Women who started the day with two eggs and toast felt so much fuller and more satisfied than those who had a bagel and cream cheese that they ate 274 fewer calories the rest of the day, finds a new study from the Rochester Center for Obesity Research in Michigan. The egg group even ate fewer calories the following day. Protein-rich eggs, say the researchers, are simply more satisfying than breads and bagels. Now 2 eggs does go over your cholesterol amounts for the day so if you have cholesterol issues, you would want to consider reducing that to 1 egg although eggs to contain good cholesterol.
Try this: If you don't have time to scramble eggs on weekday mornings, hard-boil a few on Sunday and keep 'em up to a week in the fridge for quick, on-the-move breakfasts.
Eat nuts, lose more weight.
When 52 overweight women and men followed a 1,000-calories-a-day diet for 24 weeks, those who ate almonds at meals and snack time lost 18 percent of their body weight, while those whose treats were carbohydrate-based (wheat crackers, baked potato, air-popped popcorn) lost just 11 percent. The nut eaters whittled their waists by 14 percent; the carb snackers, 9 percent. Researchers from the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA, suspect that the protein, fat, and fiber in almonds keep you feeling full longer--and that not all the calories in almonds are absorbed thanks to the tough cell walls of these nuts.
Try this: Walnuts, pecans, unsalted peanuts, and other nuts should have similar effects--they're packed with fiber and good fats, too. Have a handful (no more--they're also high in calories) in place of your usual midmorning or afternoon snack.
Margarine vs. Butter
When you are trying to lose weight, it is common to try and find ways to cut fat and calories. One of the main things we look at changing is our butter intake. There are so many margarine products out there that offer little to no fat and calories as a butter substitute. But is it worth it?
The creation of trans fat occurs when liquid oils solidify by partial hydrogenation, a process that stretches food shelf life and changes "safe" unsaturated fat into dangerous fat. Trans fats are concentrated in margarine, solid vegetable shortening, doughnuts, crackers, cookies, chips, cakes, pies, some breads and foods fried in hydrogenated fat (chicken, fish, potatoes). Several decades of research show consumption of trans fatty acids promotes heart disease, cancer, diabetes, immune dysfunction, and obesity and reproductive problems. So to me, it is pointless to work so hard to lose weight and put yourself at risk for all kinds of illness in the process. I choose real butter and use it in moderation and hope you will consider it too! If you really want to make a huge change regarding trans-fats, you can purchase crackers, chips and other products made without hydrogenated oils at heath food stores and supermarkets.
To Shake or not to Shake?
Diet shakes are called meal replacements by nutritionists and weight loss experts because, in theory, drinking one shake is intended to replace one whole meal.
You really only need to eat 500 fewer calories every day to lose a pound a week. The trick is that weight loss in the real world with people’s busy schedules and abundant food choices is hard. Meal replacements work on the premise that few of us know how many calories we eat each day. Replacing one or two meals per day with a known quantity of calories will necessarily reduce the number of calories you consume. In other words, if instead of eating a meal that might have 750 calories you drink a shake with 250 calories then you will have reduced the usual number of calories you take in by 500. A whole week like that and you will lose one pound.
Meal replacements are no magic bullet. As with most diets, the reason people who stop using meal replacements regain their weight is because they return to a higher caloric intake. Maintaining a normal weight requires learning lifelong healthy eating habits or staying on the meal replacement indefinitely.
I have always believed that in order to conquer weight problems, we have to make changes we can live with forever. Drinking a diet shake for the rest of your life is not realistic and ultimately not good for you. Liquid diets can really mess up your digestive system in the long run.
My advice: If once in awhile you are in a hurry and want to grab a shake for a meal, go for it, but do not make it a daily occurrence. Teach yourself how to calculate the calories and fat in the foods you make. Use an online calculator like Nutrawatch and after a month or two, you won't need it because it will be in your head. Make lifetime changes for lifetime results!
Hitting Plateau's
So you have been losing weight and all is going well and suddenly, the scale comes to a screaming halt and it feels like no matter what you do, it won't move! This has happened to me many times and the key to getting things moving again is to change things up. Our bodies get so used to the routine that they get happy where they are. We have to keep our body guessing so we can keep that metabolism running as efficiently as possible. Here are some ways to change things up:
1. Eat lighter meals for dinner and bigger meals for lunch if you are not already doing so.
2. Cut off your eating earlier in the day, at 6:00pm.
3. Change up your exercise routine. Choose a different form of exercise or split it up into two sessions, one in the morning and one at night. Consider increasing your exercise time or make your workouts more intense.
4. Do not skip meals, especially breakfast!
5. Spend one day calculating everything you eat using a program like Nutrawatch and see if you have gone back to eating more calories than you should be.
6.Focus on what you are eating. Make sure you are not eating too fast, eating while reading or using the computer or TV, eating empty calorie foods, etc.
I have found making these types of changes always gets thing going again!
