Lose Weight - Tips and Tricks

If you’re not trying to lose weight, don’t bother reading this.

If you are trying to lose weight, you may find this info interesting, or even helpful. Personally, I’ve always been a “tips and tricks” type of person. For any hobby, like cooking or knitting, and even for the important stuff in life, like raising kids, I’ve always found I can take a little something away from a list of helpful tips and tricks. So, here are some of my weight loss tips and tricks, and I hope you find something useful.

Tip #1: Roast a bunch of veggies and keep them in your fridge. When everyone sits down for dinner and wolfs down a plate of pasta or tacos, you can join them by creating your own variation of the dish. I like roasted squash, onion, mushrooms, and maybe even some eggplant. You can add these veggies to your plate with some meat (turkey meatballs, chicken) or put them in a whole wheat tortilla with some salsa and fat free sour cream. The veggies last a long time and you can change the flavor depending on what you’re making for the rest of your gang.

Tip #2: Soup du jour/soup galore! The Weight Watchers veggie soup is so good and, again, you can add whatever protein you like. At Trader Joe’s I buy the pre-cut carrot, onion and celery soup starter and then add a pack of cole slaw and whatever I have around – like zucchini and garbanzo beans. Of course, I eat a lot of lentil soup, too. Soup is filling and usually low fat and low calorie. If you open a can, have ½ and then eat the other ½ as a snack or mid-afternoon meal.

Tip #3: Going out to dinner? This may seem tortuous, but save 500-600 calories for going out. Yes, you may be ravenous. Fill up on V8, or instant miso soup (unless you have high blood pressure.) Drink tea or have some low-cal snack like grapefruit or celery. Go online and look at the menu of the restaurant. Get excited about a nice piece of grilled fish, or whatever healthy entree you can find.

Tip #4: Keep an online food journal. There are a bunch of them, but I like Fitday. Yes, it takes some time to keep track of your food, but the more you do, the more you know what foods are filling, healthy and low cal.

Hope these little tricks help you, and please let me know about YOUR tips and tricks.