Tips for Weight Management and Nutrition

Managing weight has been a hot topic in American society for decades. It is by no means a one size fits all recipe, but there are a few small details you can start to practice in your daily life to help keep your intake and your weight on track. 

Consider Your Hunger

One of the biggest things to think about when considering weight management is to consider your hunger. I don’t mean your appetite, I mean your true, real, physical hunger. That is to say that when your stomach growls you can recognize that you are truly hungry. Many people eat for other reasons than true, physical hunger. People eat because they are bored, sad, happy, trying to be social etc. These are not appropriate times to eat. Eat when your stomach growls and eat only until you are no longer hungry, not until you are full.

Eating Is Not An Activity

Others eat because they are no longer full and thus they believe themselves to be hungry. This tends to happen mostly at night for people. They eat dinner and then a couple of hours later they are watching TV. They no longer feel full and thus they believe they should get something to eat while they are watching TV. Eating is not an activity. If your activity is watching TV and it is not satisfying you enough that you also need to eat to occupy your mind, then find something else to do. 

Brush Your Teeth

If you find yourself craving sweets after a meal the easiest way to get your brain to think about something else is to brush your teeth. Once you clean all the flavors of your last meal out of your mouth, the triggers for your brain to crave something as a follow up are gone. If it is night time, you can also wash your face and put your PJs on to get your brain thinking that it is time for bed and thus it doesn’t need any more food. 

Meals don’t Need to be Glamorous

Meals don’t need to be glamorous or take a lot of time to prepare. They need to be functional (that is they pass nutrients along to you) and be flavorful. Try to think that when you look down at your plate you have half protein and half produce (see plate below). Protein and produce take roughly the same amount of time to digest. Protein helps people feel satisfied as does the fiber from the produce. The produce also provides you with many of the necessary vitamins and minerals. Any combination of the items from the diagram is fine, you can use them interchangeably without feeling guilty. Flavor can very simply be added with spices and herbs from your seasoning rack. Dijon mustard and lemon juice also hold magical powers when it comes to adding flavor to dishes. Below, I have given you a few simple meal options to try out. Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast: 

1. Three hardboiled eggs (eat them warm just after cooking!) sprinkled with ‘Everything bagel’ seasoning and drizzled with olive oil + 1 cup of berries
2. Avocado toast: 1 slice good sourdough bread, toasted + 1 whole mashed avocado, sprinkle with salt and 1TB nutritional yeast
3. Overnight oats: 1 cup old fashioned oats + unsweetened vanilla almond milk, saigon cinnamon, 1 tsp honey, slivered almonds, ½ cup frozen mango cubes, 1 TB shredded unsweetened coconut - mix up and let sit overnight up to 4 days in the fridge

Lunch:

1. 1 cup plain greek yogurt + 1 cup fruit of your choice + 1 TB wheat germ + 1 TB chia seeds + 1 TB hemp seeds, saigon cinnamon, cardamom, drizzle of local honey
2. Italian tuna: 1 can tuna in olive oil (do not drain) + ¼ cup white beans, chopped fresh rosemary, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Enjoy over greens or a nice slice of sourdough bread toasted.
3. Leftover chicken or salmon or whitefish from dinner, put it in a wrap with a tablespoon or two of salsa, ¼ cup chopped mango/pineapple and half an avocado

Dinner:

1. Burgers! (beef, bison, chicken, turkey you choose!) topped with LTOA (lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado), dijon mustard and goat cheese + baked sweet potato wedges dusted with rosemary, thyme and ground cumin (no ketchup needed for these bad boys!)
2. Buckwheat soba noodles stir fried with veggies and shrimp. Whatever veggies you like but definitely lots of garlic! Broccoli, pea pods, peppers, onions, mushrooms work great but don’t be afraid to add things like okra, zucchini, eggplant, corn kernels, spinach or bok choy
3. Chicken salad: rotisserie chicken (strip all the meat from the bones) mix with sliced strawberries, celery, onion, pecans, parsley and feta cheese with olive oil and balsamic! Whole meal in one dish, feel free to add a slice of sourdough bread. 

Join Foodsmart's Weight Loss Program 

to start seeing results in as little as 12 weeks!