Ten Must Haves in a Dieter’s Pantry

Staying on a diet is one of the toughest things to do.  Especially with all the tempting treats everywhere you look.  I have found ten low fat items that I keep in my home at all times.  These are staples to my low fat, low calorie diet.  Without them, I don’t believe my diet would survive.  If you are serious about looking for healthier alternatives in your diet, perhaps you should consider them as well.

•Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup:  When you have to have those pancakes, Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup will cut the calories in half and tastes just as yummy as the sugary version.

•Cheerios Cereal:  This classic favorite is just as good as it ever was.  With very little sugar and fat, it is a great breakfast food for the devout dieter.  Cut up a banana or throw in some berries for an added flavor.

•Fat Free Italian Dressing:  Fat free Italian Dressing is virtually calorie free as well, allowing you to be fairly liberal in its use.  It makes a great marinade for boneless, skinless chicken breast or tossed with fresh vegetables.

•Hostess 100 Calorie Pack Cakes and Muffins:  For your inevitable sweet tooth, these tasty mini-morsels give you just enough to curb your craving.

•I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray:  This spray butter has zero calories and it tastes just like butter.  You can use it on your toast, baked potato, vegetables or whatever you like.  It’s a perfect alternative to the fatty butter or margarine.

•Lay’s Light Potato Chips:  Here’s another great product with half the calories and fat but all of the flavor.  They taste just like regular potato chips.

•Nature’s Own Double Fiber Wheat Bread:  If you like wheat bread , then you will love this.  The name says it all.  It has double the fiber which means it has less fat and calories.  It tastes great too.

•Pam Cooking Spray:  This should be a staple in your home.  Use a few sprays anytime you use the skillet or baking sheet for a light tasty flavor and to keep food from sticking.

•Splenda Sugar Substitute:  It tastes just like sugar and is great for anything you would normally use sugar for, even baking.

•White Wheat Hamburger Buns:  With your extra lean ground beef and these buns, you can make a delicious low fat, low calorie hamburger or Sloppy Joe.   Serve it with Lay’s Light Potato Chips and you have the evening covered.

As I mentioned before, these are all staples in my home and maybe they should be in yours if you want to shed those extra pounds.  You won’t even notice the changes in your diet, but you will surely notice the changes in your waistline.

Switching To A Low Fat Diet

Switching to a low fat diet is not as hard as it seems but it can be difficult for some people this is why it is best to gradually move into this type of diet. The purpose of low fat eating is to help in weight management or lower a person’s bad cholesterol however you want to make sure that the diet you are getting into is something that you can handle many people end up failing because they jump in head first.

The first thing to do is determine if you are the type that can not just change the way you eat but change the way you live. Many diets fail because people are looking at the short term, losing a few pounds or dropping the numbers a few points. It is important to do these things but in the long run, short term ends up producing little to no real results. That means that eating low fat should be considered a lifestyle change as such it should be entered into gradually in order to accustom the body and the mind to a new way of eating, feeling and thinking.

In order to accomplish switching lifestyles and diets successfully consider doing it a step at a time. Start with snacks; change these from high fat or higher fat foods to lower fat healthier food options. Once you are comfortable with the change in snacks consider picking a single meal and change just that meal. Accustom the body to eating snacks and that meal healthily. Then a second and finally a third meal can be added doing this will help to provide the mind and body with less of a shock. It is used to getting certain types of foods and certain amounts of things.

Switching to a low fat diet will deprive it of things it is used too. As a result it will cause cravings to occur. This is usually where low fat diets start to fail. The cravings become more and more difficult to manage as the body tries to force you to maintain the status quo. By gradually easing into this type of healthier diet you can avoid the majority of these or keep them to a level where will power and fighting with yourself does not become an excessive problem.

Many people think that low fat eating will be bland and that the foods because they are healthy have to taste less than appealing. That is not the case and there are many dishes that are available that provide healthy alternatives to higher fat meals that taste just as great. Experimentation with different options and ingredients can help you find healthy low fat alternatives and change your lifestyle for the better without compromising anything you love.

Low Fat options for Traveling

Traveling is something that can be done for business or for pleasure and often times in either sense grabbing something out of a vending machine for a snack or eating out is something that is commonly done. However, these options are usually packed full of fat and calories that are not needed and often stored since traveling involves little actual exercise and movement.

Luckily there are a number of low fat alternatives that can provide everything a person needs while traveling with none of the high fat consequences. The first thing to do whether you are traveling for business or pleasure is to invest in a cooler. This is going to give you a place to store all the snacks and meals that you will be brining along. Technology has advanced that there are even coolers that can plug into your cigarette lighter as a power supply. These are usually expensive so the most cost effective option is to purchase ice or ice packs.

