Easy Weight Loss With Healthier Meals

    Meals at home and with family do not have to be fat-laden affairs. Nor do they have to be boring, tasteless times of celery mashing around the table. A few subtle adjustments in your food choices will make a big difference on the scales.

Think Lean Meat

Don’t give up meat, just make smarter choices in buying it. Meat is much leaner today than it has been due to trimming efforts on the part of meatpackers. Beef labeled as “loin”, “round” and “extra lean” are your best choices.

According to The Wisconsin Beef Council, cuts like top round, tenderloin or sirloin qualify as lean, healthy selections.

Roasting, baking, grilling, braising and broiling are healthy meat-cooking methods. Use non-stick pans and choose cooking sprays over oil or butter during preparation. Another way to reduce fat is to strain cooked ground beef and rinse it with hot water. Drain it well before you continue the recipe.

Lean Chicken Choices

When we think lean we often look to chicken. Be smart. Many of us turn a potentially diet-friendly staple into something considerably less than healthy. Say no to fried patties,

chicken fingers, nuggets and franks. Switch to broiling, roasting, baking or steaming fresh chicken. Use a non-stick pan with cooking spray, broth or wine.

Keep in mind that poultry dark meat contains about twice as much fat as white meat. Also, the skin is full of fat. You can remove the skin before cooking or choose skinless varieties. Simply make a rule or take off the skin before you eat it.

Lean Turkey Is A Smart Choice

If you’re preparing a turkey, why not cook the stuffing separately? You will reduce its fat content by preventing the turkey fat from soaking into the dressing. Try to use less butter or margarine when preparing the stuffing. Don’t forget to skim the fat off of the gravy with a gravy separator or by

refrigerating it. Leave the drumsticks for the kids. As with chicken, choose light meat over dark and you’ll save quite a few calories.

Cooking A Cholesterol Free Feast

 

    When it comes to lowering one’s cholesterol levels, it is a must that one changes his or her eating lifestyle. Cholesterol buildup in the body is actually caused by eating way too much of the sinful types of food like processed meat, fried food, sugar rich foods and beverages like chocolates (although dark chocolate, the bitter kind is actually proven to help lower one’s cholesterol levels) and soft drinks.

1. Eliminate Catalyst Factors

It is also important to note that people who have bad lifestyle habits are the usual targets of having incredibly high cholesterol levels. Smoking and drinking are the common vices that people, not only those who are suffering from high cholesterol levels, should eliminate once and for all from their systems.

2. Cooking With No Cholesterol In Mind

– When buying cereals or microwavable pre-packed foods like t.v. dinners look at the labels on the side of the box to ensure that you are not going to take in excess calories and fat

– Being aware of what you take in is the first step in lowering high cholesterol

– Avoid restauraunts and fast food places that offer all you can eat meals or incredibly enormous meals

– The serving size listed on the packaging is sometimes misleading – a serving size is not always the total size of the package, it is often one-half or even less

3. Know How To Read Food Labels

Food labels are divided into two parts – the top half deals with aspects of food you should limit, such as total fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein. The bottom is a summary of those you need, such as vitamins, iron, etc.

It is actually quite hard to understand what most food labels mean, in a way they are quite deceiving. You may think that you are eating healthy when in reality you are unknowingly taking in cholesterol, fat and calories in reduced levels. Here are a list of some of the claims that we can often find on our food’s packaging according to the Food and Drugs Authority –

– Calorie-free –

This product has fewer calories per serving (around 5 calories less) than the leading brand. It does not mean the product contains no calories.

– Low-sodium –

This product contains less than 140mg of salt per food serving.

– Low-calorie –

The food is actually less than 40 calories per serving.

– Low-cholesterol –

Less than 20mg of cholesterol as well as only 2 grams of fat per food serving



25 percent less of what health professionals specify for the nutrients as well as the calories of a usual food product of the same type