19 Ways to Make Your Weight Loss Diet Less Boring

Almost every client who has ever come to me for a weight loss diet has tried (and often temporarily succeeded) to lose weight in the past. Giving up the burger for the turkey sandwich is popular with the guys. Replacing the bowl of ice cream with a bunch of frozen grapes in front of the TV at prime time works for my night time noshers. Pulling out the same carrots and hummus every day at 3PM does the trick when temptation to hit the bag of potato chips kicks in for others. The thing is, how many turkey sandwiches, frozen grapes and carrots can a person choke down in the name of a 32 inch waist or a size 4? If the diet you’re eating to lose weight is snoozerville, it’s time to change it up and head to varietytown. But creativity with your healthy foods doesn’t come easy for everyone. When you’re bored of your food routine, but want to stick with what works, you don’t need to reinvent your healthy diet entirely. Small tweaks can break the boredom without extra work (just a little swapping of ingredients). 19 Simple Ways to Make Your Weight Loss Diet Less Boring If your healthy breakfast is an exercise in redundancy, shake it up with an artful sprinkle of cinnamon or spoonful of seeds (1). Swap the oats for quinoa or barley (2). Try kefir (3) if you are sick of your usual yogurt. Go overnight with your eggs instead of your oatmeal (4). Try fish before noon (5). When it comes to healthy snacks, drop the baby carrots for a week and go for the radishes or jicama (8) or skip raw veggies altogether and get your steamed veggies on, even if you eat them cold the next day (9). Sub the hummus for guac (10). Make your own Greek yogurt dip with fresh herbs and spices (11) for your crudités if Ranch dressing has been on your brain. For lunchtime, sub the turkey for ham (12), or replace the bread with a big lettuce leaf (13). If your usual lettuce feels too been-there, try wrapping your lunch in collard greens or seaweed (14), and if that’s also too done-that, then get your ‘veggie bread’ on – as in use bell peppers (15) or cucumber boats (16) or portobello mushrooms (17) as the bread. When it comes to all the fixins, go wild and pick up some dried coconut if your bag of flax meal is running empty and you yawn at the thought of buying another (18). Give hemp a chance (19) just as you would peace. Jump on the chia bandwagon (18) if you haven’t already and make 2-ingredient chia pudding. Nutritional yeast (aka nooch) (19) isn’t as gross as it sounds. In fact, it’s really cool and goes perfectly on popcorn, in stir fries and pastas, and even in smoothies. Give it a try, after peace and chia. The point is, you can do what works for you and make it work for you even better if you’re open to a little excitement. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be redundant, boring, or unsustainable. Now go throw out your rice cakes and stop boiling your chicken. Let’s spice up that weight loss diet with things that make you and your taste buds happy. It won’t even feel like a weight loss diet at all after awhile. It will just be your diet.

3 Healthy Foods To Eat That You Probably Haven’t Tried

Many people can relate to food boredom. We eat what we know, because familiarity is comfortable, safe and well, reliable…and for you, there may be plenty of healthy foods to eat that you know and love. Still, eating the same foods day in and day out can lack some excitement and compromise good nutrition.  Translation: one too many basic green salads with grilled chicken may lead you to diving into a basket of curly fries. Let’s break the monotony and spark some new deliciousness on your plate. Why not try a new vegetable every week? Yes, I am challenging you! What about finding a recipe with an unknown ingredient and having a little adventure in your kitchen? The possibilities are endless, try one of these three foods below and I am pretty sure, you’ll be glad you did! 3 Healthy Foods To Eat That You Probably Haven’t Tried Fiddleheads: You do not make music with them, you eat them! A fiddlehead is a baby fern that is cut before it matures. Just 10 calories per ounce, or 40 calories per half cup, fiddleheads are a pretty good source of protein, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin C. Choose ones that are tightly curled, small, firm and bright green. Add them to salads, use as garnish or sauté quickly with vegetables. They are so pretty, you’ll love having them on your plate! Nutritional yeast: It is not a homeopathic remedy. Nutritional yeast looks like a ground coarse flour. It is a pure yeast strain called Saccharomyces cerevisiae and is in the same family as mushrooms. It is yellow-brown in appearance and is generally purchased in the bulk food section of health food stores. It is a nutty, cheesy-like flavored food that can be added to foods such as popcorn, stir fries, breads or pastas and is an excellent plant source of B12. It is recommended that vegans incorporate nutritional yeast to best meet their B12 needs. Try it a few times, it will grow on you, well, like yeast. Lemongrass: Even the name sounds too healthy to be yummy. Commonplace in Thai and many Asian cooking pantries, lemongrass is renowned for immunity boosting and disease fighting properties. When used fresh, it is a gorgeous source of fiber and healing properties. In America, we eat chicken soup when we are ailing, in Thailand, they eat lemongrass laden Tom Yum soup – it is said to heal headaches, flus, fevers, arthritis, stomachaches and more. You can also use fresh lemongrass in stir fries, and as a spice in entrees and side dishes. Buy it fresh at Asian markets or dried in the spice isle, your body will thank you. Now, come up with your own list of exotic fare and be adventurous in your eating!