10 Tips for Weight Loss

From 1001 Tips for Living Well with Diabetes:
Firsthand Advice that Really Works
By Judith H. McQuown

1. STAY AWAY FROM YOUR TRIGGER FOODS

We all have a love-hate relationship with certain foods: the ones that sing the siren song to us until we open the package--and then consume its entire contents. And then feel guilty as all get-out. Very often, measuring out small portions of those beloved trigger foods doesn't work. We go back again and again and again. The only effective strategy is to stay away from those foods completely--or to find a safer substitute, like air-popped popcorn instead of potato chips

2. BETTER THAN BREADING

Most ingredients used to bread meat or fish for sautéing contain large percentages of carbohydrates: white or whole-wheat flour, even nutritious wheat germ. Finely chopped almonds are a better breading choice. The nuts contain protein, minerals, a little fat, and only a trace of carbohydrate. And they add lots of flavor and texture to your recipe. Big carb savings; one-quarter cup of all-purpose flour contains 24 grams of carbohydrate, one-quarter cup of chopped almonds, only 6 grams.

3. CREATE BEAUTY WITH ORIGAMI

I've put this tip into the Weight Loss and Nutrition Chapter for a sneaky reason: Making origami prevents you from snacking for hours at a time. Folding those beautiful papers so intricately and following complex instructions requires concentration. It's impractical to stop in the middle to grab a cookie, chip, or pretzel, then have to wash your hands and try to find your place again before continuing to create your origami pretties.

4. START WITH SOUP

Hot or cold, soup is an excellent starter. As you sip or spoon it, your brain and stomach begin to feel full. Consequently, you are likely to eat less of your main course and will take in fewer total calories. In fact, many successful diet plans are based on soup. Here are some suggestions for quick, easy soups:

Cold: For all of these, you will need a blender and 1-2 cups of lowfat buttermilk per portion. Put the buttermilk in the blender. For Scandinavian-style fruit soups, add 1/2-1 cup of cut-up fresh apricots, cherries, raspberries, strawberries or blueberries. As an extra treat, add 1 teaspoon rum, cognac, amaretto, or almond extract. Blend; chill; serve.

For cream of spinach, start with 1-2 cups of lowfat buttermilk per portion and put in blender. Thaw one-half of a 10-ounce package of frozen spinach, press out the water, and place in a blender. Blend; chill; serve. Marvelous with grated nutmeg sprinkled on top.

Hot: Choose a low-sodium beef or chicken consommé. Some bouillon cubes are excellent. Top with chopped fresh or freeze-dried parsley.

5. SOUP CAN MAKE A MEAL

Take all the advantages in the preceding tip--and multiply them. When you make soup your dinner, you are filling up on lots of low-calorie fluid. Here are some quick dinners based on revved-up soups:

Heat a can of chicken broth. Add a well-drained can of chicken breast and/or two beaten eggs, swirled with a fork through the soup. This is "egg drop" (without the high-carb cornstarch of the Cantonese version) or what Italian cooks call stracciatella. Top with fresh or freeze-dried chives.

Prepare a can of crabmeat soup according to the instructions. Add a well-drained 6-ounce can of crabmeat. For an extra treat, add 1 teaspoon cognac; the alcohol and calories will evaporate. Heat thoroughly and serve.

6. GUILT-FREE POTATO CHIPS

When you have an overpowering urge for potato chips, make your own to cut calories, carbohydrates, and fat. Store-bought chips are high in all three, so these snacks can really wreck your diet. For example, one company's potato chips contain 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 15 grams of carbohydrates in a 1-ounce serving. The company's baked variety contains 110 calories and only 1.5 grams fat, but a whopping 23 grams of carbohydrate in a 1-ounce serving.

This recipe has only one disadvantage: You have to start the simple preparation the night before or the morning of your splurge.

