I know I will have a successful week of weight management and exercise if I plan ahead. What I eat matters! Exercise matters also. But exercise cannot make up for an unhealthy diet.

Plan ahead to have low calorie nutritious fruit AND VEGGIES each week.

It’s not simply a matter of tracking caloric intake each day for weight loss or maintenance. If it were then it might be relatively easy. However, given the number of overweight or obese individuals in the U.S., it’s quite clear that calorie counting is not enough. I’ve known many dieters who are better at tracking calorie count than me but that all too often does not translate into weight loss success.

Here is the problem. The most significant challenge for most people is not simply how much they eat but WHAT THEY EAT. I’m not saying calories don’t matter because they do. However, what you eat INFLUENCES on HOW MUCH you eat. Yes. What you eat influences your hunger and desire for food. Choosing to eat healthy food can make the difference between winning at weight loss or not.

To give myself the greatest chance of staying on track, I like to begin each week with a plan. When I have a system in place it is so much easier to do what I need to do to eat properly and exercise. I mean honestly, how often do your weeks go by without some kind of unexpected challenge? Not often for me! When the unexpected comes up, healthy eating and exercise can fall by the wayside if I don’t have a plan.

Here are some of the things I do to be prepared. Maybe you’ll find an idea or two you haven’t thought of before to start each week out right.

1. I ask myself which protein foods I will plan my meals and snacks around in the coming week. I often choose lean chicken or turkey, eggs, beans, and sometimes fish.

I don’t eat fish as often as I might like because I have a hard time finding fish to purchase that I can trust from the grocery stores where I live. A LOT of the fresh/frozen fish sold in these stores comes from China and other far eastern countries where food safety is not as closely regulated as it is here in the United States (and we are far from perfect!).

2. I determine whether or not I have enough healthy snack foods on hand for eating at home and away. My planning helps me ensure I have enough fruit, cut up veggies, low fat cottage cheese or low fat plain yogurt, nutrition bars (both homemade and store bought), dried fruit, whole grain crackers, or low fat cheese.

3. I ask what I might need to do or prepare in advance.

I might make homemade nutrition bars (peanut butter bars or other), hard-boiled eggs, low calorie muffins, breakfast cookies, homemade instant oatmeal, or freeze bananas to use in making smoothies or instant ice cream (for those days when having just a little will satisfy my desire and I don’t have to keep a whole carton in my freezer). I will typically only need to do advance preparation with one or two of these each week to keep things on track.

Something else I might do to enhance my chances of eating lots of low calorie healthy veggies is to make sure I have some fresh cut up veggies ready to eat. Or I might roast or grill veggies by first washing and cutting up a bunch then tossing them in a little olive oil and seasoning. This is so easy to do. I then have roasted or grilled veggies I can use throughout the week to make a quick salad, add to a sandwich, or serve as a side dish with lunch or dinner.

4. We review recipe lists/notebooks for meal ideas.

My husband and I determine what meal or two he is willing to prepare for supper. Will the meal(s) make enough to have more than one meal of what I call “planned overs”?

Then I decide which two or three meals I am willing to prepare. Will there be planned overs? Do I have the time to try a new recipe?

How many total meals will we have? We typically eat out once a week so we often need 6 suppers. It will vary if one or the other of us is away from home for one or more evening meals.

If we plan on actually COOKING three meals, will we have enough planned overs to cover the other three meals without having to cook? If not, will I need to have a quick meal or two? If so, this might be a week to include something we’ve frozen from a planned over in the past 1-3 months. Or we might choose to make a quick to prepare “no cooking necessary” meal. For example, sandwiches served with a low sodium canned soup or an easy chef salad might be two possibilities.

Planning for breakfasts and lunches is quite simple. If you’d like to learn more about this part of my system you might want to read: Healthy Low Calorie Meals. By having a system we keep the time necessary to plan and prepare meals and snacks to a minimum.

5. We make a grocery list.

Writing up a grocery list once we have a plan for our meals and snacks is quite easy. But we do need to re-stock our pantry each week if the system is to function at it’s best. Recently we haven’t been doing this as well I would like.

So this year I have promised myself I will make up a pantry list. My husband does more of the grocery shopping than I do and he’s done an awesome job of keeping us well stocked over the years with whatever we might need. However, ahem…, we are getting older or maybe the issue is that we have been too busy. Whatever the reason, we find ourselves forgetting to replenish the pantry with this or that. Having a checklist will help me make sure I have what I need on hand when I need it!

