Continuing on last week’s theme of fighting or preventing diet doldrums and boredom, this week we look at adding interest to both your food and your beverages. We also introduce the topic of binge eating.
At least 50% of a healthy adult’s body weight is fluid. What could be better than life-sustaining water to quench your thirst, hydrate your body, and flush away toxins? Although all beverages provide fluids, water doesn’t contain coloring, sugars, artificial sweeteners, and calories. If you’re not a fan of water, now is a good time to become one. Sometimes an inexpensive water filter pitcher or faucet attachment is good enough to brighten the taste of water. If you want something a little more flavorful, experiment with these flavor enhancers.
• Cucumber slices. Add them to a pitcher of water and refrigerate overnight.
• Cucumber and orange slices.
• Fresh mint.
• Cucumber, lemon, mint, and rosemary.
• Lemon or orange slices or both.
• Squeeze of fresh citrus or all-natural citrus flavor like True Lemon.
• Unsweetened iced or freshly brewed tea, plain or with any of the above flavorings.
• Unflavored seltzer water mixed with a splash of cranberry, pomegranate, cherry, or grape juice. (This is no longer calorie or carb-free, so account for the juice in your meal plan.)
In theory, for every 3,500 calories you save, you’ll lose one pound. If you drink a lot of caloric beverages, you may not realize how quickly they add up. A single can of soda will cost you about 150 calories, as will 8–12 ounces of fruit juice. Replace just one of these drinks each day, and you’ll save the amount of calories in a pound of body fat in just three to four weeks. Replace two drinks with water daily and you save those same calories in half the time. This is a great example of how making small changes adds up to big results over time.
Water isn’t the only thing that might get boring. A lot of people don’t think nutritious and delicious go together or think they have to have gourmet cooking skills to bake a flavorful chicken breast. Not true. What you need is a little creativity, some extra time to experiment, a good cookbook or website, and the ability to shrug off things that don’t work out. Here are a few ideas to jazz up a simple meal.
• Before baking a boneless, skinless chicken breast, coat it with crumbs of one kind or another to trap in the moisture and to add flavor. You can make the crumbs stick by first dipping the chicken into egg, egg white, egg substitute, or a bit of milk. You can even brush the chicken first with reduced-fat ranch or peppercorn dressing for a kick of flavor.
—Italian-seasoned bread crumbs with or without a little Parmesan cheese
—Cornflake crumbs with orange zest, cinnamon, and brown sugar
—Seasoned quick-cooking oats
• Mix just a spoonful of pesto sauce into cooked grains like rice or quinoa and into vegetable and chicken soups.
• Sprinkle a small amount of nuts or pungent cheese into salads, vegetables, and grains.
• Cook fruit instead of eating it raw.
• Experiment with flavored vinegars. Try a splash on a green salad, steamed vegetables, potato salad, and soups and stews.
• Brighten grilled or baked fish and chicken with a salsa of fruit and herbs.
• Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for about 15 minutes or until they become soft. Add them to stews, soups, vegetable medleys, and more. Use the strained soaking liquid in soups and stews and to enhance flavors when braising meats.
• Add interest with variety. For example, if making a tomato-based dish, use a combination of canned, fresh, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Everyone occasionally stuffs himself or herself, but if it’s more than an occasional binge and if it’s accompanied with a terrible out-of-control feeling, you may need someone to help you find balance and take charge of your eating. About 3% of adults in the U.S. have a binge eating disorder. Many people with this problem are reluctant to seek help because they’re too embarrassed, they fear ridicule, or because they don’t know that things can be better. If you see yourself in the following description on more than a rare occasion, gather your courage and speak to your physician about a referral to a qualified mental health professional. The results can change your life.
• Eating large amounts of food in a short period of time, even when you’re full
• Eating secretly
• Frequently eating until uncomfortably full
• Feeling out of control while eating and guilty or disgusted with yourself after eating
WEEK 14 ACTION STEPS
Continue your current goals or rewrite them if necessary. Additionally, select from the following goals or steps, modify them, or create your own. Choose goals from the previous weeks if applicable. This week I will:
Continue the following goals: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
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Buy a water filter.
Keep a pitcher of ice-cold flavored water available.
Buy and use exotic vinegar or pesto sauce.
Grill fruit.
Sign up for a healthy cooking class at the community center.
Speak to my physician about binge eating.
Recommit to keeping a food record.
Make a walking date instead of a lunch date.
Other: _____________________________________________________________