One of our readers & Metabolic Warriors sent us the following question after reading the post about fat loss two weeks ago. He wrote "Great info. So here is my problem, how do you know the calories of different foods? Do you have a good book, cook book that has good recipes for two? That is where I have the most difficulty is in choosing those lower calorie good tasting foods. I have tried a few of the recipes on the blog and they were good. We eat very little red meat, once a month at best, lots of veggies and a fair amount of chicken may be twice to three times per month. I do not like goopy foods or sauces. Any help here will be very much appreciated."
Here is our short answer:) Great questions. We find that the practice of looking up foods that you commonly eat starts to give you an idea of the calories. There is a web sight called www. calorieking.com that you can type food into and it will pop up with calorie content. Also using programs like www.mynetdiary.com (or the app) are great for giving you an idea as to how you eat and where you need to tweak things. I use it as a temporary tool every few months to stay on track with my eating.
For recipes I commonly use www.eatingwell.com and www.wholeliving.com. Both are nice resources for a variety of healthy meals. Look at recipes that put together foods that you enjoy and don't be afraid to put your twist on them. For instance, if something calls for butter I use butter flavored olive oil that can be purchased at Divine Oils in Shugrues Hillside shops or Old Towne Cottonwood. For salads I love the flavored balsamics and oils from Divine Oils. Again, just healthier fats and zero or next to zero calories on the balsamic but amazing flavor!
Some of our readers are eating healthy but they are not eating enough. Skipping meals...relying on coffee to be their breakfast. That is a whole blog in itself but the tip of the iceberg is that you are setting yourself up for a Titanic disaster when it comes to your metabolism. Food intake or lack of food both send hormonal messages to your body and both can lead to fat gain when not balanced. So start the day with a quality breakfast, it doesn't have to be big.
The key to changing to good eating habits is to make a plan for eating. Make sure you have things that you like to eat at your fingertips. Here are some of the things that we have found to work in our home. Perhaps yogurt? Do you like the smell of hot bread in the morning? Toast some bread and smear it with peanut butter. Scrambled eggs? They take 2 minutes to make. One more minute and you can add a little Boars head Tavern Ham and green onions or salsa and avocado or spinach and feta. Really unmotivated to make anything or just need an inbetween meals pickup? Have some good balanced protein bars on hand. We also keep fresh fruit on the counter in easy reach of all for a better carb choice than chips and quick hit of natural sugars. (there are chips in the house too:) We keep a bowl of nuts on the counter for a good fats snack. I boil eggs every week so that we have a bowl of them in the fridge for a quick protein source. Recently, I decided to spend Sunday making rice, beans and quinoa. I put all in the fridge to be used for the week, for lunch or dinner they are ready to go, just add your favorite fruits or vegetables and/or proteins and you have either a main dish for lunch or a side dish for dinner. Pre-planning and a little forethought go a long way to eating better.
Sherry and I love food and we have our vices, so we strive for balance and it all works out a-ok! Let us know if we can assist you personally with your nutritional questions.
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