We’ve reached that time of year where just about everyone is looking to get in better shape. The summer months mean tons of outdoor activities, pools, beaches, and more.
With that in mind, I thought sharing some of my personal dieting techniques would be valuable. Recently, I’ve had clients ask for tips and tricks, so here’s some of what I shared with them.
Hopefully you can apply some of these and make them fit within your own overall dieting strategy! The overall theme is foods that are good for you and will help you feel fuller longer, therefore making dieting down more sustainable. No rhyme or reason to the organization. Just everything that came off the top of my head.
Enjoy!
BREAKFAST
To start the day, I like to keep things simple. Give me a protein bar and a shake and I’m good to go for at least a few hours. That’s always something you can keep in your back pocket as a quick and easy starter.
However, if you’re interested in more variety, eggs are an amazing option. Eggs are really good for you, and they can be cooked a ton of different ways in order to keep things interesting. They’re a little higher in calories, but a few eggs won’t take up too much space in your overall diet plan.
If you want to reduce calories even more, egg whites could be an option as well (though you’ll certainly sacrifice some taste).
MEATS
Deli meats (chicken, turkey, ham) can also be purchased and will last you a while in the fridge so you can pick at them over time.
Additionally, cutting up 4-8 ounces of these meats and mixing them with white or brown rice can increase the volume and help you feel full. Rice is easy to measure out, too, so it’s easy to track. It’s relatively low in calories and fat.
All of these can be topped with things like seasoning (creole, McCormick blends, etc.) or fat free cheeses, dressings, sauces, etc. that can improve the taste at no cost to your calories. (I do a lot of hot sauce, which is zero calorie)
SNACKS
Fat free cheese and reduced fat crackers can go a long way without eating into your calories a ton. Just monitor your servings.
Rice cakes are also great and are 100% my go-to dieting snack. They give you a ton of volume in terms of food with only a handful of calories. I didn’t discover them until a couple of years ago, and when I did I had no idea how good they actually taste. There are flavors like caramel and chocolate chip that are REALLY good.
MISCELLANEOUS
Soups are really filling because of the liquid volume to them. There are so many varieties that you can always find some that are tasty and calorie friendly. Just check the nutrition labels. Most chicken broth-based soups are low calorie.
I’d recommend pairing the main protein and carbohydrate (meat and rice) I mentioned above with a large salad or bag of frozen vegetables. One thing I’ve been really in to lately are bags of frozen vegetables that are seasoned or sauced in some way. I’ll buy 7-10 at the grocery store each week. Green Giant has “sauced” veggies that have cheese sauce on top of vegetables, which makes them pretty tasty. There are also a lot of Asian veggie bags that taste kind of like stir fry. Salad and veggies have a lot of water in them, so that helps fill up your stomach and reduces hunger.
DRINKS
DON’T DRINK YOUR CALORIES, PEOPLE.
Sorry to get “all caps” on you, but this is just such a game changer. Don’t drink calories. If you can limit this, you’ll see an immediate and dramatic change in your body composition.
Water makes you feel full. It just does. You can buy those Mio flavors or Crystal Light packets to make the water less boring, but still not add any extra calories to your diet. Lots and lots of water will help your cravings subside, and the zero-calorie flavors will help with any sweet-tooth cravings.
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That’s it for now! I hope some of these will help you out! Be on the lookout for Part 2 of this series, which I’m sure will be posted sometime soon!
And if you have more questions about dieting or constructing a meal plan, contact me and we can talk about your options.
CG