Losing weight is a simple matter of math. If you cut 3,500 calories out of your diet in the course of a week without reducing your daily activity, you can say so long to a whole pound of fat.
First, cut your calories in small increments, 50 here, 100 there, rather than one big lump. Second, instead of giving up foods you really love (and feeling deprived), switch to low fat versions.
Switch to low fat or no fat dairy products. Milk and milk products are the best source for the calcium that keeps bones growing. But these same products may also be high in cholesterol, saturated fat, and calories. You can reduce all 3 by choosing a low or not fat milk product.
For example, a cup of whole milk has 150 calories; a cup of skim milk, only 85. One slice of regular Kraft American cheese has 60 calories, one slice of Kraft Free American cheese, only 30. A sandwich made with 3 slices of cheese is 90 calories lighter if the cheese is "free."
Substitute Sugar Substitutes.
Coffee has no calories until you add milk and sugar. For every spoon of sugar you add, you are adding fifteen more calories; for every splash of milk, you are adding several more. Multiply this by 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day, you are adding quite a few more calories to your daily intake.
Serve Stew instead of Steak.
No mater how you slice it, red meat is red meat; cholesterol, saturated fats and all. But if you stew your beef or lamb or pork rather than broiling or roasting it, you can skim off a lot of high calorie fat. Just make the stew, and then stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours until a layer of fat hardens on top. Spoon it off. Every tablespoon of pure fat subtracts 100 calories from dinner.
Choose low fat desserts.
One half cup of Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream has 270 calories. One half cup of Haagen-Dazs nofat chocolate sorbet has 140 calories. Believe me, switching from the first to the second is no problem. Jello has great individual serving puddings that come in a sugar free version at only 60 calories. If you're a true chocoholic, you're likely to pay me for this suggestion.
Peel the Poultry.
Most of the fat in poultry is in the skin. A fried chicken breast with skin has 217 calories, versus 160 without the skin. Half a roasted duck (with skin) has a whopping 1,287 calories; without skin it has 444 calories. If you have a fried chicken breast every night for a week, you can save 399 calories by taking off the skin before you cook the bird. Share seven half ducks with a friend and you each save 2,950 calories a week. Wow! That's practically a pound right there.
Don't Oil the Salad.
True, salad can be a low fat, low calorie meal. Even if you throw in some breast of chicken and a couple of no fat croutons or cheese cubes, it's still mostly crunch.
But the dressing can do you in. For example, two tablespoons of Wishbone Italian dressing or one tablespoon of Hellman's regular "real mayonnaise" have 100 calories. What to do? You know the answer: Switch.
2 tablespoons of Wishbone Fat Free Italian dressing adds just 15 calories. One tablespoon of Hellmann's Light, 50 calories; one tablespoon of Hellmann's Light, only 25. Have salad once a day for a week, and you can save 595 calories with fat free versus regular salad dressing; 525 calories with low fat mayo versus regular.
Don't oil your pots and pans either. Bake with parchment paper instead of greasing the pan. Saute with natural juices in non-stick pans. Every tablespoon of fat you don't use means 100 calories cut from the "cost" of the dish.
Make one slice sandwiches.
Once slice of bread in your daily luncheon sandwich has anywhere from 65 to 100 calories, depending on the brand. Eliminate one slice - serve your sandwich open, and you can save up to 700 calories a week. If you like buns, Earthgrains makes a skinny bun so you can have the 2 slices for only 100 calories. Try to eat bread with a high grain content; the slices are larger and you can easily use one slice of bread and cut it in half to make a decent sandwich.
Eliminate the high-fat ingredient.
A bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich usually comes with 3 strips of bacon, each one worth 100 calories. Leave off one strip and save 100 calories. Leave off 2 and save 200 calories; leave off all 3 and save 300 calories. and enjoy your lettuce and tomato sandwich with low fat mayonnaise.
Other ways to eliminate fat calories:
Make spaghetti sauce without olive oil (100 calories a tablespoon)
Make split pea soup without ham (55 - 90 calories an ounce)
Make cream sauces with skim milk instead of cream (470 calories per cup for the cream; 85-90 calories for the skim milk)
Don't butter the veggies.
This one's a no brainer. Season your vegetables with herbs instead of greasing them and you save 100 calories for every unused tablespoon of butter, margarine, or oil.
Wash the chopped meat.
Yes, you read that right. Heat a teapot of water. Put the chopped meat in a pan and cook it until it browns. Pour off the fat, turn the meat into a strainer and pout a cup of hot water over it. Repeat 2 times. Every tablespoon of fat that melts or drains from the meat saves you 100 calories, plus cholesterol and saturated fat. Use the de-fatted meat in spaghetti sauce. Cut even more calories by using 99% lean ground turkey in place of ground beef.
Watch your salt intake
While salt doesn't add much in calories, sodium levels in food can cause you to retain weight. Avoid soda pop, even diet sodas as they contain lots of sodium. Diet Rite Soda has no sodium or calories. Avoid canned soups and make soup using low sodium chicken or beef broth as a base.
Drink plenty of water.
Drink at least 8 glasses per day was the old adage. Now doctors recommend even more. Drink a minimum of 64 ounces per day; more closer to 100 ounces is acceptable now.
Enjoy! ~ Aunt Millie
