According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if you want to shed pounds and keep them off, you will have to increase the amount of exercise you do if you don't cut down on calories. One way to increase your activity and lose weight is to choose walking over driving. Making better choices in the foods you eat and applying healthier cooking methods are other ways you can achieve weight loss results.
Better Meat and Milk Food Choices
You can work toward seeing weight loss results by choosing low fat or skim milk instead of whole milk. The yogurt you choose should be a low-fat or no-fat version, as well. Whole milk cheeses should remain in the cooler at the store since reduced fat cheeses make better choices. When it comes to meats, choose lean meats, or meats with the lowest possible fat content, instead of regular meats or fatty meats. Eat poultry without the skin.
Better Snack Choices
When you cut back on sugar consumption, you also cut down on calories. To make better sweet snack choices, eat fresh fruit instead of sugar-laden cakes, doughnuts, or candy. Also, stay away from ice cream. Combine plain low-fat yogurt with whole-grain cereal and fruit. Whole grain foods contain filling fiber that may help you eat less. Air-popped popcorn is a good snack since one cup contains a mere 31 calories.
Other Better Food Choices
If you want to flavor your food with a condiment such as mayonnaise, choose mayonnaise with a lower fat content. To flavor your salads, select dressings that are low in fat or fat free. Choose salsa as a topping for your baked potato over butter or sour cream. Select diet soda over fruit drinks or chocolate milk since fruit drinks and chocolate milk are high in calories and diet soda has no calories. Also, choose water, since water is a zero calorie beverage.
Better Cooking Methods
Foods that are fried are high in calories due to the oils used for frying. Quite a bit of oil is used when foods are fried, and considering one tablespoon of corn oil contains 120 calories, fried foods can interfere with weight loss. To greatly reduce the number of calories you take in by frying your food, bake, broil, boil, poach, microwave, or steam your food instead.
References
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Fun Family Recipes & Tips
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Rethink Your Drink
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Eat More, Weigh Less?
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Physical Activity for a Health Weight
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Limit Fat and Sugar
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference



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