Prevention.com recently posted an article called The Best and Worst Diet Foods including information about how frozen meals can help with weight loss:

“A 2004 University of Illinois study found that women who followed a 1,365-calorie diet in which they ate two packaged frozen entrées a day shed about 5 pounds more in 8 weeks than those who were instructed to follow a diet (with the same number of calories) based on the food pyramid.”

Frozen foods are very convenient but you have to watch out because many of them have a heavy calorie and/or fat price tag. I have tried a lot of varieties of “diet frozen meals” like Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice and Weight Watchers and have found that many of them are bland or just plain bad. I have found a few winners along the way though.

1. Michael Angelo’s Frozen Dinners - These are some of be best tasting frozen meals I’ve ever tried! This brand is not a “diet food” label but most of the meals are between 250 and 400 calories. All of them are Italian and my favorites are manicotti, vegetable lasagna and cheese lasagna.
2. Lean Cuisine / Stouffers Panini sandwiches taste great!
3. Frozen vegetables - It’s almost pointless for me to buy fresh veggies as half the time they go to waste. But frozen veggies are always crisp and taste better than canned.
4. Sante Fe Rice - Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine both have a Spanish rice entree that is good.
5. Macaroni & Cheese - Stouffers has the best taste and is not that much higher in fat/calories than a diet brand.

So those are a few of my favorite frozen diet foods. How about you?

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Do you ever feel hungry but nothing sounds good?   Today has been a day like that though I have no idea why.  Breakfast was a glass of iced tea (unsweet) and a few chips and hot sauce.  Now I’m staring at the pantry and frig and while there’s food there (thank heavens) nothing sounds appealing.  Hmmm… maybe I’ll go to to the local deli and get a sandwich.  Of course then I’d have to get off my hiney and drive over there.  Boy I’m lazy today!

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Saturday I went shopping and found some great new summer outfits. I even got some jean capris in a size 8! (I was in a 14 at the beginning of the year.) Of course sizes do vary a lot and there were some other pants in a 10 that I couldn’t squeeze into. But it was still a great encouragement. Now I have to stick to my body challenge so I can keep wearing those jeans!

Last week I really did well on my diet. I did have some freebies this weekend - a cheeseburger on Saturday and some desserts on Sunday. But other than that I did great. As far as that stubborn scale, it’s still saying 142 (the same as when BC2 began) but I am still feeling very encouraged.

My knee is feeling better but I probably won’t be able to exercise for another week. So I will have to be extra careful on my diet again this week!

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Okay, I am going to admit that lately I haven’t been so good at watching my diet. This week we went out a lot - Mexican food, pizza and today was a steakhouse. Oh, boy. One thing that I did do right was watch my portions. Restaurants now give such huge portions! You have to take that into account when ordering. Today I ordered a chicken breast (with cheese and mushrooms) and just one side item. The portions were good, but… the side item was french fries and I had three rolls. :roll

Now the meals that were not take out or dine out I did a lot better. So this is not too much of a confessional. But the dine out meals were probably the reason that I didn’t lose any more weight this week. Oh, well tomorrow is another day!

My goal for this coming week is to eat balanced meals every day, with just one meal that’s a freebie. Even if I dine out I’ll be sticking to my guns!

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One of my biggest hurdles is controlling hunger and I have to work at balancing my diet so that I don’t get ravenous and start binging!

I find that combining protein and carbs helps.  Like a small apple and some peanuts or a slice of whole wheat toast with 1 Tablespoon peanut butter for a snack.  For breakfast today I had one egg, a slice of toast and 6 oz. V-8 juice.  This tends to keep hunger at bay until lunch.

Replace carbs with protein: In the short term, low-carb diets (high in protein-rich foods such as eggs, chicken, and fish) tend to cause more rapid weight loss than low-fat diets (often high in carb-rich pasta and cereal) by suppressing appetite.

More Tips From Prevention Magazine

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Yesterday I ate lunch with three friends who are all following Weight Watchers. I heard a lot about points and diet tips. Nicole even had a dining guide that said which dishes at Chili’s were recommended and how many “points” different entrees were.

