Helpful Tools & Tricks I Use To Stick To A Low-Calorie Diet

Hey I just wanted to take a minute to share some tools I use and tricks that I have found helpful in compiling good low-calorie recipes and sticking to my diet, without feeling limited and starving.
 
A love for food and cooking is helpful, but without the knowledge to back it up, it's easy to make poor choices. 

I love the website (and app for your smart-phone) "MyFitnessPal" - it is a handy database of calorie counting information, social networking community for support, and super easy way to stay on track with your diet. Its food tracker is a huge database with so many items, I haven't had any trouble finding anything I've looked for.  It is a fun and simple way to accurately count your calories.  You can also track your physical efforts too, it has a ton of activities to choose from to see how many calories you are burning, even basic actions like light cleaning and cooking are listed.  Plus it's an online community, where your friends/family can join or you can find other people you don't know and together you can share, encourage and motivate each other along the way!  Its nice because it doesn't share details like "Suzy has eaten an entire chocolate cake!", but it will say "Suzy has finished her diary, and stayed under her calorie goal" and you can comment "Way to go!" My sister, my aunt, my cousin, and my mother-in-law are all on there with me and it has made the process that much more enjoyable for each of us.  Daily we get to see how each of us is doing, share is our successes, and our stumbles... never feeling alone.  Plus having the community support helps to keep you honest and on track.  I highly recommend it!

MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE, and count, it sounds silly and time consuming, but just committing to using only 1/2 tbsp of olive oil instead of whatever comes out when you tip it over can make the difference between 15 calories and 120!

Don't deny yourself foods you like, you'll never last in your diet that way, just find a way to do them in a more healthy way! Whether that be smaller portions, with a salad on the side, or revision the recipe entirely, that's up to you!  If you like what you are eating you'll be that much more happy and motivated to keep going.  A stressed, frustrated person will actually struggle more with losing weight because of the chemical effects to the brain when you are stressed, make weight loss much more difficult, RELAX! 

Drink lots of water!  That's always a good idea, and something a lot of people don't do.  Being thirsty or dehydrated will make you retain water, and then you will actually weigh more then you really do!  If you find yourself not losing weight, up your water intake, I bet you'll see a difference!

I know it's sort of against all rules of diets, but I am actually a fan of zero calorie soda.  I think 1 zero calorie soda a day has really helped me feel satisfied, and caffeinated, without adding any calories.  Soda has other hidden problems that make dieting hard, but I think in moderation, it's a cool option.

To give you an idea of what I'm doing on a daily basis, I either have 2 eggs, 1 low-cal english muffin and coffee or oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, that turkey sandwich I posted a few days ago for lunch, with some reduced fat cheez-its, and a zero calorie cola, and then a 300-400 calorie dinner... totally about 1100 calories a day, I feel full, satisfied and I have lost about 8lbs in 35 days!  I am also only 5 feet tall - so you will likely need a bit more calories then that.  MyFitnessPal has a BMR calculator on the site that will help you accurately figure out how many calories you should be consuming daily!
 
"What is your BMR?

Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is an estimate of how many calories you'd burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. It represents the minimum amount of energy needed to keep your body functioning, including breathing and keeping your heart beating.
Your BMR does not include the calories you burn from normal daily activities or exercise.
Our calculator uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equations to estimate your BMR which is believed to be more accurate than the more commonly used Harris-Benedict equation."

I had gained approximately 20 lbs with my pregnancy, and was already about 10 overweight when I got pregnant, so I still have a bit to go, but I already feel so much better, and my waist is smaller! 

Don't get discouraged, it's a slow process, losing a few oz a day  is awesome, and it is common to rebound a few times, just last week I gained 2 lbs, and felt really discouraged, but I stuck to it, and I've lost it again.

Along those lines - do not beat yourself up if you going over your limit for the day, especially with the holiday's coming up - you will likely be suckered into eating all sorts of high calorie foods, that's ok, enjoy it!  Think of it as a day off, and then back to "work" tomorrow.  Although if you follow my lead, and make yourself good options, then it really wont feel like work at all! :)

Best of luck to you on your journey to a skinnier/healthier you!

Fancy Margarita Pizza - 144 Calories A Slice!

I was feeling uninspired the other day so I asked my facebook friends to throw out ideas of things I could make for dinner, keeping in mind I am dieting.  Within a few minutes, several people posted "Pizza" to which I rolled my eyes, and laughed.  Pizza is not diet food!  Then it dawned on me, what if I could make naughty favorites, taste good, AND BE GOOD FOR YOU?  I was on a mission.

Here is my recipe for Fancy Margarita Pizza, where a slice is only 144 calories, you can have 2-3 slices at dinner, maybe even a salad and still be in a good place calorie intake wise, plus big flavor and so easy to make!

My local WholeFoods offers fresh pizza dough you can buy 11oz for under $2, and thats enough for a whole pizza.  I've purchased it before, but the regular dough is kinda high in calories, so I tried their Wheat pizza dough.  For the whole pizza dough its 660 calories, then you got toppings.

