Healthy Diet Recipes

It’s January 2, the day of reckoning. You glance at a full-length mirror as you dress in the morning, and you don’t like what you see. Before Thanksgiving, you were on your way to becoming a thinner, healthier you. Now, every canapé, slice of cheesecake, and glass of wine you indulged in over the holidays seems to be laughing at you from its new-found perch in your belly, butt, and thighs. Of course, you tell yourself you’re imagining things. You couldn’t have gained all that much weight. Just to prove it, you tentatively, almost timidly, climb onto the bathroom scale, and allow yourself to peek down with one squinty eye.
Don’t scream and do NOT allow yourself to plunge into depression. That number is a minor setback on the road to having a slender, healthier body. You can get back on track and barely miss a step on your way to your weight loss goal. You can also learn a new way of eating, using principles from the Cheater’s Diet,  that will allow you to enjoy the holidays next year to their fullest without gaining a single extra pound around your middle.
First, you’re going to shock your metabolism back into action with a month of the “Four F’s” plan. It won’t be easy, but you’ll love the results. After that, you’ll ease your way into the regular Cheater’s Diet plan, which allows you to eat all kinds of food that you thought, as a dieter, you would never be allowed to eat again.
The “Four F’s” are:

Fish
Fluids
Fiber
Frequent meals

Fish- is an excellent source of protein and healthful Omega-3 fats, both of which will help you to feel sated and cut your appetite. Try to eat fish at least three times a week. Cold water varieties like salmon, tuna, sardines, and herring, contain the highest amounts of Omega-3’s.
Fluids- are extremely important for weight loss. Not only does drinking water, tea, coffee, diet sodas, or even soup help to cleanse your body of toxins, but it also keeps the kidneys functioning properly. When the kidneys are out of whack, the liver takes over for them, which means it can’t continue doing one of its other major jobs—turning your fat into fuel. Drink at least 2 quarts (8 cups) of fluids a day, and if you’re overweight, drink even more.
Fiber- helps move food through your system more quickly, makes you feel full, and keeps your digestive tract healthy. For the purposes of the Four F’s, fruit is the best source. Apples, pears, plums, strawberries, and prunes are all good sources. In addition to the servings described below, have at least one additional fruit serving at every main meal.
Frequent meals- means eating three main meals a day with snacks in between. Never go more than two hours between meals Breakfast, lunch, and dinner should always consist of one serving of protein (eggs, fish, white poultry meat, or lean pork loin) and one of a complex carb, like a vegetable, legume, or whole grain. A serving size is about one quarter of dinner plate. Snacks can consist of a serving of fruits, vegetables, nonfat dairy products, nuts, legumes or any other no sugar/low fat food.
So to recap—lots of meals, lots of fiber, lots of fish, lots of fluids.
Don’t worry about the rate at which you’re losing. An average of two pounds a week is very respectable, and three pounds should be your maximum. Any more than that and you’ll be burning muscle instead of fat.
Speaking of muscle..
Eating is only half the picture. If you want to maintain the weight you lose, you need to perform some kind of physical activity. That doesn’t necessarily mean formal exercise. Just get up and move every chance you get. Studies show that doing vigorous, day-to-day activities is far more important for maintaining a healthful weight than is a membership to the local health club. Here are some that really burn the fat:

Washing and waxing a car
Washing windows or floors
Playing volleyball
Playing touch football
Gardening
Walking
Basketball (shooting baskets)
Dancing fast (social)
Pushing a lawnmower
Raking leaves