I really believe in the WW program as I’ve seen so many people lose weight with it. It’s not only a healthy program, but there’s also a positive supportive environment that goes along with it. Even if you do the Weight Watchers online program or go to different meetings (as my friends all do) there’s an instant connection when you meet someone who’s doing Weight Watchers.

That being said, I probably wouldn’t sign up for the points system simply because I already have the calorie and content counts of so many foods memorized. The points system would be just one more thing to learn. Now they do have a No Counting Core Plan though. I would probably find this easier, while other people would find the points easier. It’s great that it’s flexible that way.

(I had the cajun grilled chicken sandwich by the way - skip the fries, I’ll take a salad instead!)

Weight Watchers®, Online weight-loss from the name you trust.

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This week I have been very dedicated to watching my diet by monitoring portion sizes and counting calories. I use a small spiral notebook to keep track of the foods I’m eating and the approximate calorie count.

This is much easier to do when you’re eating at home and not going out to eat too much. Though most fast food restaurants have nutrition information online now. Sometimes I will look this up before going out and it helps in making the smartest choices. This week I only went out twice - to Schlotsky’s Deli (got the light Turkey sandwich) and once to Sonic (breakfast toaster - not as good a choice but still within my calorie limit for the day).

Today I will not be quite as concerned about this because unfortunatly I caught a cold. I’ll be drinking lots of juice and my favorite cold remedy - orange hot tea with honey! Hopefully this will pass pretty quickly.

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I thought this was a great article and echos some of the ideas we’ve been talking about. Especially when it comes to water intake. The author says, “Water is the under rated fat loss tool.”  8 Secrets of Fat Loss (They Work!)

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Is it possible to strictly adhere to a diet 100% of the time? I say no, and in fact you shouldn’t! We’re all going to give in to the temptation of [insert favorite food here] or find ourselves in social situations that leave us with few good food choices.

Plus sometimes we just need to give ourselves a break! If I was resigned to never having cheesecake or Mexican food again I’d be thouroughly depressed. Having treats and fun foods every now and then is really good for our mental and emotional enjoyment of life.

I just remind myself of the 80/20 rule. In a dieting context this means that 80% of the meals I eat are healthy and balanced. Though right now since I’m working on weight loss I am sticking to 90%. So then the few times when I do indulge a bit won’t wreck my diet or my overall healthy lifestyle. This is also an easier way to build a healthy habit for life instead of forcing oneself to a super strict diet all of the time.

The Body for Life plan has a slightly different way of approaching the same idea. Bill Phillips says to eat right 6 days of the week and then give yourself one free day per week with no restrictions. (By the way I highly recommend the audiobook version of the Body for Life, it’s very motivational.)

One of the advantages of choosing one day per week as a free day is that you have to plan to eat right the rest of the week. I think this free day could also be split up into 3 free meals during the week. For example, tonight is my sister’s birthday celebration so I know we’ll have a homestyle meal with cake and ice cream so this is one of my free meals!

Choose what method works best for you and follow a healthy diet in moderation. Give yourself a treat everynow and then and you’ll be on your way to a long term healthy eating lifestyle.

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LOL! I guess I should probably pre-qualify that statement, eh?

Loosing weight is made up to two components…

1. DIET (although that’s not really an empowering word as it tends to scare the crap out of 99% of the population).
2. EXERCISE.

By implementing any one of these two components, if done consistently, will result in weigh loss. Of course, if you practice BOTH, weight loss is guaranteed… simple, right?!

Yeah, but then WHY do we all battle to stay in shape… and WHY are there so many bloody fad “weight loss” books making the publishers millionaires each and every year?

I guess, in a way, weight loss is like Internet marketing. The majority of marketers spend their lives seeking out that “silver bullet”… that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that will make them “rich” in just 30 days. “Fadders” are the same, diets become like a jail sentence. You just can’t wait to get the hell out (and 10 months later, you’re back in again)!

Of course, we all know that it’s not the SIMPLE concept of loosing weight that is the jaw breaker; it’s the ability to stick to the SIMPLE plan.

My gym access card has a great quote written on it… “Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going.”

Pretty powerful, eh?

So, although weight loss is SIMPLE, it’s probably HABIT that we should “rather” go looking for… not the next fad diet book describing a prison sentence diet program.

So…

Turn “exercise” into a HABIT, and your “diet” into a lifestyle

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