Fill the cooler with sandwiches made from low fat meat and cheese or other need to be refrigerated low fat snacks like pudding, celery sticks and carrots. It is also a good idea to fill up on water, there are a variety of flavorings that can be used that provide better alternatives to soda and juice and that will not mess up a low fat diet plan.

For food and snacks that do not need to be kept cold consider options like low fat snack bars or cereals. There are a variety of options available on the market that can provide a quick pick me up without dumping a huge amount of things you do not need into your body. Fruits are also good low fat traveling foods, apples provide a sweet treat and bananas help provide a number of vitamins that can help with the tired cramped feeling that comes from long hours of driving both are low fat and healthy.

If you are a coffee drinker especially when traveling consider bringing along your own creamer, the powdered stuff will not do anything to cool your coffee down, if you are using creamer for part of this consider asking for ice in your cup, but often times has less fat than can be found in the creamers provided by fast food restaurants. If possible make coffee at home or in a hotel and store in a thermos. This will also prevent the get a donut or a hamburger while grabbing coffee situation.

When traveling maintaining a low fat diet is somewhat difficult if you do not plan ahead, the urge to eat out and eat conveniently is greater when traveling. However by packing a few low fat snacks and meals and providing yourself with health alternatives you can eliminate the needs for high fat foods from restaurants.

Low Fat Ideas for the Busy Person

Consider some facts. The average person works more than a 40 hour week. If they are parents they are also engaged in school activities adding another 10-20 hours a week. If you count in house hold responsibilities you are looking at just enough time to eat and sleep. This makes for a hectic and busy schedule and most people do not want to add to it by having to spend time in the kitchen.

The result of this is a large number of prepackaged processed foods that are high in a number of things like salt, sugar and fat. All of these things lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. This makes for tired bodies and minds that are less able to process information and deal with stress. There are a few things however that people can do that can help provide low fat meals for their families as well as for themselves.

The first step is to avoid fast foods. While they are convenient and driving by on the way home from work and picking up dinner is a great way to eliminate cook time it is also adding a great deal of unnecessary fat to your diet. Frozen dinners may provide a low in fat alternative but you end up adding salt and other preservatives which can be equally as bad. Maintaining a low fat lifestyle is not just about cutting out fat it is about eating healthy.

How often have you been busy at work and just grabbed something from a fast food place or a donut or snack from a vending machine for a meal while rushing to complete this project or on your way to that meeting. You are doing yourself and your work a disservice. Taking the time to eat properly produces better results than the quick pick me up options.

Here are some alternatives, when making meals make double or triple the recipes. Then using freezer storage containers, they make some now that are the size of plates and can freeze an entire meal like a tv dinner, freeze individual meals in the freezer. Then all you have to do is pull it out and reheat. It saves time and produces low fat meals easily.

Buy low fat snacks to keep with you at the office or in your car. If you have a full busy schedule and meal times seem to be from vending machines, fast food restaurants or you drink your meals consider low fat breakfast bars, snack bars or things that store well or can be eaten either warm or cold. These will give you quick on the go healthy alternatives eliminating the vending machine and the fast food joint from your diet without causing inconveniences.

Low Fat for Kids

One thing about kids is that they love sweet things, for the most part and with the large amount of sweet and fat filled foods that are available getting them to go for healthier items can be a bit of a challenge there are a few things however that you can do that can help your kids love low fat snacks without losing out on the sweet.

The first thing to do is consider carrots. Sure, they are vegetables and the larger carrots are not that great when it comes to having a sweet flavor however baby carrots are an entirely different story. Not only are they healthy and low fat but they are also sweet. Daikon radish is another sweet and crunchy low fat alternative. They may be hard to find outside of oriental or Asian markets however since they are primarily used in Oriental cooking. You will want a smaller American grown Daikon as those tend to be sweeter than their larger Oriental cousins.
Meat and cheese rolls can also be a great snack that can be low fat and provide a healthy alternative. The best thing to use is meat that is at least 95% fat free and cheese that is low fat, reduced fat or fat free. Fat free cream cheese works well for these low fat snacks.

School lunches are a great convenience and for some families a necessity however, they are not the healthiest options when it comes to meals. It is a good idea if possible to send lunch to school with your children so you know what they are getting. While they might still trade around more often than not they’ll eat what they brought. This can be a great way to make sure they are eating healthily. A sandwich made with low fat dressing, meat and cheese along with a drink, water is best and there are a number of additives that can make drinking it more appealing as well as a low fat pudding or carrots can round out an excellent balanced meal that won’t have your children cringing as they open the lunch box.

There are also a number of low fat snacks that are available from yogurt to pudding to even cookies and cake options. Be sure to check the fat contents because low fat may simply mean low fat in a certain type of fat not low fat overall. You will want to make sure that the snack foods you are giving your kids are actually low in all fat content. These are just a few ideas for presenting low fat options to kids that will provide them with healthy eating and give them the taste they want from their snack foods.

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