Past the first hurdle
After you’ve gone four weeks sticking strictly with the Four F’s, you can begin to relax a little. How? Cheat on the weekends. Now, I know that the word “cheat” generally makes dieters a little nervous. It represents failure to many of them. But it doesn’t have to. In fact, cheating can be your greatest tool in reaching success.
Here’s how. After being subjected to a strict regimen like the Four F’s throughout the first month, your body begins to outsmart you and slightly slows down the rate at which it burns fat. If you suddenly give it more work to do by feeding it more calories, it speeds up again. Then, after two days, you go back to your strict regimen.
The body is still going with all fires blazing. It will take awhile for it to realize the trick you’ve pulled. So because you’ve eaten more for a couple of days, you’re now burning fat even faster! Doing this every weekend keeps the body in a state of playing perpetual catch-up. So cheat! From Saturday morning to Sunday evening, eat anything you like, with the exception of foods you’re likely to binge on. You can have chocolate, hamburgers, whole grain bread, ice cream, cinnamon buns, wine, beer, strawberry shortcake—you name it. Or you can just have a whole lot more of the healthful foods you’ve been eating since the New Year.
Cheating has one other advantage that’s hugely important in maintaining a healthful weight—it keeps you from getting bored. The average person stays on a diet for about two months before giving up and going back to his or her old ways. Why? The tedium of restrictive diets. The Cheater’s Diet restricts you from nothing. It simply puts you on a schedule, just like going to work five days a week and taking off for two.
Cheating for life
By the end of the second month, you will probably have reached the end of your patience with eating six meals a day. So don’t. Go back to three meals a day, and allow yourself four servings per meal—one or two of protein, two of fruits or vegetables, and one of whole grains or legumes. You can still have snacks every two hours if you like.
By summertime, you’re going to look amazing. And when the holidays come next year, just stick with the Cheater’s Diet!

Broccoli
With broccoli the trick is to have the stems and the florets cook at the same rate. You can do this by removing the tough outer skin of the stalks. Simply peel the skin up from the base of the broccoli stalk.
Asparagus
The tender tips will cook more quickly than the stems. Avoid this by peeling the thickest part of the stems with a sharp knife.
Cauliflower
The stem and leaves of the cauliflower are edible but they are tougher and take longer to cook than the tender florets. After removing and discarding the outer leaves, rinse the cauliflower and remove the leaves and stem. Using a sharp knife carefully core the cauliflower. The leaves, stem and core can be reserved for use in soups, stock or stews if you wish.
Gently seperate the cauliflower crown into evenly sized florets – large or small depending on the recipe.
Leek
A relative of garlic, onion and shallot, the leek is a versatile and healthy vegetable which adds flavour without overpowering the other ingredients of a dish. Both the white root section and the green leaves of a leek are edible. The root tip should be trimmed , the top of the leaves cut off and discarded along with the toughest outer leaves.
You will be amazed at how much dirt and grit finds its way between the outer layers of a leek. And also how deeply within the layers you will still find traces of soil. If you are intending to use the green leaves then the easiest way to ensure that the leek is thouroghly clean is to run a slit up the length of the leek and open out the layers under running cold water.

After the holidays a lot of us want to go easy on the Carbs. This low carb chicken strips salad will help you to achieve just that.
A salad is not just boring lettuce anymore. This salad is bursting with flavor. This healthy low carb recipe is for a chicken strips salad with fruit and nuts.
It has such unique flavors that you will discover a new one with each and every bite. Compliment your dinner table with this salad today. Your salad never had it so good.
Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into strips
2 cups spinach, shredded
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
½ cup red onion, cut into rings
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
½ cup pecans, diced
½ cup raisins
1 tsp. lemon juice
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Cilantro (optional)
To Make:
In a small skillet, combine the olive oil and the cubed chicken. The chicken can be bought already cut into strips or you can buy whole chicken breasts and cut them up to the desired size yourself.
Cook the chicken on medium heat until nice and browned.  Remove the pan from the heat and place the chicken pieces on a paper towel to absorb up any excess oil. Next, chop up the spinach.
Use your hands instead of a knife to chop it up to avoid bruising the spinach leaves. In a small mixing bowl, place the spinach leaves and the lemon juice. Toss lightly. On 4 large serving plates, arrange the spinach leaves. Now that the chicken has had time to cool, cut up the chicken.
Top the spinach with the chicken pieces. Add the red onion and the broccoli. Lightly drizzle each salad with red wine vinegar.
Add salt and black pepper to taste. Top each salad with raisins, pecans, and strawberries.
Garnish each salad with cilantro, if desired.
Serve immediately.

During the last decades there has been a change towards
mechanization and homogenization of farming, which uses
pesticides, additives, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers
and mass-production techniques. All this is clearly
affecting mankind’s health, and new diseases are spreading
rapidly amongst humans and animals (bird’s flu being the
most recent one).

The World Health Organization produces reports to show how
the use of chemicals and other products on food, coupled
with the manufacturing processes involved, are actually a
threat for our health.

