Healthy Living
Top 7 Food Tips for Your New Year’s Weight Loss Resolutions
The beginning of the New Year arrives with exciting possibilities for what lies in store for us in the upcoming year. It provides us with a reset button, and health and happiness are usually at the top of the list. Weight loss is about learning to think differently about food, and Weight Watchers provides many of the tools needed to help with this transition. These 7 suggestions are simple tips and ideas to help make healthy and empowered decisions about the foods you eat.
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Box of snacks.
When hunger strikes, we often reach for the closest snacks for the sake of convenience rather than their nutritional value. Help combat this predicament by keeping an ample-sized container full of healthy and filling snacks that can be grabbed with ease and eaten as needed. Cut-up fruit and vegetables, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, single servings of hummus, and lean meats are all great choices, allowing you to mix and match healthy fats, proteins, and complex carbohydrates to optimize your snacking habits fully.
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Get inspired by cooking from around the globe.
Whether you prefer browsing food blogs, collecting cookbooks, or scrolling through the Weight Watchers recipe database, you’ll find a huge variety in international cooking and baking. Find inspiration in vibrant Indian curries and cooling yogurt sauces, Israeli dishes tasting of bright, fresh ingredients and smooth earthiness, or beautiful Scandinavian breakfast boards that look as pretty as a picture out of a magazine. You'll find that many dishes from around the world are full of savory and sweet dishes that fit neatly into your budget.
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Treat yourself.
Small rewards along the way serve as both an incentive and a reminder of the goals you're actively accomplishing. When you meet personal milestones, make sure that you treat yourself to something pleasurable that is separate from your weight loss efforts, whether it’s a day at the spa, a new book, and a bubble bath, a night at the movies, or a new pair of running shoes.
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Get prepped.
Take half an hour to prep all your fruits and vegetables for the week each Sunday, and you’ll be amazed at how much more likely you are to reach for a healthy option if it’s just as convenient as a less-than-healthy option. Stir fries and pasta sauces will come together in minutes with a selection of pre-sliced sweet peppers and broccoli, butternut squash soup will require little more than some good chicken stock, and sectioned citrus fruits will provide a sunny dose of vitamin C during the winter months.
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Use your pantry.
A well-stocked pantry is a midweek savior when it’s nasty outside and the fridge is bare. Focus on a couple of recipes that can be made quickly and easily and only require a few ingredients. Olive oil, diced tomatoes, dried pasta, shallots or other types of onions, dried herbs, chilies, garlic, dried beans, soba noodles, coconut milk, and curry paste are all excellent staples that can quickly come together to form a delicious dinner for one or for many.
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Make half of your meal vegetables.
Crowding your plate with vegetables and greens is a great way to add fiber and other powerhouse nutrients to a meal with a minimal effect on your daily budget. A small amount of fat, such as olive or sesame oil, is optimal for nutrient absorption. Using fresh herbs, citrus juice, chili paste, and soy sauce to dress vegetables before serving will add massive flavor.
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Double up.
When done by doubling up, batch cooking is an efficient way of preparing food that will leave your fridge and freezer crowded with soups, stews, casseroles, and marinated meats that travel from freezer to table without a second thought. Whenever you’re making a recipe that can easily be doubled (or tripled!) plan on cooking more than usual and then freeze the extra. Roast two chickens instead of one, shred the extra meat and freeze it in plastic bags. Making breakfast bars? Double the recipe and freeze in parchment paper. There’s no end to the possibilities, and it hardly feels like work when you’re already cooking for that evening anyway.