Weight Loss Diet Solutions

Committed dieters know that an overflowing buffet can wreak havoc on a dieter’s willpower. Chinese buffets can be especially challenging, but even breakfast buffets (ahh the pastries) or those All You Can Eat spreads are difficult to resist. And cruise ship buffets – eek!

Unfortunately buffets abound and non-dieters not only enjoy them, but urge dieting friends to come along. Short of saying a flat “No!” what’s a dieter to do when faced with serving table after serving table of high calorie, high sodium foods?

Three Part Plan for Eating At Buffets

• Part A: Scope out the buffet as soon as you arrive at the restaurant. Know before you grab your first plate what is available, what will work and what you should avoid.

• Part B: Fill your plate with the low calories options first (e.g., salads and light soups), and then returning for the proteins (turkey, chicken) and plain veggies. Completely skip the high calorie pastas, potatoes au gratin and so forth. Instead make your third course the desserts with cut up fruit.

• Part C: Stop when you’re full and accept that you do not need to go back a fourth time to sample everything that you missed.

A note about Chinese buffets: The only way for a confirmed dieter to survive a Chinese buffet is to not go near it. Instead, order steamed chicken and vegetables from the menu. Let your friends eat the egg rolls and fried dumplings; you stick to your diet.

A Few Other Buffet Tips

• Get your head around the concept of “just a taste.” Since most buffets allow diners to serve themselves, take a small portion of several offerings. Of course several plates of mini tastes can equate to a huge number of calories, so be selective. And remember that mini tastes constitute a meal and are not simply appetizers.

• Many buffets have smaller plates, which can be a help in portion control. If your buffet has platter size plates, fill up half of the plate with low calorie salads and veggies so there is less room for the high calorie choices.

• Commit to one trip to the buffet, one plate of food.

• Consider what you’re eating. If you must have the lasagna, then make the rest of the meal more diet friendly. Do not go from the lasagna to the chicken Parmesan to the stuffed shells.

• Consider your beverage. Ordering a glass of wine or a soda with your meal adds calories you could save.

• Don’t sit near the buffet tables.

• Don’t over analyze your companions’ choices. You looked at it all, you decided – you do not need to go back for the slab of prime rib just because your friend says it is good.

• Talk! You’re out with friends. Talk to them. Make the food on your plate last longer with good conversation.

• Forget about the expense. There’s a tendency to think in terms of getting one’s money worth. Ignore the cost and enjoy one good plate of food.

• It’s not a race to go back for more. If you’re going off your diet for the food in front of you, eat slowly and enjoy. Tomorrow the diet begins again.

Back to the initial question: “Where should we eat tonight?”

A reminder that the dieter has the right to respond “I’d rather not do the All You Can eat Buffet tonight. I’m just not that hungry.”

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Last weekend I bought a small bundle of three beets from the grocery store with the intent of juicing them on Sunday. Sadly I never got a chance last Sunday so today I instead I finally got to make my beet juice.

I am not sure why but my juicer can be really bad for spitting little drops of juice out, may be because I broke the top cover of it and had to glue a couple pieces back together.

Regardless of this issue my wife hates getting any juice mess in our kitchen so today I did the juicing out on our deck, and I am really glad that I did. It caused quite a mess.

Beet Orange Apple Juice

So my juice today consisted of the three beets from last week, 2 apples, and two oranges.

I did look around for recipes and saw a few with carrots but I have run out or carrots and thought that the oranges and apples would be a nice way to cut that strong taste of the beets.

I didn’t use the beet leaves, also known as beet greens, as they were starting to really show their age and were very wilted.

Remember though that Beet greens are really great as they are high in Lutein which is a fantastic nutrient for you.

As you can see here, after I did all the cutting of the Beets and apples, and peeled and separated the oranges I had a very large bowl of juicing supplies. And a very bloody looking cutting board.

I went outside and did my juicing, stopped about half way though to clean the blade in the juicer as I do not want to have it plugged and miss out on some of that nutritious juice at all.