 I love margarita pizza's but I always want to add a bit extra flavors... this time my toppings were Garlic, Onion, Mushrooms, Spinach, Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella and Goat cheese!

 The fresh pizza dough is a little tricky to get out on the pan anyway, but I did notice the wheat is even more sticky, so make sure you put a TINY pit of olive oil on the bottom on the pan, to help loosen it up.  Just stretch and pull gently until it fills the pizza  pan.

 Top with Ragu spaghetti sauce (I just had some left over), 1/4 cup of mozzarella, and a little less then a 1/4 cup of goat cheese. (save a little for the top)

 Add tomato, mushrooms, basil, spinach, garlic, onion...

 and then 1/4 more of mozzarella and the rest of the 1/4 of goat cheese (honestly this was a little heavy on the goat cheese, tasted good, but I think a little less would be good too, and then LESS calories! I really like putting a light coating of olive oil on the crust before baking - I think it really helps get it a nice texture and color. 

 Bake at 375 for approx 20-30 minutes (whenever it's melty and toasted)

 And voila - super flavorful, super easy pizza for under 150 calories a slice!!!!

Who said that pizza wasn't healthy!?


Ingredients: (calories per 2 slices)
Fresh Wheat Pizza Dough (165)
Ragu Spaghetti Sauce (11) (I believe I used 1/2 cup on the whole pizza, really don't need a ton)
Mozzarella (40)
Goat Cheese (20)
Olive Oil (15 for 0.13 tbsp) - seriously use as little as possible, olive oil is tasty, but SUPER HIGH IN CALORIES!
Garlic (2) (used about 2-3 cloves on the whole pizza)
Red Onion (1 tbsp = 4 calories)
Basil leaves (1 tbsp chopped = 1 calorie)
Mushrooms (13 calories)
Roma Tomato (13 calories)
Spinach (2 calories)

ENJOY!

Ps. I plan on coming up with some pizza recipes that involve meat and other flavors as well, I'll keep ya'll posted!

Quick, Simple and Low Calorie Breakfast Ideas

So far I've mostly been posting full recipes, but today I thought I'd share just a few of the quick and simple ideas I have learned to help you fill your stomach but not with fat! :D

The most important meal of the day - BREAKFAST - so many dieters skip this meal, and that is such a mistake.  It is crucial for your body to get fuel first thing in the morning, to keep your metabolism moving and working for you the rest of the day.  So here are a couple of my favs, that you can quickly do in the morning, and you wont feel like you are dieting!

Instant Oatmeal is "healthy" and quick and easy to prepare, however, be careful not to assume every instant oatmeal is created equal.  I personally love Maple/Brown Sugar flavor in my oatmeal, but the pre-flavored options are full of extra stuff that packs in the calories.  I recommend using "Original" flavor, then adding your flavors yourself.  The pre-flavored packets are 160 calories per packet!  Original flavor is 100 calories per packet... add 2 tsp of brown sugar, a little Cinnamon... only an additional 30 calories and you get the same thing, without all the extra junk!

Another Breakfast idea is: Eggs!  I know cholesterol, blah blah... well in moderation and if you choose good products it's actually pretty reasonable, and definitely has a place in a low-calorie diet.  I love the Egglands Best eggs, comes with a lot of added nutriants and omega-3s, plus I think they taste better.  Best yet - they are 70 calories an egg, compared to the average egg having 100 calories in it.  If 70 calories is still too much, another good option is Eggbeaters (30 calories per 1/4 cup).  One of my favorite recipes for eggbeaters is this spinach scramble on toast, topped with lowfat sour cream, and pico or hotsauce... whatever you like.

And you get all of that (including coffee with 1% milk in it for only = 251 calories!
It's filling (1/2 cup of egg beaters - they plump up), spinach, slice of whole wheat toast - it's a lot!

The biggest danger in breakfasts are carbs, so choose them wisely - you need carbohydrates to fuel your body, but they are full of calories.  Luckily there are some products out there that you can eat that are pretty reasonable.  In an earlier post I mentioned the English Muffin Light Multi-grain... I use it for breakfasts, lunches, it's awesome.  Only 100 calories per muffin, compared to 1 slice of whole wheat bread at about 90-110 calories per slice... so you choose.

I know a lot of "Light" or healthy options tend to taste like cardboard, but I promise you, I am a foodie first, and I will never tell you get a product that tastes like cardboard, I've hunted for good products off and on for years, and the ones I suggest have good flavor, without the guilt.

Along those lines - even though it's not a breakfast item, I want to share with you that I've recently tried those Special K Cracker Chips, boast 30 chips for 110 calories - enjoy the crunchy salty treats without guilt - well they lied.  They are gross, and taste like cardboard - DO NOT BUY THESE!  Unless you are a big fan of ricecakes, they are pretty much not worth it in my opinion.  I'd rather get something like Reduced Fat Cheez-Its... you get 29 for 130 calories.  A little more calories, but not a ton, and a lot more flavor!

Hope this helps encourage you to have breakfast a bit more often!  Hopefully daily! :D
Enjoy!