Ways to Cut Calories and Still Enjoy Your Food

he following are ways you can effortlessly shave calories from you daily intake without feeling deprived. Eating healthy is about making conscious choices when you go to the grocery store, plan you meals or sit down to eat.

• Eat breakfast! You have heard it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you do not feel hungry in the morning you could drink a healthy shake. It will not feel like you are eating a meal but will break the fast of the night's sleep and jump-start your metabolism. If you skip the morning meal you will be ravenous by lunch time and end up eating way too much food at one time.
  

• Eat like a bird. It is better to eat little meals during the day rather than wait and eat one huge meal. Eating too much food at one sitting is way to hard on your digestion. You body has to work hard to break down huge amounts of food. If you eat little meals spread out during the duration of the day you will have a steady high energy level and maintain your blood sugar at a consistent and safe level. If you do plan to indulge in alcohol you will not be putting it in an empty stomach.
  

• Move your body. Keeping your body in motion keeps your metabolism working for you. this will not only keep you in a better mood but will go a long way toward burning off ingested calories. A body in motion also aids digestion.
  

• Cheating. If you do choose to cheat with alcohol or extra desert you can tell yourself this is okay but does mean an extra half hour at the gym. The choice to take in extra empty calories needs to be balanced out with extra activity.
  

• Drink Water!! Water is like a wonder drug. If you let your body get dehydrated you will suffer from many ill effects. If you blood pressure runs low and you let yourself become dehydrated it can cause you to pass out. Spring water is probably the best choice and adding a little squeezed lemon will raise the PH balance which does wonders for your body. One trick you can try to keep from overeating at a meal is to drink a large glass of nice cold water 15 or 20 minutes before eating. You can add sugar-free flavoring to your water if you don't like drinking plain water. Remember, even though coffee is made with water it does not count toward hydration and certainly no pop drinks count!!
  

• Snack time. Life gets pretty busy for most of us and finding time to eat a proper meal can be a challenge. You do not want to go too long between meals so little snacks do wonders to keep your metabolism working. Carry a healthy snack with you that is not loaded with fat or sugar. Women need to keep a snack between 80 and 100 calories and men between 100 and 120.
  

• Think ahead. If you are eating out choose a place where you know you can get a healthy balanced meal. When in the grocery store only purchase foods that you know are healthy, good choices. If there is no junk food in the house you will not be tempted to indulge in empty calories.
  

• All you can eat buffet. This is a dangerous place to eat. The food all looks so good and even taking small amounts of a few choices will overload your plate in a hurry. Then there is the temptation to make a return trip. NO, NO... do you really still feel hungry? Wait 10 minutes before grabbing more food. If after waiting for your food to digest a little and getting your mind off the steaming yummy foods behind the shield you still feel a little hungry then go ahead but only one or two very small tastings. If you feel you must have dessert then choose a little fruit or something sugar-free. Remember sugar-free desserts usually have added fat content to make up for the missing sugar rush so eat a tiny portion.
  

• Avoid empty calories (like junk foods). Eat foods that have nutritional value and fiber content. Empty calories do not stop hunger, add tons of unnecessary calories, and cost a lot. If you eat foods that have actual food value it will keep you feeling full longer and fill you up quickly. This way you can eat less food effortlessly.
  

• Enjoy your food. Part of enjoying others and their company is sharing meals. Enjoy the food you eat but don't forget to think about healthy food choices when you order or fill your plate at a party. It is not necessary to be afraid of food. Food is something to be enjoyed. If you know you have made a good choice of foods then you can relax and enjoy how the food tastes without feeling guilty. When you are full... STOP eating.
  

• Dessert. Dessert is going to contain sugar, fat, starch and salt. Oh no! All this means yummy but also means lots of empty calories. Eating dessert is okay but keep the portion a taste rather than a honking huge portion. If you eat pie, for example, you can save calories by leaving the crust. If it is cake you can leave the frosting. Plain ice cream without added fudge topping or whip cream will save a lot of needless calories and still satisfy your sweet tooth. Probably the best way to satisfy that sweet craving is eating a piece of fruit.
  

