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ClubOne at Santana Row: Weight Loss Tips & Planning Ahead
One important key to losing weight and keeping it off is actually simple--plan ahead! In other words if you fail to plan, you plan to fail! It may sound like work at first but once you get to know things in your mind it only becomes easier and easier as time goes by.
Also while planning, check in with your attitude. Rather than thinking of it as a time consuming hassle and chore, look at it as something that simplifies your life and frees you up. It conserves those precious minutes in a hectic week. It saves you the burden of having to make choices (which sometimes are not always in your best interest). Mostly though, it’s helping you to achieve long term success with weight management and healthy eating!
It’s all about habit. Remember when you first started your job? You had to go through training. Think of this as a training period.
The following are some hints that can make it all work for you:
Make it a priority to plan and shop at least once a week, no matter what! Schedule it in. Keep your menus posted on the refrigerator, on your calendar, or even on your Microsoft Outlook for quick reference.
In your kitchen have a pad of paper available to write down items as you run out of them. Then, when you go to the grocery store, part of your list is made.
Make sure you purchase some vegetables/fruits that have a longer shelf life (or frozen) so you have these left at the end of the week. Eat the most perishable produce early in your week.
BBQ’ing on the weekends is a fun social event, as well as easy and healthy cooking. (Without all the beer and chips, of course!)
In your leisure time: while watching TV, on the phone, or house cleaning, make up the simple things that you can freeze:
* brown rice (use a rice steamer and bag up individual or family serving sizes)
* whole wheat pasta
* soups (watch sodium levels – bean and veggie soups freeze well)
* chicken breasts (use a George Foreman Grill)
Remember you can always buy ready to go fresh salad mixings and vegetables which are precut and washed, but use them quickly as they lose their nutrient and taste values. You can also buy a whole roasted chicken, cooked and ready to go at most grocery stores.
A quick and easy lunch or dinner would be an herb salad mix (bought at Trader Joes or other grocery store), cut up cooked chicken or salmon, diced veggies, and low fat dressing. You can also add your veggies and protein from the night before.
When cooking family meals or entertaining cook double portions and freeze the leftovers in individual/family servings for future use. The Food Saver is great for this!
Costco’s paper cups, Ziploc, Glad and Press n’ Seal make great disposable freezer containers.
