Eating Better and Lowering Fat Intake

Part of a healthier lifestyle, losing weight and controlling blood sugar is reducing the amount and improving the healthy quality of the food you eat. Here are some ideas to instantly improve your eating situation.

Tricks:

1. Eat before you grocery shop. Whether it's a conscious or unconscious thing, I've found that grocery shopping on a full stomach causes me to choose better foods. If I'm hungry when grocery shopping, I tend to buy junk food that I can devour first thing when I get home.
   
   
2. Take a break while eating. It's not hard for me to overeat. For example, an entire store-bought pizza usually doesn't last long. But I've found that if I eat half with a salad or some veggies then I take a 10-15 minute break from eating, I'm actually not as hungry after the break and I can often pack up the remaining food for a leftovers meal for the next day.
   
   
3. Put half your meal away in the fridge right away. It is so easy for me to eat an entire (~2 pound) Culinary Circle frozen pizza (my current favorite) in one sitting. But I find that if I put half of it away for leftovers in the fridge right after slicing it up, then half a pie satisfies me and I'm not tempted to eat the whole thing. Besides, then I get to have leftover pizza for a meal the next day!

EZ Food Adjustments:

1. Switch from regular or low-fat milk to skim milk. I consume lots of milk, mostly on cereal, at least a gallon per week on average. Switching to skim (no-fat) milk has helped reduce my intake of milk fat. You don't need to switch all at once: if you're used to drinking whole milk, step down to 2% for a month, then 1%, 1/2% (if available in your area) then finally skim. Skim milk isn't as bad as you might think--it no longer has that blue tint that it had years ago and it tastes just fine and is healthier than higher-fat milks.
   
   
2. Commit to substituting a salad for one meal per week. Make a commitment to substituting a salad for 1 meal per week instead of your usual big meal on that day. You might find that you really like it! I usually just combine some lettuce and tomato with low-fat dressing. And, go ahead and eat all the lettuce you want for that meal.
   
   
3. Switch to whole wheat bread. I don't know all the details here, but it seems to be the consensus that whole grain breads such as whole wheat are better for you than white breads. My favorite is Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat Bread. The Oroweat web site has some more detailed information on why whole grain breads are more healthy.
   
   
4. Drain your hamburger fat. If you regularly brown a pound of hamburger like I do, you should remember to drain the meat fat from your skillet. While the fat is tasty, you just don't need the extra calories and fat.
   
   
5. Bananas: nature's original grab 'n' go food. Bananas are awesome. I once saw an Animal Planet show by Jeff Corwin where he went on a trip and ate nothing but bananas! They come ready to eat in their own handy biodegradable packaging, too! But I've found that all bananas are not created equal: I like Dole and Chiquita, but for some reason Del Monte bananas don't appeal to me. And my favorites are smaller bananas still mostly green and not too ripe.
   
   
6. Limit or eliminate fast food. In the documentary movie Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 days. He ended up gaining about 30 pounds and experienced other health problems. I have nothing against McDonald's or other fast food restaurants (and I still visit them occasionally), but next time you stop by, consider trying a chicken or fish sandwich or a salad instead of beef.