• Little plate. If you use a small plate for your meal you can fill it and still have a smaller portion. Leave a border around the edge of the plate and don't pile it up high. One piece of pizza does not mean a piece the size of have the pie!
  

• Sit down to eat. Do not eat in front of the TV or eat on the run while driving. Eating is a time to relax, enjoy your food and savor the flavor. Eat slowly to aid digestion and let your stomach fill naturally. If you are gulping down your food you do not have time to taste it nor know when you have had enough. One you feel full... STOP!
  

• Cutting portions. To cut down on the amounts you eat you can eat meals you would normally eat but break it up into separate meals. For instance, if you decide to eat soup and sandwich you can have a sandwich for lunch and then a couple hours later eat a bowl of soup as a snack. This gives your body time to digest the food and keeps you full all day with smaller meals and ultimately less food consumption throughout the day.
  

If  you want to learn how to how to portion your meals here are a few suggestions for guidelines by the experts.  Buy a diet meal frozen dinner and keep the container.  Use this instead of a plate to make limit the amount of food you consume at one sitting.

Learn from the experts:

Mindful Eating 101: A Guide to Healthy Eating in College and Beyond In this book, Dr. Susan Albers, brings her unique approach to college students, their parents, and college staff. Using the principles of mindfulness, Dr. Albers presents a guide to healthy eating and self acceptance that will help readers navigate the weight obsessed, diet crazed, high pressured, fast food saturated college environment, establishing patterns of eating that will form the groundwork for a healthier life well beyond college.   More than a new diet book or collection of superficial self-affirmations, this book gets at issues such as the importance of making informed choices and the value of self acceptance and good health.

 (The Official USDA Dietary Guidelines, 2011)

"Each color represent a specific food group and provides certain nutritional benefits. This plate model illustrates the importance of a varied diet with foods from each food group. The purpose with this design is to help people make healthier and smarter food choices. Let’s see what each color in MyPlate represents:

• Orange represents the grain group – “Make at least half your grains whole.”
• Green represents the vegetable group – “Vary your vegetables.”
• Red represents the fruit group – “Focus on fruits.”
• Purple represents the protein foods group – “Go lean with protein.”
• Blue represents the dairy group – “Get your calcium rich foods.”"

 Copied from DiabeticWarriers.net

http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/a-meal-plan-you-can-live-with/diabetic-nutritional-chart/

"What You Can Eat Every Day (I do!)

Please follow this simple rule: “Eat when hungry and when not hungry, don’t eat”.

• Meats – beef, pork, fish, shrimp, poultry, eggs, etc. Organ Meats are particularly high in nutritional value.
• Vegetables Low In Carbohydrates –  such as greens, cauliflower, broccoli, green peppers, celery, asparagus, cabbage, mushrooms and more. Learn more about growing your own food and gain the stress relief that comes from gardening.
  (Complete list coming soon).
• Fat – Coconut Oil, Butter, Rendered Fat (such as bacon grease or lard).
• Drinks – water, unsweetened tea and coffee with heavy cream, butter or coconut oil only – Do NOT use non-dairy liquid or powdered creamer.
• Condiments/Spices – Tony Chachere’s, Tabasco, Texas Pete (1 g per serving), Black and Red Pepper, Paprika, Cumin
• Vinegar – apple cider on salads or greens.
• Cheese – typically I will add cheese to my low carb Cauli-crust pizza or my low carb Primal Chili, but I do try to limit it.
• EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, on salads or slaw but also for low to medium temperature cooking.
• Nuts – walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, etc. (except peanuts)
• Low Carb Fruits –  not daily and in small portions…. avocado and tomato.
• Stevia and Artificial Sweeteners are okay during the transitional period but not for long term usage. You want to break the addiction to carbohydrates and that is more difficult if you continue to use artificial sweeteners. This is true for Diet Sodas as well! There are many anecdotal tales of people having blood glucose spikes after consuming diet soda, even though it technically does not contain sugar. This stuff is loaded with chemicals and preservatives and questionable ingredients – for your health, stay away!
• Alcohol – Wine – once a month I will drink wine, always red and usually a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. For me
  an occasional glass of wine with my diabetes is ok. (I know others who use
  it sparingly as well)."