It ends up that this drink does not tax the juicer blade much and it did not get gunked up at all.

But boy did my table outside get messy with all that deep red beet juice.

The juice itself was really good. I love the strong sweet flavor of a juice like this and there are lots of reasons that you would want to add beets, oranges and apples into your diet anyway

Power of Beets

Beets are full of many nutrients that we need in our everyday lives.

Beets are a source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support.

One cup of beets contains 34% of our daily requirement of folate, 28% of manganese, 15% of potassium, 14% of copper and 14% of fiber. Beets also have magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, iron, and vitamin B6.

Drinking beet juice may help to lower blood pressure in a matter of hours. One study found that drinking one glass of beet juice lowered systolic blood pressure by an average of 4-5 points.

Beauty of Oranges

Oranges are really high in Vitamin C with a single orange giving you almost your whole daily supply. Also Oranges have Flavinoids, which can lower cholesterol and blood pressure, And as an added bonus when you eat oranges regularly they are really high in water while being fairly low in calories.

I didn’t use the peels of the orange but interestingly they contain polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) which have the potential to lower cholesterol more effectively than some prescription drugs, and without side effects, according to a study by U.S. and Canadian researchers that was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

As for minerals, oranges are high in Potassium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium

An Apple a Day

As we all know apples are really good for you. Apples have fiber, a high water content, and polyphenols. Polyphenols are a newly discovered nutrient that is very healthy in a way much like antioxidants. Apples actually also contain an antioxidant called quercetin

Also because of the composition of apples, they are good for regulating blood sugar. The pancreas are in charge of insulin production and the apples stimulate this to get more energy into the cells of our body

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As you read this, you’re probably sitting down. In fact, you’ve probably been sitting down for most of the day. Although you’re far from being the only one, it’s important that you try to incorporate more activity into your daily life or your health will suffer.

Easier said that done when you’re so used to inactivity! Here’s how to get started.

Understand the Risks of Sitting

Although you probably already know that you need to move more, you might not be completely clear on the risks of not moving. And, make no mistake, the risks are big.

Humans were designed to be active, we were not designed to sit in a chair for the whole day before retiring to our beds. And, even if you do fit in an hour of exercise, it doesn’t undo the negative effects of sitting down too much.

Research shows that inactive people are more likely to develop conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. You’re also more likely to be overweight, and to suffer from mental health problems.

OK, I Know the Risks! But How Do I Motivate Myself?

Even when you know all the risks, it can still be hard to force yourself to get up and active. This is especially true if you are overweight, though a good first step in that case can be to visit your doctor and get their recommendations on how to slowly get moving.

One big factor is changing your mindset. Instead of the idea of walking to work or the grocery store as a chore or a waste of time, see it as an opportunity to get moving! Instead of being lazy and always taking the elevator, walk up the stairs (if you live or work high up in a building, even just taking some of the stairs can help!)

You also need to get rid of the idea that you don’t have the time to move more – you do, you just need to incorporate it into your daily life.

For example, when socializing with friends you could all agree to meet up for a walk around the local park, rather than sitting in a coffee shop. Or you could move around while you watch your favorite TV show instead of sitting on the couch!

Although you might think this won’t work with your life, you’ll be surprised at how many opportunities there are to get active once you shift your mindset and look at things differently.

Next, understand that there are many ways to move beyond exercise. For example, many people are starting to stand up while they work at the computer, by putting together a standing-height desk, or by placing their laptop on a higher surface.

Running around with your kids or dancing to your favorite music are also great ways to get moving. A thorough house-cleaning session even counts as great activity! At the very least, simply try getting up and stretching once an hour if you usually sit down.

Lastly, realize that old habits take time to change. If you’re used to sitting down for all but an hour every day, then it’s going to be hard to change. Not only will you find it tiring being on your feet more, but you’ll also find that it can be hard to motivate yourself.

This is completely normal, which is why you should try to make changes gradually until they become part of your daily routine.

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