A Few Weight Loss Tips

I have been getting a LOT of requests for tips and food ideas, so I'm going to list some here. 

Please take these and apply them to your life.  They are tried and true and really do make all the difference in your lifestyle! 

 If you have not yet done it, CLEAN OUT ALL THE JUNK DRINKS AND FOOD IN YOUR HOUSE.  Donate it to a food drive or food bank or give it to someone else if you don’t want to throw it away!

Be sure to drink HALF of your body weight in ounces!  For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink 100 ounces of water PER DAY.  Try to drink a large glass or bottle of water BEFORE your meals, that way you are more satisfied and less likely to overeat.  

Eat your meals slowly!  Take your time so that your brain has time to react to the message your stomach is sending it when it is getting full.  Remember, you want to eat until you are SATISFIED/STARTING TO GET FULL- NOT over-full or stuffed and miserable.  You want to train your body to be satisfied with NORMAL portions.  This is a process, but over time, you will become satisfied with less and less food as your stomach shrinks to normal size!

If possible, try to get some form of exercise in 4-5 days a week, at least 30 minutes.  It is perfectly fine to break it up into 10 minutes intervals, 3 times a day if you can’t physically handle it, or your schedule doesn’t allow 30 consecutive minutes.  The key is you are doing SOMETHING, and the more you can do, the better.  

There really is almost no excuse why anyone can’t at least walk for 10 minutes, 3 times a day or SOMETHING!  

Your goal needs to be to work up to a MINIMUM of 45-1 hr per day on most days.

Some recommended condiments I have tried and like: (this is all we buy for our household!)

-Hidden Valley Brand LIGHT Ranch dressing

-Kraft Brand LITE Ranch dressing

-Any brand of Fat Free Italian dressing

-Country Crock LIGHT butter

-Blue Bonnet LIGHT butter (also in sticks)

-Jif Natural Peanut Butter

-Pam non-stick cooking spray, butter flavored and olive oil flavored, store brand will work fine.  (COOK EVERYTHING IN THESE SPRAYS!  ALL VEGGIES, CHICKEN, PORK CHOPS, EVEN EGGS!  They give a great flavor without adding extra calories to your food!  Just coat it on heavy.)

-Dill relish instead of sweet relish when possible.

-Use seasonings to spice up flavor in your food without adding calories.  Be careful not to overdo the seasonings because some tend to have a high sodium content.  Mrs. Dash has some seasonings that are sodium-free.  I love just regular lemon-peeper seasoning sprinkled on my chicken, then grilled in the Pam butter flavored cooking spray.  It’s 

delicious!!  

-2% cheese (sliced or shredded)  Kraft makes the best sliced cheese, and store brand 2% shredded cheese is great!

-LIGHT or fat-free sour cream.  Daisy makes the best!

-Always use 1% or 2% milk.

-Stevia is the best sweetener.  the best thing is it's all natural...it comes from Stevia plant and does not contain the brain-cell destroying chemicals saccharin and aspartame!