6. I decide if I have the time to try a new recipe that fits the season.

If I am making a new recipe I’m careful to choose something that fits the season of the year. Will the fruits or vegetables I need be available at a reasonable price at this time of year? Which ones might make the best choice for including in my diet? (See high fiber fruits and vegetables or veggies for breakfast)

7. I decide what exercise I would like to do in the coming week.

The exercise I do varies from one season to another and sometimes from week to week or even day to day. I do try to get some walking in each week preferably outdoors no matter what the temperature but it doesn’t always work out. When the weather is not cooperating, I will sometimes do my walking at an indoor mall or track. At other times I choose to ride on a stationary bike instead.

Other exercises I like to do on a regular basis includes yoga or pilates, kettlebells for weight loss, or a variety of DVD exercise routines.

These are seven things that help keep me on track with managing my weight and achieving better fitness and overall health. Planning ahead also saves me time and energy. What do you do each week to improve your chances for success? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

One of the most important things I’ve learned over the years is that weight management for most people is an ongoing challenge. We don’t struggle to reach our goal weight then simply “coast” for the rest of life. Far from it. At the same time I can tell you that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is easier with some solid knowledge about food and nutrition, self-awareness, motivation, and successful strategies.

Eat a whole orange for more dietary fiber and nutrients instead of drinking orange juice.

I can put on weight faster than just about anyone else I’ve ever met. My gender, height, and age are not working in my favor. I’m a woman, which typically means having a slower metabolism than a man of the same height, age, and weight. I’m short and that translates to a slower metabolism than someone taller. I’m getting older and so I am affected by the inevitable metabolic slowdown that begins around the age of 40.

However, the one thing I do have control over is exercise. Sometimes I get the exercise I need and sometimes I don’t.

How about you? How do you fare with metabolism? Do you understand how it works, what your metabolic needs might be, and how to keep your metabolism running smoothly? If not, I would encourage you to read a series I wrote on what we currently know about metabolism.

It must be my metabolism: Part One

My basal metabolic needs hover around 1200 calories. That’s what I need to keep my organ systems functioning well even if I were at complete rest for 24 hours. If I do anything at all, but am mostly sedentary, my total caloric needs are just 1400 calories per day. That’s why I write a lot about low calorie diets. I have to watch what I eat and make sure I get the exercise or other physical activity I need. Not being vigilant can mean putting on weight FAST.

Fortunately, I’ve learned many things over the years in my work as a Nutritionist that helps me manage weight more easily. I’ll share some of the things I’ve discovered in recent years that have helped me a LOT. Maybe you’ll find a tip or two that will work for you. I’ll also share some of the ways I could improve.

Some Lessons Learned and Heeded

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned with respect to what I have on hand to eat is the need to have “enough” lean or low calorie protein foods. Striking the right balance is a bit of a challenge because if I have too much on hand, I end up with waste. Not having enough means I may not get the protein I prefer to have to not only meet my basic needs with respect to physiology but also to keep me feeling full and satisfied.

At the beginning of each week I decide which lean protein foods I will be purchasing. Most of the protein foods I buy will get incorporated into meals. This might include a lean cut of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or beans.

I also have protein foods for quick, easy, and nutritious low calorie snacks. One week it might be a carton of low fat cottage cheese. Another week it might be lean slices of chicken or turkey. Or I might choose to boil 4-5 eggs at the beginning of the week to have hard-boiled eggs readily available in the refrigerator. There are plenty of other choices but these are some of my current favorites. Having some kind of quick-to-eat lean protein matters.

In addition to having lean protein available for meals and snacks, I need to have other healthy low calorie snack foods on hand such as fruit or raw cut veggies. Something else I’ve been enjoying recently are my own homemade nutrition bars made of peanut butter, dried fruit, oatmeal, a little honey, seeds, and sometimes nuts.

Although I like these bars, I’m still experimenting with coming up with the right mix of ingredients. I make each bar small to keep the calorie count down. I find them to be very satisfying as well as nutritious. I also keep one or two small commercially prepared snack bars such as Larabars in my purse. This way I have something handy to eat if I’m away from home and hunger hits but there’s nothing available that’s low calorie or healthy.

