Lose weight by eating low-calorie or low-carbohydrate meals. Decreasing your caloric intake by 500 calories per day will net a 1 lb. loss in a week. Forgo your daily latte and a scone or pack a low-calorie meal instead of eating out for lunch. Stick to low-carb meals if you don't want to count calories. Such meals are effective for losing body fat, according to a 2010 article by Jeff Volek in the Strength and Conditioning Journal.
Pear with Cheese and Almonds
Keep your meals simple by combining fruit with low-fat cheese and nuts. Portion out 1/8 or 1/4 cup servings of your favorite unsalted nuts. Fill your refrigerator fruit bin with fruits needing just a quick rinse. Purchase bags of individually wrapped serving sizes of cheese if you do not want to cut block cheese. Enjoy a quick breakfast of one small pear, 1 oz. of low-fat sharp cheddar cheese and ½ oz. or 14 pieces of whole almonds. This meal is a low, 248-calorie meal that is also low in carbs. Forty percent of the calories come from carbs, and 21 percent of the calories come from protein. Though this meal is 40 percent fat, more than half of the fat is unsaturated fat found in the almonds.
English Muffin Sandwich
Make a sandwich with an English muffin instead of sandwich bread. It is quick to prepare, and because it is smaller, you will eat it faster than a sandwich made with regular bread. Use a multigrain English muffin for about 120 calories. Place a slice of 2 percent-milk cheese on one side of the muffin followed by 2 oz. of low-fat deli turkey meat and your favorite sandwich veggies. Cover with the other half of the muffin for a sandwich totaling about 250 calories, of which only 42 percent of the calories are from carbohydrate; 34 percent of the calories come from protein and 25 percent from fat.
Chicken and Bean Salad
Take advantage of the rotisserie chicken breasts available at your local grocer for a quick dinner. Buy a can of sweet corn, a can of black beans, an avocado, cilantro and balsamic vinegar. Mix together ½ cup of corn, ¼ cup of black beans, 4 oz. of cubed rotisserie chicken breast, 2 tbsp. of cilantro leaves and ½ tbsp. of balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of black pepper and more vinegar if desired. This salad is high in calories at 392 calories, but it is quite low in carbs. Thirty-one percent of the calories come from carbs, 42 percent from protein and 26 percent from fat. Double the batch and divide it into two portions, saving one for tomorrow.
References
- "Strength and Conditioning Journal"; Low-Carbohydrate Diets Promote a More Favorable Body Composition Than Low-Fat Diets; Jeff Volek, Ph.D., RD, et al; February 2010
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Your Clients Are What They Eat: Balancing Weight with Diet Part 1; Gary Miller, Ph.D.; January/February 2005
- "The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts"; NutriBase; 2001
Member Comments