buried under other stuff.
By
the way, cinnamon helps the body regulate your intake of sugar. It
helps to prevent sugar spikes by moderating sugar's release into the
blood. That's not a license to overload on sweets, it's just a tip t0
know and use to help moderate sugar absorption.
4. In drinks:
replace high sugar sodas, shakes and juices with sparking water or plain
water with lemon. Lemon naturally balances the body's Ph levels. Try
club soda, preferably salt or sodium free, seltzer, plain iced or hot
tea with a sprig of mint or cinnamon stick, fresh squeezed carrot or
fresh squeezed orange juice. Sugar free Kool-Aid or sugar free Lemon-Aid
works.
Important point about sugar --it's in almost everything.
Read the food labels and be aware of where and how the foods you buy and
eat are impacting your health and your weight. Soda and big gulp sodas
overload your body with empty calories, carbs and sugar and because
sodas have high phosphorus content, they tend to lower calcium levels
which weakens bones, a huge red flag for women especially over 40.
5.
In fast foods: You can still order a fun meal only with a slightly
lighter impact. Here's some suggestions for saving calories at some of
the more well known chains.
KFC - replace fried chicken, crispy
and extra crispy for grilled. Grilled is delicious and saves on
calories, fat and sodium. The chicken meal with corn, mashed potatoes
and gravy with biscuit is just as delicious getting grilled and deleting
the gravy from the potatoes. You won't even notice and every little bit
of calories saved helps. This includes not using butter on the corn or
biscuit. You don't need it since KFC has the best, sweetest corn by
itself and their biscuit plain is outstanding. These are simple
adjustments that you can make that do not affect how you experience your
meal..it still tastes great and is fun to eat with a little less impact
on your bottom line, calories in.
McDonald's, Burger King,
Wendy's. The Big Mac's or double cheeseburgers, bacon and cheese meat or
chicken combos can be enjoyed without the bread. Yikes, am I kidding?
No. Remember you're being flexible so ask for a knife and fork, toss the
bread and be surprised how easy it is to do. Or if that isn't
imaginable right now for you, how about a compromise? Eat it open faced.
Toss half the bread, the top half. Really satisfying with fewer
carbohydrates, calories and sodium. Substitute fries for a salad or
donate half your order of fries to the trash bin if you can't resist
them without feeling deprived.
Wendy's - instead of french fries,
get a baked potato and top it with a little ketchup and eat it with a
spoon. You'll hardly notice the "fried" is missing from the all potato
taste.
Remember the drill at any restaurant, fast food or home --grilled, baked or broiled to replace fried.
5.
Sweets. Switch sugar intensive desserts for fresh fruit salad or angel
food cake topped with fruit. You save on calories and sugar and give
your body the natural fiber in fruits. Plain yogurt, cinnamon, raisens
and sliced banana works in any combo, or vanilla yogurt over angel food
cake with fruit.
The amounts of sugar in foods today is amazing
and startling as you will appreciate the more you pay attention to food
labels. The equation to remember is 4 sugar grams equals one teaspoon of
sugar. For example, a 12 oz. can of soda has 39 grams of sugar or
almost 10 teaspoons of sugar in one can. Wild Cherry soda is 42 grams or
10.5 teaspoons of sugar per can. Smoothies start at 30 grams and up and
you'd better sit down for this one, all the specialty coffees and
drinks in Venti size without whip range from 71 to 82 grams of sugar and
Green Tea Frappuccino Venti no whip weighs in at 86 gr. Is that insane?
Think about and visualize 23 teaspoons of sugar before you indulge.
6.
Flavor enhancements: Request sandwich dressings, special sauces,
mayonnaise, barbeque, salad dressings, honey, butter, syrups, gravies,
cheese and cream sauces by any name, including the Alfredo on fettucini,
benedict sauce on eggs, as a side dish. Do you think restaurants or
fast food chains have a clue or even care if they've added hundreds of
high fat, high cholesterol, high sugar, high calorie, high sodium
amounts to your meal? No.
These sauces, etc. are big on flavor and
a little goes a long way. Put it on the food yourself, lightly, and be
in control. Try it. The point is to help yourself shave off calories
doing little things that really do matter and are easy to implement.
It's no big sacrifice doing anything on this list, is it? Small
improvements every day accumulate big rewards. Little things matter,
because they do affect and change outcomes over time.
These are
small steps you can take every day. Add some of your own as you remember
you don't have to do without, you just have to do it smarter. Try it.
If you want to learn more about smarter not harder diet tips and tricks,
go to my website Diet-Bailout and sign up for a free 17 page chapter of
my eBook that will change your life and your weight.
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