Best Nutrition Bars for Women: Part One

Another tip is to avoid having tempting snack foods at my desk. Having something available for those times when I’m too busy to break away to eat properly is important. BUT if I have too much of what I like, I can easily get carried away eating it at times when I’m not necessarily hungry.

I keep a small amount of almonds and a carton or two of soymilk near my desk but in a location I cannot see. I only rely on these if I am actually hungry but cannot stop work to go eat.

Here are a few more changes I’ve made in recent years:

I now eat whole fruit most of the time rather than drink juice. For example, I gave up on drinking orange juice quite a while ago because I get more dietary fiber and other nutrients when I eat a whole orange.

When eating out I’ve learned to look for lean cuts of meat, skinless poultry, or fish without breading or high calorie sauces. In addition, I choose to substitute the carb part of the meal such as white potatoes, white rice, or pasta with an extra serving of veggies. If the portion size is very big, I’ll only eat half and take the rest home. By doing these things it helps me to cut down on calories and lowers my overall carb intake for the day.

I do plan for one or two cheat meals each week when I am allowed to have whatever I want. If you try this strategy, I encourage you to plan for something that’s really tasty and satisfying (otherwise why bother?). In addition, you need to eat slowly so that you recognize when you are full and stop before overeating!

What have YOU learned about yourself or your way of eating that is making things easier for you now? Please share!

My Ongoing Challenges

The one challenge I struggle with more than anything else is overestimating how many calories I burn when I exercise. By doing this I have a tendency to allow myself to eat larger portions and less than healthy foods because I THINK I have burned lots of calories.

Something I experimented with this past year to avoid this problem is the BodyMedia Fit armband. In a previous article, I shared how much I learned about the calories I burn each day. What an eye opener! When I stop wearing the armband, in just a short 2-3 months I begin to forget. I may need to wear the armband for a few days 2-3 times a year as a gentle reminder of my caloric needs.

Something else I find to be very helpful if I actually use it is a pedometer.

I also need to work on limiting the number of potential treats and less than healthy foods in my house. I do buy some of these items but my dear husband tends to bring home more of the things I would rather not have around. My current solution is to at least put the food where I do not see it every time I walk into the kitchen!

What kinds of things are you struggling with? Would you be so kind as to let me know in the comments? Thanks!

Novel Idea for Motivation

I came across an intriguing idea in a USA Today article for weight loss motivation. The tip was to hang up a pair of skinny jeans in a place you see often, possibly even the kitchen! Now this could work for any outfit that you’d like to fit into soon. Choose one that might fit better with the loss of just a few pounds (1-5). I think that’s a creative idea!

For more ideas on doing what works for YOU, you may want to read the article Weight Loss Advice: Tips from Others that I wrote not too long ago.

O.K. these are just a sampling of my recent experiences and ideas. I hope I’ve inspired you enough to get you thinking about the past year with respect to what is working for you and what isn’t when it comes to achieving or maintaining a healthy weight. What might you change?

Wishing you the very best for Happy Holidays! I will be off Christmas week visiting my mother and other family. I hope to be back publishing sometime the first week of January. Happy New Year!

Just how do you go about choosing the best bread for a low calorie diet? Which bread is best for weight loss? Calories count but there is so much more to keep in mind when purchasing bread. Aside from calories, you want to look for whole grains, dietary fiber, and bread that has not had too much sugar added. Are you purchasing the best bread for your weight loss success when you shop?

"Wheat" bread does not mean whole wheat.

A while ago I wrote about the importance of whole grains for weight loss. If you are conscientious about including whole grains in your diet, you may not have found it to be difficult to include oatmeal or whole barley or brown rice instead of white. But when it comes to whole wheat and bread it becomes quite a bit more complicated.

As a whole grain, whole wheat will provide you with a more complete array of nutrients then bread made with enriched all-purpose flour or bread flour (not whole grains). This means you will also be getting more dietary fiber because whole wheat is made from the bran as well as the germ of whole kernels of wheat. Bread flour and all-purpose flour are made from just the inner part of the wheat kernel or germ.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Knowing the difference between whole-wheat flour and bread flour or all-purpose flour makes it easier to understand why whole wheat is a better choice. What’s more is that you will also be less likely to be mislead by the term whole grains on a package label.

The presence of whole grains in bread means better nutrition. But the presence of “grains” does not automatically make a particular bread a good choice. Most bread is made from grains.

