We all have the weight we prefer to be at, but how about the question of how we can manage and maintain the weight we currently are? If you ask me, maintaining weight is a lot harder than actually losing it. If you lost weight by exercise or diet, you know how hard it is every day to keep up the diligent work! Life, however, throws at us stress, worry, finances, kids, jobs, bills and so on that induce either unhealthy weight loss or weight gain.
Now you can maintain your weight by simply opting out on or switching out these 5 ingredients that can harm your weight efforts: either losing it or maintaining it!
5. Diet Soda, Fruit Drinks, and Fuzzy Drinks in General!
I honestly cannot stress the importance of this simple switch. The American Diabetes association found that drinking diet soda is highly correlated with wider waist sizes.
Yes, the no calories, sweet, caffeinated goodness is hard to part with, but it will do you wonders! Ever since I quit the soda and diet soda wagon, I found my self losing weight I didn't do anything for. Now the results took a long time since it's a gradual adjustment that varies with body types, but I gained more energy and love for black coffee! Now THAT is a caffeinated drink that keeps you going, replenishes your system with antioxidants, and is a great smell in the mornings!
4. Using the "recommended" amount of butter for box food!
I am not talking here about baking, because for anyone that loves it (like me!), that's a science you can't mess with. What I am talking about is cooking. I loved going to the grocery store and buying packaged rice meals, pasta meals, and even sauces that I can just mix and make. With my busy schedule at work, I find that they can be a simple quick and even healthy way of dining.However, those labels are not do or you die rules. Whenever a box will ask me for 4 tablespoons of butter, I opt on the butter and replace it with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or olive oil. However, if I am really in the mood for buttery goodness I make sure that I use 100% cream butter and only put in 1 1/2 Tbsp. It's comes out just as yummy!
3. Make Use of Fat-Free Chicken Broth!
Fat-free chicken broth is a great substitute for those unnecessary fats that you can't even taste at the end of cooking the meal--kind of broth. I always try to use Fat-free broth in meals I know I'm going to taste the broth by itself so that I can leave room for when I do. Although its much easier to buy Fat-free chicken broth, regular chicken broth shouldn't be bought. It should be made! At home, you can make a simple, yummy, chicken broth that is healthy and good for those Fall/Winter soups where the fat in the broth makes it all the better.Wanna reduce fats from homemade broth? Just add water and distribute the fats along many servings!
2. Forgetting the Wine. Oh No You Didn't!
What better way to get flavor, antioxidants, and a little party in the kitchen? Well add wine! I love wine whether I'm dining or relaxing after a long day. Cooking with it brings a lot to meals, especially sauces. I even take it a step further and saute my veggies in wine (I tried red wine and mushroom, and boy was it yummy!). Whether red or white, two-buck chuck or Napa Valley, it will add a good balance to your weight maintenance as well your overall health--even if you're not a drinker*!*if you struggled with alcoholism, this tip is not for you! It is much more important to keep away bad habits then to tempt yourself into their traps.
1. Not Reading Sugar Content!
If its sweet and claims that there is no sugar, well there are wrong. Technically speaking the contents in artificial sweeteners do not contain sugar. Let's compare it to diamonds, shall we? A language men dread to understand and women love to think about. Sugar and non-sugary sweeteners are like diamonds that are dug up from the earth (real ones) and diamonds that are made in labs (fakish, but not really, diamonds). Whether a diamond was dug up from the earth or made in a lab, whether or not the real one shines less than the lab one doesn't matter! What matters is that if steel were to be cut with either, both will still cut the damn steel! Whether or not you can say my food/drink is fat-free/cal free, you still have carbohydrates that induce weight gains.
Don't buy into the ads. Check sugar contents and labels before you buy thing that are sugar-free, fat-free, and such. These products ADD to your intake of sugar and restricting you from fully enjoying your homemade double fudge, double chocolate filled, brownie. You can gain weight simply by taking too many carbs during the day. If you cut down on the carbs in the drinks and food, you can fully enjoy homemade desserts after every dinner. Let the necessary sugars go and grab what matters! In my case? It's my red wine and dark chocolate home made brownie.
So if you'll excuse me, I am going to go ahead and enjoy my desserts!
