There are basically three keys to losing weight:
- Reducing your calories
- Increasing your physical activity
- Not losing your motivation to keep up the good work
If you don’t have a variety of recipes to pick and choose from, you can easily get burnt out and just opt for what’s easy and tastes good – like some fatty cheeseburger, a huge side of fries and a giant soda. When shooting for rapid weight loss, it’s best to consult with a medical professional about how to effectively change your diet and exercise program in order to help you safely transition into a healthier lifestyle.
Do what you can to develop good habits, but try to be patient with the results since change takes time.
A different super salad for lunch & dinner every day
Train yourself to appreciate the subtle differences between vegetables like arugula, spinach and mixed salad greens so that you feel like today’s spinach salad for lunch is undeniably unique in comparison to yesterday’s arugula salad.
Dr. Mark Hyman’s 10-Day Detox Diet recommends having a salad everyday for lunch and a green-based dinner every night, but he suggests picking and choosing from a list of sensible ingredients in order to keep things tasty, desirable and on track.
Baked lemon-pepper salmon with olives, snap peas, red peppers & mushrooms on mixed salad greensTake a 3-ounce salmon fillet, which is either fresh or frozen and around 180 calories, and place it on an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet. Add some lemon pepper to the fish and then, if needed, add a bit of water over the tin foil to barely cover the bottom of the pan. This is a diet-friendly step to help keep your end result tender without adding on extra calories from butter, oil or broth. Bake the salmon according to the package’s directions, generally on 375 degrees fahrenheit for around 10 to 20 minutes. Place the cooked salmon on a bed of mixed greens with some crispy vegetable toppings that you like. If you’re devoted to your weight loss, hopefully you’ll find that no dressing is needed. If you had a fantastically healthy and low-calorie day so far, however, you can add a squirt of olive oil and lemon juice to top things off. Be careful, though, because even just a tablespoon of olive oil still has around 120 calories. |
Turkey slices with avocados, celery, green peppers & carrots on arugulaTake it easy by getting a few slices of the healthiest turkey option you can find at your local deli. Dice up the slices before placing them on a yummy spread of nutrient-rich foods like avocados and carrots. Avocados are a healthy fat, but calorie-counting dieters will easily still want to limit themselves to a fourth of the tasty fruit at a time for any single salad. Turkey is, comparatively, a low-calorie meat at about 30 calories per ounce, but still stick to a 3- or 4-ounce portion for a sensible salad offering and make sure to fill up on all the vegetables. |
Shrimp, sliced almonds, broccoli, cauliflower & summer squash on spinachKeep a bag of pre-cooked shrimp in the freezer so you can easily dethaw a few ounces when you’re in the mood for a seafood salad. You can eat 3.5 ounces of shrimp for roughly 100 calories. Pile up the fresh veggies and two tablespoons of sliced almonds, which will ring up at another 65 calories, for a nice meal. If you’re dying for a dressing, pour a hint of olive oil over the spread and pretend it’s thick, rich and creamy. The imagination is a wonderful gift, isn’t it? |
Don’t forget: breakfast is king, even when you’re on a diet
When we wake up fresh and are committed to our weight loss goals, sometimes we trick ourselves into thinking that skipping breakfast will help the bottom line by reducing our calories from the start, but our bodies need food to get our metabolism going and to function well throughout the day. Instead of starving yourself in the morning and then devouring everything in sight by lunchtime, stick to a sensible meal plan that calls for a nutrient-rich breakfast.
You may not want to take the time to make a gourmet breakfast every morning, but you can spend a few minutes in the kitchen if you really want to devote yourself to eating right.
For those busy days where cleaning out the blender or frying pan is just not an option, be sure to choose the best solution given what time and resources you do have so that your weight loss efforts aren’t drastically derailed from one bad morning.
Almond milk smoothie with raspberries or blueberriesA cup of unsweetened almond milk has around 30 calories so combine it in a blender with a cup of your favorite berry, like raspberries or blueberries, for a quick and easy smoothie that shuns the artificial and high-calorie ingredients contained in store bought options. If you’re among the dieters that count fruit calories, a cup of raspberries has 65 calories and a cup of blueberries has 85 calories. If you want to get fancier with your smoothie, you can add half a carrot, some leafy greens, a scoop of protein powder or whatever else you want. Be careful when shopping for protein powder, though; look for a healthy option that avoids using artificial flavors and chemical add-ins. Protein powder can make a great difference in keeping you fuller for longer, but be sure to add in the calories when you’re totalling your breakfast numbers so you don’t overlook a scoop here or a scoop there, which adds up fast on a strict diet. |
Egg-white omelet with tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers & onionsIf you’re really trying to lose weight fast, you may be interested in skipping out on the egg yolks for the time being and clinging to the tried-and-true formula of an egg-white breakfast. Whether you’re going to crack an egg like usual but just toss out the yolk or you’re going to buy a container of egg whites, look for an organic or natural option that’s pure and healthy. A regular egg white is around 17 calories so use anywhere from 3 to 5 in an omelette and have some fruit or a nonfat greek yogurt on the side. |
Hard boiled eggs with a slice of whole wheat breadIf you’re worried about the time it takes to whip up a smoothie or fry an omelette, keep hard boiled eggs in your refrigerator that you can quickly grab along with a slice of bread before you run out the door. Stick to omega-3 eggs and make sure your bread is a whole wheat option that you don’t smother with butter or sugary toppings. A 70-calorie egg and 60-calorie slice of bread can go well with an apple or small handful of almonds. |
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