First of all, how many WHOLE grains are present? The Whole Grains Council suggests getting 48 grams of whole grains each day. However, scientists have not yet determined how many whole grains would be best. It’s also clear that some people need to avoid certain grains entirely (for example those with gluten intolerance, celiac disease, or wheat allergy).

If you can eat wheat bread without health challenges then I recommend you seek bread with labels saying 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain. The next best way is to look at the first ingredient in the list on the back of a package. If it lists a whole grain as the first ingredient then you will know you are getting a minimum of 50 percent whole grain by weight.

Something else to keep in mind is that whole grains and dietary fiber are not the one and the same. Eight grams of whole grain will generally have less than one gram of dietary fiber. (The recommended amount of dietary fiber for young women is 25 grams per day. For women over the age of 50, the recommendation is 21 grams per day.)

Finding a suitable whole wheat bread when grocery shopping is not easy. I often see package labels with misleading statements. These statements are included to get your attention but may or may not provide you with the information you need to make a good choice.

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR AND BREAD MAKING

Wheat flour is the preferred choice for bread making because it is a good source of proteins that form gluten when mixed with liquids. The formation of gluten is necessary to provide the structure and elasticity of bread dough when making yeast leavened breads.

Evidently, flour can be milled from a variety of foods including corn, rice, beans (legumes), nuts, and even some fruits and vegetables. But not all flours contain the right kind of proteins to make the gluten necessary for leavened bread. For this reason wheat bread (both white and whole wheat) is by far the most commonly found bread on grocery store shelves in the United States.

Yeast breads made with whole wheat will typically make heavier more compact bread than the bread made primarily from bread flour or all-purpose flour. In an effort to come up with a suitable compromise with respect to taste, texture, nutrition, and safety, commercially made bread is often a complex formulation of ingredients.

When you combine the difficulty of making leavened bread that remains shelf stable and fresh for a period of time with the need to provide reasonably good nutrition, you may begin to see why the formulation for commercial breads can be so complex. So what should you buy?

PURCHASING WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

What is best for you will depend on your particular needs. I’d like to show you some products labels to alert you to the kinds of things you might want to watch for when buying whole wheat bread. The products I will be sharing are for illustration only and may or may not be a good choice for you.

HyVee Wheat Muffins (see photo earlier)

If nothing other than the word “wheat” bread is on the package the product is NOT a whole wheat bread. It may or may not have any whole grains and that will mean less nutrition, including less dietary fiber (unless additional fiber has been added). The calorie count will vary. Just because a wheat bread has a low calorie count does not make it a good choice. You can do much better.

Package claims and labeling can be confusing!

Pepperidge Farm 100% Natural 9 Grain Bread is an interesting example that certainly sounds like it would be a healthy choice but is it? It may or may not be depending on your needs. Let’s take a closer look.

First of all the word “Natural” is not regulated. It is often included on food package covers because it sounds good but it may or may not be relevant. Without regulation what exactly does natural mean? Who knows? So I would suggest you ignore that.

Second, this bread is a “whole grain bread” with 9 different grains. BUT what you need to know is that the presence of different grains does not mean all of these grains are necessarily whole grains. We’ll take a look at the ingredient list to see what’s included.

Third, the bread has 3 grams of dietary fiber per slice. That’s good but it does suggest that the bread was made with added fiber of some kind. A bit of added fiber is fine. A lot of added fiber may or may not be good.

This is a reasonably healthy bread but is it the best choice for you?

O.K. let’s take a look at the labels on the back of the package. What I see is that this bread might be a reasonably good choice if calories were not a factor. But the nutrition is not as good as it seems and at 100 calories a slice, I feel you can do better.

I believe, a slice of bread typically has far more calories then it needs these days. Back in the 1970s, a typical slice of bread had only 70 calories. Now all too often a slice has from 90-140 calories or more! Some of the added calories come from sugar and some from added protein.

Each slice of bread in this package has 3 grams of sugar! That’s a lot. After all, 4 grams of sugar would be about 1 tsp. of sugar. Do you really need a little less than one tsp. of sugar per slice?

Four grams of protein per slice is good but the higher amount than usual suggests some of the protein has been added from an additional ingredient. I see whey listed in the ingredients as the likely source.

