#TuesdayTip Eating Fat to Lose Fat #Fitness #Health

I hit another milestone today – 40 pounds lost. It took me a long time between the holidays (no pounds gained luckily) and the dreaded plateau.

Anyone who has tried to lose weight has hit a plateau and sometimes they are tough to break through. I tried lowering and raising my calorie counts. Exercising more. Even exercising a little less. Those stubborn 3 or so pounds just would not leave me.

I spoke to my trainer and we talked about my diet and it turned out that in my quest to eat healthier I had seriously eliminated fat from my diet. Both good and bad fats. He said to me, “You need to eat fat to lose fat.”

As you can imagine, I was surprised, but I took his words to heart because he has really helped me improve my overall health and fitness.

So I added back some healthy fats. Avocado. Nuts. Low fat dairy. Coconut oil. Olive oil. Eggs.

What happened? Well, those stubborn pounds disappeared in just a few days. WOO HOO.

So today’s Tuesday Tip is: Eat more healthy fats.

If you want more information on this concept and healthy fats, you can visit these links:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/557726-eat-fat-to-burn-fat/

http://www.coachcalorie.com/eat-fat-to-lose-fat/

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/how-eating-more-fat-helps-you-lose-more-weight.html

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/tips/why-non-fat-isnt-the-answer/

Just a last word of warning: Watch out for foods that claim to be low fat, but just seem too good to be true. Oftentimes there is a lot of added sugar and salt or artificial ingredients to make up for the “lower fat.”
EatFat

Confessions of a Carboholic

Back on one of the Tuesday Tips I mentioned that I was battling the bulge again and some of you asked for me to let you know how I was doing.

Well, I am doing great! I’ve lost 6.5 pounds in about a month. I feel better and my clothes are starting to get loose. I’m counting the minutes until I can drop a size.

But to accomplish that I had to do some soul searching and realize something very troubling – I am a carboholic. Worse yet, that being a carboholic was so not good for my system. All that bloating and big belly started to go away as soon as I curtailed my carbs.

I did that in part with that wonderful book my daughter gave me — Eat This, Not That. I have the supermarket edition which is great because it lays out in no nonsense fashion what to buy and what not to buy and the reasons for those choices (although there is one with which I do not agree and more on that later).

First I cut back on my carbs and the carbs that I eat are lower in fat and sugar and higher in dietary fiber. Fiber is wonderful because it fills you up and keeps you from having that empty sensation.

How did I do that? Thomas’ Light Multi-grain English Muffins. At 100 calories per muffin, they have only 1 gram of fat and 8 grams of dietary fiber. In the mornings I will have it with a smear of one of those Laughing Cow Light Cheeses – also great! Only 35 calories per little wedge, but packed with flavor.

For Sunday pasta meals, we switched to Barilla Whole Grain Pasta (suprisingly on the Not That list, but I don’t agree). With 200 calories per serving, it has only 1.5 grams of fat and 6 grams of dietary fiber. Plus, it’s tasty unlike some other whole grain pastas.

At lunch I make sure to have veggies of some kind, whether alone or with grilled chicken, or a sandwich made with a muffin, low fat cheese and low fat ham (not a big turkey fan which would help, I know) or chicken.

For snacks – nuts, nuts, nuts. A handful of almonds (approximately 12), cashews or walnuts are a great snack at around 3 pm.

At night we try to keep it simple. Grilled steak, chicken or eggs with veggies and a salad. Actually, we’ve been eating a lot more eggs. They are not as bad for you as people think and if you buy some Eggland’s Best or another high quality egg, they are packed with vitamins and have lower cholesterol than regular eggs. I always look for a sale on them and stock up.

For a late night (around 8 pm) snack, I’ve been making our own desserts – like a low fat fruit-packed ambrosia — or having a small handful of Brookside Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegrantes. I get a 2 lb bag at Costco and they are absolutely delicious. 22 pieces are about 200 calories, but I stick to about half that amount because they are so decadent and dark chocolate and pomegrante are packed with anti-oxidants.

Adding all those fruits, nuts and veggies has gone a long way in helping as well. They keep me feeling fuller and I’m not having those horrible hunger pangs that wreck most diets. In fact, I’m not even thinking about this as a diet anymore, but as a lifestyle change because I can see myself eating like this for the rest of my life.

So, that’s my confession about being a carboholic and how I’ve changed some of my habits. I’ve also been going to the gym regularly and that’s been a big help. Any increase in activity is good for you, including a brisk walk!

Hope today’s Thursday Thoughts might be of help to you. 🙂

Tuesday Tip – Happiness, Stress and Weight

scaleWe’ve been talking about a lot of things for the New Year – Resilience, Happiness and Stress just to name a few. For me one thing that’s inherently tied to all three of those is my weight and not in a good way.

I know that I eat when I’m unhappy or stressed out. I know when it began – when my mom got sick and died. Back then the only thing that seemed to provide any comfort was food and so a pattern was born.

Of course understanding that and doing something about it are two different things. So when things got a little crazy last year, my weight ballooned. Again.

This year I’m doing something about it as well as about Happiness and Stress. So far so good. Choosing to be upbeat has helped. Taking some of those stress-busting steps has helped, especially two of them – prepping the night before and getting up ten minutes earlier.

Now I’m dealing with the weight thing, something which you know we’ve dealt with in the past.

My daughter gifted me with a copy of EAT THIS, NOT THAT for Christmas and I’m busy reading through it. I’ll let you know any good tips from there.

Some tips I have seen in the bombardment of New Year Resolution articles that I’ve tried and are good:

1. For snacking try a handful of almonds (about 12). Low in fat and high in fiber, they help stave off hunger.

2. Make sure to have breakfast. I’ve been starting with a cup of Quaker Oat Meal and I’m finding that I’m less hungry at lunch and also at dinner.

3. Have an orange at lunch or as a dessert. Citrus is apparently another great hunger fighter.

4. Exercise each day. A 20 minute walk will make a difference in how you feel. Try to include strength training. Building muscle will help with your metabolism.

5. Eat more slowly. It takes your brain some time to catch up and send the signal that you’re full. If you eat too fast (which I always do), you may be overeating.

6. Go Green! Use Avocado slices on your sandwich instead of mayo or butter. It’s a great vegetable fat and tasty too. Not an avocado fan? Switch to mustard instead.

7. Brown bag your lunch. Not only will you be saving money in these tough economic times, you will be better able to control what you are eating.

8. Try to eat more veggies. If you can, start your meal by eating the veggies. They have less calories for their volume and can help you eat less of the fattening stuff. Not a veggie person? Try V8 or tomato juice.

9. Cut back on carbs. If you keep them in moderation, you’ll notice an immediate change in belly fat and will likely have less cravings. When eating carbs, make sure they are high in fiber, low in refined sugars and have no trans fats.

10. Finally, remind yourself that it’s more stressful to be heavy and have health issues than it is to change your eating habits.

Hope you found these 10 tips helpful! If you’ve got some of your own to share, please let us know by posting a comment.