Stay Thin and Still
How do you stay fit and healthy during any season filled with parties, dinners, entertaining and traveling? Going to a party or social dinner, then hitting the slopes or wearing a bikini the next day is daunting. Well, you can have your fun-and figure too-by making sensible choices-without deprivation that causes bingeing and FAT! Here are some ways to do it.
Instructions
Eat Properly and Understand Your Cravings
1. Fill up on low-cal soups. At a Sushi restaurant, for instance, start with miso soup to fill you up on fewer calories. Gazpacho is a perfect FREE food that you can even purchase online at Citarella Gourmet Market (see Resources below). There are many natural-foods markets and cafes that have delicious soups every day.
2. Eat real foods. Eating fat-free yogurt, cookies, candies and energy bars will do nothing for you. They are manufactured foods that our bodies don't recognize and don't digest. If you want ice cream, order real ice cream in a kiddie cup. That is your one treat of the day. You will also be satisfied and not driven to eat more sugar-filled snacks.
3. Satisfy your cravings. There will be moments when you have to have something. Pick your battles and don't deprive! One day I was dying for sweets, so I had the icing from a sugary cupcake. I wanted more, so I took a deep breath, had some real dark chocolate with almonds and was satisfied. Always take a moment, step back and decide if the craving is negotiable. If I want chips and guacamole at a Mexican Restaurant, I have a small handful and push the basket aside or order tortillas and eat them with salsa and guacamole. One time I saw my best friend tearing through the basket. With tough love, I called the server and had them removed. My friend took a deep breath and thanked me. That's what friends are for.
Eat During Any Season
4. Barbecue healthy. When I barbecue, I try to make it healthy and interesting. Surprisingly, my chicken sausage, wasabi tuna burgers and turkey pesto sundried tomato burgers on whole grain buns with assorted sauces are more of a hit than hamburgers and hot dogs. Educate yourself and others. Serve healthy salads and alternatives-and people will love you for it.
5. Eat locally and seasonally. Farm stands have fresh produce grown locally that is ripe and satisfying. Variety, freshness and color makes eating interesting. We eat with our eyes. A colorful, large salad is a beautiful meal.
6. Don't obsess. This is a hard one. Seriously, do the best you can. Try to stick to eating healthy, small meals and snacks to calm hunger, not eating late at night and allowing indulgences from time to time. Never beat yourself up and never think that you have to go on an eating marathon because you had one moment of weakness. If you accept that you are doing the best you can, you won't fret and you'll eat when hungry, eat exactly what you want, eat in smaller portions and be one of those "normal" people that can eat a half of a hamburger and a few fries and is thin.
Eat and Drink Cocktails at Parties and Restaurants
7. Spoil your appetite. Eat before the party. Protein is best: a handful of nuts/nut butter or turkey on whole grain bread. Calories in the snacks? Trust me-the 200 calories in the snack saves 500 calories on two passed hors d'oeuvres that you would have eaten because of voracious hunger.
8. You will drink, so TRY to limit yourself to two drinks. Drink wine or clear liquor with soda and a squeeze of fruit. Flavored vodkas seem like a treat. Drink water between drinks. Eat a healthy snack, or bingeing the next day will occur. Protein/carb snacks such as whole wheat pita with hummus is a great choice! If you must have a mojito, ask for the least sweet version they can make or if you order a margarita, leave off the salt to avoid bloating. Sunset Beach and Almondito are two New York restaurants that are very accommodating with this request. Decide to drink during the day or night. If you have polo in the afternoon, have one drink and have your other in the evening. Two drinks during the day will make you feel terrible, bloated and starving in the evening.
9. Order salad at a restaurant for high volume and high fiber, which is filling. Eat vegetables at every meal which will fill you up with low calories and fat (even if it's not what you crave). Fiber calms hunger, allowing more sensible choices and keeps you from tearing at the bread. Order appetizers as a main course, allowing more decadent foods like crab cakes in smaller portions. If you're eating at The Palm, for instance, order the Gigi salad with no bacon and light dressing and a crab cocktail as a main course. Or have a tomato salad and a small steak (ask that they don't melt butter on it) with sauteed spinach and either a few bites of one of the fattening sides or a few bites of dessert. If you can't control yourself, sip your Stoli Raspberry with lime and move on. Tomorrow is a beach day-so cancel your membership to the clean plate club!
Tags: allowing more, deep breath, have your, Live Your, Live Your Life, main course