Whole wheat flour is listed as the first ingredient in the list so that means you would be getting at least 50% or more of whole grain. But none of the other 8 grains seem to be whole. If they were they would be listed as “whole” then the name of the particular grain. (This is true in the United States; in other countries regulations may not require this designation.)

Overall I would say this bread is not the best choice for most people but it could be worse. However it is NOT a good choice for anyone watching his or her caloric intake. On the other hand, if you really like this bread then you might consider eating only one slice at a time. For example, when making a sandwich, have it be an “open-face” sandwich with only one slice not two.

This bread has a long list of positive sounding features:

• No artificial color, flavors or preservatives
• Made with 100% whole wheat flour
• 22 grams of whole grains per slice
• 3 grams of fiber per slice
• Baked with lower sodium natural sea salt.

This list does not share the whole story. Make your decision about whether or not a particular bread is good for you based on several factors: Whole grains? If yes, how much is present? Dietary fiber? Added sugar? And last but not least how many calories?

In part two of this article, I will share more examples of what you want to assess when buying bread so you can make the best choice for you. The topic of bread flours, nutrition, bread making, and the guidelines for choosing the right kind of bread for weight loss and better health is difficult. If what I have shared is not making sense please don’t hesitate to ask questions!

As we near the last few weeks of the year, I wanted to be sure to share some important resources with you. For one thing it’s the holiday season and if you are like me, you may need all the tips you can get to navigate the next 6 weeks without overeating. Also, as the weather gets colder you may want to be prepared to enjoy some warm, filling, nutritious, AND low calorie food. I have some ideas for you and I have other resources I’d like to pass on that are valuable any time of the year.

It's Hard to Resist Holiday Bread and Other Goodies

Holiday Eating Tips

Last year I decided to search for the very best articles providing tips on how to minimize weight gain over the holidays. It is possible you may have to put weight loss on hold for a little while but there’s no need to put on any weight. You succeed by having strategies to avoid overeating and to minimize problems from the occasional extra calories.

The article has a long list of ideas with links for further information! Do take a moment to look over the possibilities. I believe there will be a new and helpful idea for just about anyone.

Think Turkey past the Holiday Season!

There are so many ways to enjoy lean and nutritious turkey meat in a low calorie diet. Take advantage of some of the leftover Thanksgiving turkey to prepare a variety of recipes. Or simply learn why turkey is such a nutritious choice and what to look for whether you are buying lean cuts of turkey meat or ground turkey any time of the year.

Low Calorie Oatmeal for Breakfast

When I have the time I enjoy coming up with new recipe ideas to add a little variety to my usual standbys. Last year I spent some time experimenting with preparing oatmeal for breakfast in a variety of ways.

If you get a chance don’t miss my recipe for Creamy Pumpkin Oatmeal. How I came up with this recipe is a bit humorous but no matter. I’m glad I did. Hmm…That reminds me I think I have a bit of leftover canned pumpkin that needs to be used up. Guess I’ll be making pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow!

Oh yes, I have one more tip. Whenever you read an article on my site you might want to take a moment to read the comments as well. I have great visitors who leave lots of helpful tips and suggestions.

Vegetables for Breakfast? Healthy Low Calorie and GOOD!

Just about anyone offering a legitimate diet plan agrees non-starchy vegetables are important in a weight loss diet. I agree!

I’m always pushing veggies. They can make such a difference not only with weight loss but also to improve your overall health. With the exception of beans, non-starchy vegetables are best. Simply avoid using too much fat or oil in cooking and refrain from adding high calorie butter, margarine, or sauces.

One time of the day when few people think in terms of veggies is breakfast. However, there are lots of easy ways to sneak a few more  into your day by including veggies for breakfast in your meal planning. Take a look at my ideas!

Database for Added Sugar in Selected Foods (USDA)

The next two resources are a bit on the older side but still valuable. Both are pdfs that provide data on food and added sugars in both whole foods and commercially prepared processed foods. The USDA version is an excellent overview of both.

If you take a look and simply scan the right hand column, the foods with the highest amount of added sugars will jump right out. It is a great reminder for why you want to limit processed foods in your diet. Who needs all the extra sugar? A little natural sugar as found in fruits and vegetables is fine.

The Right Foods for You: Four Grams of Sugar or Less

This publication by the grocery store chain Publix will give you the names of commercial products with no more than 5 grams of added sugar. That may sound like quite a bit of sugar (4 grams of sugar equals about 1 tsp.) and it is, but it’s an improvement over so many processed foods on the market.