If you have space for a few pots or even a small piece of
land, it is a wise decision to grow your own organic
vegetable garden. Today I’m presenting you with seven
reasons for doing this:

1. You will have no additives in your vegetables. Research
by organic food associations has shown that additives in
our food can cause heart diseases, osteoporosis, migraines
and hyperactivity.

2. There will be no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers
used. These chemical products are applied to obtain crops
all the time regardless plagues or weather conditions, and
affect the quality of the vegetables. Besides, pesticides
are usually poisonous to humans.

3. Your vegetables will not be genetically modified (GM).
Antibiotics, drugs and hormones are used on vegetables to
grow more and larger ones. One of the consequences of this
practice are vegetables which look all the same and are
usually tasteless. Besides, we end up consuming the
hormones that have been used on the vegetables, with the
potential risks for our health.

4. Eating your own organic vegetables will be much more
healthy for you. They will not contain any of the products
or chemicals named above, and they will be much more
natural than any ones you would find at the supermarket.
Your health will not be at risk because you will then know
that nothing has been added to your vegetables.

5. Your own organic vegetables will be much more tasty.
The use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones and
antibiotics make vegetables grow unnaturally and take the
taste away from them. With organic vegetables, your
cooking will be enhanced as their flavour will show fully.

6. Organic farming is friendly to the environment. Because
you won’t use pesticides or other equally harming products
on your vegetables, you will not damage the soil or the
air with the chemical components.

7. When you grow your own organic vegetables you are
contributing to your own self-sustainability and the
sustainability of the planet. Small communities have been
founded where members exchange products that they grow
naturally, thus contributing to create a friendly and
better place for us all.

In the end, eating organic products only means that we do
not add anything else to them than they would naturally
have. As you can guess, additives, fertilizers, pesticides
or hormones are not components of naturally grown food.

Ever wonder how you can possibly lose weight when the average dinner out contains over 1,000 calories? Well, don’t fret! Keeping yourself in shape when dining out is simply a matter of ordering the right menu.
Below are 6 tips for having a healthy dinner out (while still enjoying your meal like normal!):
- Watch Your Drinks – By not ordering an alcoholic beverage, you’ve saved yourself a considerable number of calories. Try sipping iced tea sweetened with a noncaloric sweetener, a diet soft drink, or water with lemon. You’ll be glad you did when you consider the calorie savings.
- Have A Salad – One of the best menus to have is salad. Not only will it fill you up so you’ll consume fewer calories overall, but it will also give you a hefty dose of antioxidants which are heart healthy. Be sure to ask your waitress to hold the croutons and cheese which will further reduce your caloric load. Also, choose your dressing wisely. Avoid cream based dressings and go for the vinegar based ones. You also have the option of using vinegar and olive oil which is heart healthy.
- Don’t Order An Appetizer Unless Necessary – Do you know that some appetizers have more calories and fat than the main course? Plus, many appetizers are fried and served with heavy sauces which will add to your intake of saturated fat as well as trans fats and calories. It’s not a healthy way to start your meal.
- Choose The Right Kind Of Foods – Go for broiled and grilled rather than fried. Not only will you save calories and fat grams, you’ll also avoid trans fats which are so prevalent in fried foods. Instead, consider asking for a doubles order of vegetables with your entree. Very few Americans are getting the 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables recommended for optimal health. Plus, by avoiding the starch, you’ll be reducing your caloric and carbohydrate load. Also, stick to tomato based sauces rather than cream based and you’ll enjoy a considerable calorie savings. Lastly, ask for the sauce to be served in a separate dish on the side so you can control the amount you eat.
- Don’t Overeat – Today, many restaurants are serving larger quantities of food than in the past. If this is the case, put aside a portion of your entree at the beginning of the meal to take home with you. If you remove it from your plate before you start eating, you’ll be less tempted to overeat.
- Say “No” To Sugary, Fatty Desserts – Instead, go for a low fat or low carbohydrate dessert selection such as a low carb cheesecake. These are wise choices for the health conscious eater and still allow you to end the meal on a sweet note. If a healthy dessert option isn’t available, try a cup of coffee with skim milk to help satiate your desire for something sweet.
The next time you go out for dinner, keep the above tips in mind. You will be surprised how many calories you are able to slash out of your meal just by ordering the right menus! Happy healthy eating!