Hello Everybody,
The best way to lose weight may not be the fastest. You really need a lifestyle change and this begins with the right food.
Eating a more healthy diet is an essential part of losing weight. So it is interesting to know how you can substitute one food for something similar and easily reduce your calorie intake. ‘Woman’ magazine has just published an article showing how you can swap foods to something similar and reduce calories. This could well be a route to the holy grail - easy weight loss.
This is a selection from the article on healthy summer food.
Barbecues.
Swap. Beef burger and fried onions in a bun - 419cals. 24.9g fat.
For. Grilled steak and salsa in pitta bread - 252cals. 3.9 fat. Save 167 calories. 21g fat.
Picnics.
Swap. Standard-size pork pie. 500cals. 36g fat.
For. Three mini-Scotch eggs. 180cals. 14g fat. Save 320 calories. 22g fat.
Drinks.
Swap. One large glass of sangria. 155cals. 0g fat.
For. Single measure of Pimm’s with diet lemonade. 40cals. 0g fat. Save 115 calories. 0g fat.
Ice Cream.
Swap. Three scoops of vanilla ice cream. 319cals. 18g fat.
For. Three scoops of lemon sorbet. 175cals. 1g fat. Save 144 calories 17g fat
There are many more examples in the article and it shows that saving calories does not have to result in boring tasteless food. You could do this for every meal. Of course it will need a little one-off research to establish the calories in the food you are eating and in the alternatives. But once you have done it you will know the healthy and unhealthy meals and which of the healthy ones you like.
You should know that, as a rough guide, a 31-50 year old woman who is moderately active - walking for an hour a day for example - needs 2000 calories a day.
A 31-50 year old man who is moderately active needs 2500 calories a day. Information is available on the internet to give you more accurate figures depending on your age, weight and height. If you wish to lose 1 pound a week you must eat 500 calories less than you need every day.
I have said before that madness lies in obsessional calorie counting. But you are establishing your healthy eating lifestyle and once you know what you like you can forget about calorie counting altogether.
So we have the tools and we really should not lack motivation. More Americans have been killed by fast food outlets than by al Qaeda. We need to understand the extent of the obesity problem and how it cannot be solved for us. But we can solve it for ourselves. Just daily exercise and a little bit of calorie counting and anybody can achieve easy weight loss.
See you soon,
Peter Stockwell
28 June 2010
Photo. Bordons (Flickr)
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