The list may not include all the same products available where you shop but it might get you thinking about whether or not you have been making the best choices. Do you know any other grocery store chains that provide a similar resource? Sure would be helpful.

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O.K. in the spirit of sharing, would you tell me about some of your favorite resources online? Thanks! Although I do my best to keep tabs on the best resources I come across on the internet, it’s an awfully big place and I’m sure there are some I’ve not yet found.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, do give yourself enough of a break to enjoy the holiday food without going overboard. Remember to not overfill your plate. Take only your favorite food. And eat slowly. Savor the food so you’ll know when you’ve had enough!

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Oh yes, one more thing. My daughter will be taking time away from her graduate studies to be with us for the Thanksgiving holidays. I do not plan on publishing an article at the end of the week. I’m doing this in part to enjoy the time with my husband and daughter and also because I am hard at work writing a short book (digital book) that I hope to finish and have available for you by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Have a wonderful week wherever you might be in the world! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, ENJOY!

Getting supper on the table after a long day of work or school may be the last thing you want to think about when you are tired. Unfortunately, grabbing a bite to eat from a restaurant or heating up commercially prepared meals often means you’re getting low quality food or more calories than you might like. Today I’d like to share some concepts for making easy, healthy, low cal meals for supper. It needn’t be that time-consuming or hard if you have a system.

Cook Easy Healthy Meals Quickly

What you will need to do is get a general sense of how it might work and then over time fine tune the process so you can look forward to simple, satisfying, and low calorie meals without it taking a lot of time or fuss. Here’s some of the things you might want to keep in mind

1. Have a well-stocked pantry

Earlier this year I wrote a 5-part series on easy healthy meal preparation.  I covered the importance of planning ahead and having a well-stocked pantry. I will refer you back to that article for lots of tips on how to go about getting a small but necessary pantry started. There’s no need to have a specific room or closet as a pantry if your kitchen is tiny. I know. I had an unbelievably small kitchen for over 20 years; even so, I came up with a system that worked. (Read about how I set up a healthy pantry)

2. A Few Basic Utensils, Pots, Pans, and Appliances Matter

The number of items you need to have for a simple working kitchen is less than you might imagine. It’s possible you already have many of these items but you haven’t put them to the best use. On the other hand, if you are lacking some of the basic utensils you may want to consider investing a little. There is no need to buy the top of the line cookware but some measure of quality can make things easier and possibly shorten the time you spend in the kitchen.

I’ll just touch on the essentials now because this topic deserves to be an article of its own. Here are the items I would not want to be without.

-A set of quality knives

-Kitchen scissors

-Indoor Grill Pan

-Wooden spoons, measuring cups and spoons, heat proof spatula.

-Microplane grater for grating hard cheeses (A little parmagiano reggiano adds so much flavor to food for very few calories. Try it and you’ll never go back to grated parmesan cheese in a jar!)

-A basic set of pots and pans

-Freezer proof containers for stocking your freezer with your own “heat and eat” healthy meals!

In addition to these there are a few appliances I would not be without.

-Immersion blender (We use this for pureeing soups and making dips and sauces. It works like a charm and cleanup is a cinch. I can’t begin to tell you how much time it has saved us!)

-Microwave Oven (This is another must have. I don’t use it that often to cook a whole meal BUT I can’t imagine not having one for defrosting meat, fish, poultry; reheating “planned overs”; cooking my morning oatmeal; steaming vegetables; and more.)

- Food Processor (A good food processor can be used for chopping, blending, and shredding. You can keep the cost and the space for storage to a minimum by investing in a smaller model. A small food processor should be fine for most quick and easy meals unless you have a big family.)

3. Cook More Food Less Often

What do I mean by this? I suggest you consider choosing the best 1-3 days a week to do the bulk of your cooking. But don’t worry. It needn’t be significantly more involved than the effort you put in to prepare a single meal. After all, if you are cooking anyway, preparing a double batch or more requires very little extra effort. The additional food will provide you with “planned overs” for later in the week or to freeze for easy to re-heat meals later on.

I’ve never been a fan of the cook once and eat all week or all month! for that matter. That requires too much planning, a large block of time for cooking, and overall coordination. I prefer simple.

