Five Ways to Start Eating Better Right Now

November 13th, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal, drink, food, healthy eating 

Sometimes it is too easy to make excuses about eating the right foods. Whether it’s simply inconvenient, we feel that eating healthy deprives us, or the lure of unhealthy food is too strong, we end up putting off eating right until it may be too late. Here are five easy ways that you can start eating better, right now – today even, before you get into more unhealthy territory.

1. Start with dessert.

Sometimes, there is nothing quite like a dessert, especially after a good dinner. However, that simple little piece of cake may pack more than half of your day’s calorie allotment. This is the perfect opportunity to start sneaking some healthy food choices into your diet, and chances are, you’ll end up liking them just as much. Instead of having that piece of cake, try a piece of fruit. If that is too much, consider adding frozen yogurt instead. Making small changes like this during one meal will help you make bigger changes all day long.

2. Replace your snacks with something better.

Afternoon snacks are sometimes necessary to get us through a long day, but that doesn’t mean that you have to automatically reach for a candy bar. In fact, what your body really needs is a quick dose of protein. It will hold you longer and give you more energy than simple carbs. Instead of something sweet, go with a small serving of low fat cottage cheese, or a stick of low fat string cheese. Other great snacks include a small handful of peanuts, or almonds that contain healthy fats.

3. Throw out that soda.

Many of us have a nasty soda habit that can be hard to break. Start by replacing one soda a day with some sparkling flavored water. You’ll still get that carbonation, and the flavor will make the water a little more palatable. Once you’ve cut back on one soda, gradually increase your replacements until you’re no longer drinking any. It will be easier on your body to gradually wean yourself off of the caffeine. Soda is full of empty calories, and you should notice a big difference, even by cutting only one out of your daily diet.

4. Switch up your carbs.

Instead of reaching for a loaf of white bread in the store, go for a whole grain loaf. These carbs are a little better for you and will help you feel more satisfied. It can take a little getting used to, but after a week or two you may find that you actually prefer whole grain bread to white bread.

5. Skip the dressing.

If you eat a lot of salads, but can’t seem to lose any weight, the culprit may be your dressing. Replace any high fat dressings with either low fat vinaigrettes or switch to a lower fat version of your current dressing. Instead of putting it on your salad, place it on the side and dip your lettuce in. You’ll be surprised at how much you have left over.

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Review of Dr Shapiro’s Guide to Picture Perfect Weight Loss

July 3rd, 2008 — Book Review 

Tomorrow is a holiday, which is why you are reading a book review today. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Enjoy the fireworks and BBQs!

Dr. Shapiro's book The Guide to Picture Perfect Weight Loss combines several interesting factors into one plan to help readers lose weight. While you may not agree with some of his advice or suggestions, it certainly is an interesting read and a book that dieter's should at least consider. The author really focused on healthy lifestyle changes, so that earned him points right off the bat.

When it comes to losing weight, it's not about those initial quick results. If you're not making whole life changes, it's all too easy to fall back into bad habits and immediately your progress was for naught. We always appreciate it when authors step away from the fad diet craze and start focusing on ways that everyone, regardless of their current weight, can get healthy and stay that way.

Dr. Shapiro was hired to help the Fire Department in New York City lose weight and it's easy to see why he is well renowned in the diet industry. This book focuses on using pictures to help readers make smart food choices. It's all about replacing bad foods and developing those healthy eating habits that will keep you slim for the rest of your life. We really appreciated the fact that he illustrated proper serving sizes visually since many of us have a hard time picturing what a "serving" actually is.

The best part of the book lies in the suggestions for replacements for unhealthy foods. At times, it was pretty shocking to see exactly what you could eat instead of fast food. The sheer volume of healthy but tasty food compared with the small serving of fast food was remarkable and no one could ever claim that this was a diet that left them feeling hungry.

Since total deprivation does not work when it comes to losing weight, this book offered hundreds of alternatives that readers can immediately put into action so that they feel full and fulfilled. It may be tough at first to implement a few of these changes, particularly since fast food and unhealthy food as a whole tastes so good, but the author really did his job when it came to finding alternatives that are completely comparable. If you can break your addiction to fast food, you'll be surprised at just how much healthy food you could be eating.

It was virtually impossible to come up with any criticism for this book. It's well written, well thought out and most importantly, provided a new way to look at dieting. So many diet books are all the same and so many leave reader's feeling empty or worse, ripped off. By visually representing food changes, the author really took diet books to a whole new level and we can hope that the industry will follow suit.

Overall, this is a book that belongs on any dieter's bookshelf. Even those who are already at their goal weight can learn a lot from this book and walk away with a new appreciation of eating healthy.

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