Healthy Dieting

What about eating at home? Where can you cut here and still feel satisfied? Start with breakfast: do you like cereal? What kind of milk do you put on it? You could save up to 100 calories by changing from whole milk to low- or non-fat milk. Do you let your toast swim in butter? Could you use half the amount, or how about just jam? Butter is 100 calories a tablespoon and jam is 50 calories for the same amount. Peanut butter is the same as butter, so if you use both, double trouble. For lunch, do you make your sandwiches? How much mayonnaise do you use? The calories are almost as much as butter. Light mayo, mustard, and ketchup are at least half the calories. Those tablespoons we add to a sandwich can lead to mega-calories.

Dinner is probably the most unpredictable. Some nights Mum cooks, sometimes Dad, maybe you go out to a restaurant or bring home take-away food. When another person in the family prepares the meal, it’s hard to resist, usually because it all tastes so good. But if you are getting a lot of fried foods, sauces, and sweet food, you might make a suggestion that some evenings you have low calorie meals. I’m sure your parents would like to help you with your weight loss also, so why don’t you educate them on calories? This may not be possible, I know. The family has learned to expect certain meals, and to upset the other members may not be worth it. If you know a food is very high in calories, rather than feel left out, just take a smaller portion. You are still cutting down.

Things to change when eating at home

There are many ways to trim calories. In the chart below, I’ve listed some substitutes you may not have thought about yet.

SNACK ATTACKS

Ways to Reduce Fat Intake

Instead of …

Whole milk or cream

Sour cream, mayonnaise

Cheese

Ice-cream

Regular mayonnaise

Regular salad dressing

Fatty meats (prime rib)

Minced beef

Beef

Poultry with skin

Dark meat

Meat or fish (fried, breaded) (poached, steamed)

Cream sauces

Crisps

Doughnut, pastry

Chocolate chip cookies

Butter on toast

Fried foods

Try …

Non-fat

Low- or non-fat yogurt

Low-fat cheese

Low-fat desserts

Light mayonnaise

Yogurt and mayo blend

Lean meats (flank steak)

Minced turkey

Chicken

Poultry without skin

Light meat

Meat or fish

Spaghetti sauce

Popcorn

Whole grain bread, bagel, muffin

Crackers, ginger snaps

Jam on toast

Poached, baked, or grilled

How about your snacks? They can really set you back. Yes, the calories are usually right up there, but worse, I think, is controlling the amount. Nobody eats one piece of chocolate, two biscuits, or five crisps. Snacking seems to send us into never-never land and before we know it, we eat the whole thing. Has this ever happened to you? It probably will again. Don’t give up. You can learn to control your snacking so it doesn’t sabotage your diet.

Think about the times you go crazy. What usually triggers it? Do you snack at the same time of the day, in the same place, and for the same reasons? Chances are you do. Many teenagers eat everything they can find right after school, others raid the refrigerator late at night, and some pig out when they’re with friends. Think for a minute. What’s your worst time with food?

Overeating is often tied to emotions. Generally speaking, overweight people tend to substitute food for feelings. We all do this to some extent. If we are angry, upset or even happy, we turn to food as our all-purpose soother. This is neither good nor bad. It is just an inappropriate response to an emotion, and it can be changed.

Working out what triggers you to overeat requires a little work and, once more, another list. Just knowing why you eat doesn’t solve the problem. That takes time and practice. But it is a good start. Here are some examples to get you thinking.

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