Easy to prepare meals that allow for quantity cooking include soups, stews, casserole dishes, lasagna, chili, and burgers. Something else we like to prepare in quantity are delicious spinach meatballs made with lean turkey. We make up a big batch and then BAKE the meatballs. (Easy!) When they are done we use some to make a meal of whole wheat spaghetti and meatballs with a vegetable side dish and a salad. AND we freeze the extra meatballs for many easy meals down the road. This is one of my husband’s favorite meals and time saving techniques.

I also like making my own whole wheat pizza dough in quantity in just minutes. No waiting on the rising and no kneading required if you plan ahead. Want the recipe? Just ask. When the dough is ready after being refrigerated overnight, I cut it into pieces big enough for individual pizzas and freeze the dough in freezer quality ziplock bags.

In my family we like to do the extra meal preparation when preparing supper for the weekend meals. My husband often prepares one meal one evening and I prepare the other. That way I typically only have to prepare one more meal in quantity during the week when I am more tired and less than enthused. The other nights we eat quick meals, planned overs from the current week, or choose a frozen meal from our well-stocked freezer.

4. Quick to Prepare Meals

Some quick to prepare meals include spaghetti and meatballs (see #3), fish fillets, tuna or egg salad (easy to do if you’ve cooked hard-boiled eggs in advance), frittatas, omelets, and chef salads of all kinds. If you need some inspiration for awesome salad ideas then sign up to receive updates from Salad Pride (a new salad idea every day)!

Something else you can prepare in minutes is pizza made with whole wheat English Muffins or Pita bread. Make enough and you can save some in the fridge for easy reheating later in the week. If you have a bit more time defrost one of your own frozen pizza doughs and make pizza easily with healthy low sodium pizza sauce, chopped and/or sauteed veggies, and shredded low fat cheese. If the pizza is big enough or has too many calories for enjoying all at once, save back some for lunch or supper the next day.

5. Easy to prepare Veggies: The Ticket to Weight Loss Success

If you allow for enough quality protein foods and maybe a little low fat dairy, whole grains, and fruit then you can and should eat as many non-starchy veggies as you want. (Limit corn and white potatoes). Veggies are low calorie and tend to be a good to excellent source of many essential nutrients and dietary fiber. The catch for the veggies is deciding which ones you are willing to eat and how you will work them into your meals without a lot of time or fuss.

Fortunately there are oodles of ways to get creative with veggies. Here are some ideas for you.

Clean, wash, and chop up fresh veggies over the weekend. I will eat and enjoy cut sweet peppers, celery, carrots, and the like with my meals and snacks, if I have taken the time to slice some up ahead of time. But they tend to sit in my refrigerator vegetable bin if I don’t.

While you’re at it why not chop some veggies up and freeze in zip lock bags to have available for making soups, stews, casserole dishes, and more. Or add some to a commercially prepared soup to make it more nutritious and filling. This is a great idea for when local and fresh vegetables are available in abundance in the summer and fall from farmer’s markets.

Other easy ways to enjoy veggies throughout the week can be to make up a large batch of sauteed veggies to include in salads, sandwiches, or to complement the rest of a meal. Instead of sauteeing you might toss washed and chopped veggies with a little olive oil and seasonings and then roast in your oven or grill on the stove top. This method will caramelize the little bit of natural sugar in veggies making them sweet and appealing.

6. Switch up your meals

Who says you can’t eat breakfast or lunch for supper. For example, if you like having scrambled eggs, a muffin, and a piece of fruit for breakfast, why not have the same for supper? Or switch out the fruit for lots of low cal veggies. Typical lunch type meals such as soup and sandwiches are endless and just as good for supper as for lunch.

7. Whole Grains for Supper

Choose easy to prepare whole grains for a quick side dish for supper. Some of the fastest cooking I’ve found include quinoa*, whole wheat couscous, and microwaveable brown rice (I haven’t actually tried the brown rice but I’m aware it exists. Have you tried it?). Quinoa is by far my favorite whole grain for a side dish or salad . Barley and oatmeal are favorite whole grains that I use in making other things (oatmeal with baking, barley in soups and stews, etc.)

I have lots more ideas but I feel like I am beginning to write a book! Hopefully some of these ideas will get you started cooking more of your own suppers for better nutrition and calorie management! Would you share some of your easy healthy low cal meal ideas for supper? Thank you!

*Botanically speaking, quinoa is not actually a grain but in a culinary and nutritional sense it is similar.