Good meals for weight loss do not have to involve complicated menus and extended preparation times. Instead, you can prepare simple, tasty meals in minutes with many everyday foods, from black beans and corn to egg whites and mushrooms. If you have food allergies or sensitivities, be sure to consult with your family doctor before trying any new meals as part of your weight-loss regimen.
Egg White Breakfast
For a healthy, filling breakfast, try the egg white breakfast recommended by Angelo Acquista and Laurie Anne Vandermolen in "The Mediterranean Prescription: Meal Plans and Recipes to Help You Lose Weight." You can use either free range, organic eggs or Egg-Beaters to make hard-boiled egg whites, scrambled egg whites scrambled or an egg-white omelet. For an egg-white omelet, blend the egg whites with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and add any seasonal vegetables of your choice, except for potatoes and other starchy vegetables. Acquista and Vandermolen recommend leaving out the cheese and adding spices for seasoning and taste. Accompany the egg white breakfast with one slice of multigrain or whole-wheat toast, but skip the butter and jelly. You can have a cup of coffee or tea as well, but without any added dairy, creamer or sugar. With an egg-white breakfast, however, you can enjoy as many servings of egg whites as you like.
Black Bean Salad
An easy-to-make meal, the black bean salad uses fresh, organic ingredients and requires only 15 minutes of preparation. Mark Hyman, in "Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss," suggests the low-fat, vegetable-dense dish. You need one 15-ounce can of black beans, 1 cup frozen organic corn, 12 halved cherry or grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped scallions, 2 pressed garlic cloves, 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin. Rinse and drain the black beans, and thaw and drain the frozen corn. Then mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Once the ingredients are combined, cover and allow the salad to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving. The resulting meal has a mere 412 calories.
Sliced Mushroom Burger
A tasty variation on the traditional hamburger, the sliced mushroom burger, delivers all the taste with a fraction of the calories. Julian M. Whitaker in "The Whitaker Wellness Weight Loss Program," recommends this easy-to-prepare, 20-minute meal. Start with 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef, 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil and 6 cups sliced mushrooms. Mix 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce, the garlic and the ground turkey together in a bowl, then shape the seasoned meat into four patties. Saute the patties for five to seven minutes per side in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the cooked patties to a warming pan, then sauté the mushrooms with the olive oil in a separate nonstick skillet. Stir frequently for four minutes, then add the remaining soy sauce. Continue to sauté until the mushrooms have a crisp-tender texture. Serve the sliced mushrooms over the burger patties for a mere 214-calorie meal.
References
- "Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss"; Mark Hyman; 2008
- "The Mediterranean Prescription: Meal Plans and Recipes to Help You Lose Weight"; Angelo Acquista, Laurie Anne Vandermolen; 2006
- "The Whitaker Wellness Weight Loss Program"; Julian M. Whitaker; 2006
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