Fill a 2- or 3-quart bowl with cold water. Scrub one or two potatoes; leave them unpeeled for extra minerals and flavor. Cut into thin slices, put into bowl of water, and refrigerate at least 8 hours. Then remove the potato slices with a slotted spoon or spatula and place on a paper towel. You will notice that the bowl of water has a lot of white powder at the bottom. This is potato starch, which has been leached out of the potato slices, and which is the source of most of the calories and carbohydrates.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray--use butter or olive-oil flavor for extra taste. Place potato slices on the cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake 8-10 minutes per side, until golden brown. Serve.

I'd love to give you a calorie and carbohydrate count for this recipe, but there are too many variables. The thinner you slice the potatoes and the longer they sit in the ice water, the more starch will be removed, and the lower the calorie and carbohydrate count will be. (The calories and fat grams in cooking spray are negligible.) My estimate is that this recipe has only 30-40 calories and 5 grams of carbohydrate per 1-ounce serving.

7. THE JOY OF JELL-O

Sugar-free, that is. It's a perfect bingeing food because an entire package (four 1/2-cup servings) contain only 40 calories and 0 grams of carbohydrate. In contrast, one 1/2-cup serving of the sugary variety contains 80 calories and 19 grams carbohydrate. The whole bowl (ouch!): 320 calories and 76 grams of carbohydrate.

Back to the sugar-free, jazz it up by combining two flavors: lemon and lime, raspberry and strawberry, cherry and cranberry. Substitute plain or flavored seltzer for the cold water. Or add small pieces of fresh or sugar-free frozen fruit or berries. For a patriotic, colorful dessert, prepare one of the red flavors and refrigerate about 1-1/2 hours, or until thickened. Stir in fresh blueberries and refrigerate 4 hours, or until firm.

8. HAVE A GUILTLESS BLT

Pan-broil 3 strips of turkey bacon. Layer with sliced tomato on a leaf of romaine. Wrap and eat. Approximately 90 calories, 6 grams carbohydrate, 9 grams protein, and only 1.5 grams fat.

9. CHOCOLATE FIX I: CHOCOLATE MILK

Making your own chocolate syrup is a calorie and carbohydrate bargain. One brand's (2 tablespoon) serving of chocolate syrup has 100 calories, 25 grams of carbohydrate, 20 of them sugar. Another brand has 120 calories, 29 grams carbohydrate, 23 of them sugar. Even a "lite" version has 50 calories, 12 grams of carbohydrate, 10 of them sugar.

My own chocolate syrup has 40 calories per 2-tablespoon serving, but only 6 grams of carbohydrate--no sugar. It also packs 2 grams of fiber into each serving.

Put 2 tablespoons of plain (baking) cocoa into a large glass. Add 3 envelopes of Equal or a similar sweetener and 2-3 tablespoons of hot water. Stir well to make a syrup, add low-fat or skim milk, and stir again. Drink up guiltlessly! You can also rev up this syrup with almond, rum, or cognac flavoring. Try it in your coffee for a very-low calorie treat.

10: CHECK FOOD LABELS BEFORE YOU BUY

Little differences in calorie, carbohydrate, and fat between brands add up. One brand of garlic and herb pasta sauce has 110 calories per 1/2-cup serving, with 17 grams of carbohydrate, including 11 grams of sugar, 4 grams of fat, and 2 grams each of fiber and protein.

A "healther" competitor has only 50 calories per 1/2-cup serving, with 11 grams of carbohydrate, including 8 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fat, and 3 grams each of fiber and protein: less than half the calories, two-thirds of the carbohydrates, and more fiber and protein.

About the Author

Judith H. McQuown is the author of the book 1001 Tips for Living Well with Diabetes: Firsthand Advice that Really Works. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1987. She had to be switched to insulin and is likely to have type 1.5 diabetes. She has been on insulin for 17 years. She is the author of eleven books and is the president of her own company, providing writing and editorial services to the financial and publishing industries. She lives in New York City.

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