Healthy Food Tip #1 - Roast 'em!

Mmm... there is nothing better than a caramelized carrot.  Well, that is except when it's actually good for you and tastes delicious.

Roasting is a great healthy cooking technique that not only makes vegetables take extra delicious but also makes your taste buds tingle in delight!  The trick is to toss vegetables sparingly in olive oil, season as you like, and then roast at a high temperature to caramelize the natural sugars found in the vegetables.

Think you're a veggie hater? Give this a try your tastebuds, stomach, and health will thank you!

Opposite of Fat. Skinny.

Skinny. Skinny seems to be the status that every person ultimately in their lives will strive achieve no matter how much deprivation and self-loathing is involved. Usually the thing that sets off the skinny chase is an event. An event like a birthday, a reunion, a wedding, reading the celebrity tabloids, or a morning struggle with a sweater that miraculously shrunk over night (or so it seemed). The trigger event starts a series of thoughts, behaviors, and irrational decisions all focused on dropping a tonnage of pounds so that no one can refer to you as an elephant any longer.

The truth about being skinny is not a fast metabolism or a genetic anomaly but it is more of a recognition that you are in control of your body for the most part. Remember – there will always be exceptions. Skinny is relative. In fact – there are even people who are referred to as “Skinny Fats.” A nickname given to individuals who in visual appearance pass the “skinny” test but upon further physical inspection are not even close to being healthier than their larger counterparts.

Just as an overweight person can be considered “fit,” a skinny person can be considered “fat.” Hmm, interesting if I do say so myself. Further – it reveals something even more curious about classifying someone into a category based on their size rather than their health and how they take care of themselves. Revealing that there is much more to the psychology behind dieting, health, and weight maintenance than what meets the eye.

So is the opposite of fat, skinny? Skinny Fats.

Rumble. Rumble.

Rumble. It is the nose the stomach makes to alert someone to their hunger status. It is not triggered by the site of food but merely the instinctual need of the body to replenish its resources. Or is it? These days it is particularly hard to tell if hunger is a need or more of a thought based on the tick tock of the clock. Oh look! It is 8 am – it must be time for breakfast. Oh alas, 12 o’clock – lunch anyone? Dinner is at 7 pm. Sharp and do NOT be late. Is it as easy to predict hunger as it is to set dinner time? The answer is pretty much a resounding “no.”

There is little one can do to plan out their hunger patterns and match it precisely to when they will have time for feeding. It is the rather unfortunate thing about dieting and living life at the same time – the time factor. Cooking takes time, eating takes time, even going through the drive through takes time (although less time if you’re just passing by and happen to swing through when the hot donut signs starts blazing.)

Really think about being hungry and the rumble that spreads like wildfire through that belly of yours. Is being hungry about time or is it a signal to go ahead and eat? When was the last time you were actually hungry so much so that you needed to eat something? More often than not people eat based on the time of the day and not so much the signal from their body to their brains. Let’s go ahead and try to reverse that if possible and avoid the clock.

Rumble. Rumble. Eat with the Rumble not the tick tock.

Make it homemade.

Control your food by controlling what's in it. Just like this homemade pizza!

Miniaturization.

Miniaturization. Better known as “mini.” The latest fascination not only in people but also in food some would even consider it trend-worthy. The miniaturization of everything is taking place around us, well with the exception of “racks” and we’re not talking racks of lamb if you know what I mean. Restaurants are on board with the downsizing of their food to miniature status as is witnessed by the transformation of the formally known “hamburger” to the now known “slider.” Of course, this would all be fine as far as defining your diet is considered if the downsizing resulted in eating less of the food so you could also miniaturize yourself in the process. Unfortunately, that’s not the case because instead of one burger four sliders miraculously present themselves upon your plate and proceed directly into your belly.

This secret swap from a larger item to multiple small ones is tricky at best. It is one of the oldest tricks in the book that ready to fool you into not only eating more but forcing you to assume that you are eating less. Here is the time to take off your beer goggles and pay attention! Look and think about what you are eating – you can do it! I swear it is really that easy. As every morsel of food passes the tip of your tongue think to yourself – am I still hungry? Or am I only eating because there are two more mini-burgers still there staring me in the face? Remember – this is not a staring contest even though the potatoes that turned into French fries may at one point have had eyes.

To miniaturize yourself, miniaturizing your food may not be the answer if in fact that miniaturization leads to multiples consumption. Yet, there may be something here that will indeed work for boosting the willpower, trimming the waistline, and shrinking the foods around us. Miniaturize your diet by simply eating less but of better, more nutritious and delicious foods. Satisfy yourself with the power of taste and loving every moment of the indulgence.

The result. “Hey Mini!” “Who? Are you referring to me?”

Here’s your cake. Oh, and eat it too!

Cake. The dreaded piece of birthday cake. It really could be anyone’s birthday but it’s the anticipation of the cake that is on the mind throughout the entire day and possibly, the each day of the week as the taste buds begin to salivate at the very thought of it. Thoughts of having the smallest piece or just one bite will fill your head but at the very end of the experience all you see is an empty plate. It is at this point that the feelings of dread and rambling comments continue on and on as to exclaim to your friends and family “I shouldn’t have eaten that…” Only you’ve forgotten the fact that this only draws more attention to your uncomfortable feelings relating to food.

Yes, it’s true. You have just psyched yourself out over a piece of cake! Wouldn’t it be easier to live life discussing how absolutely delicious every bite of the cake tasted and that despite the fact that you are completely full you would really like to dive right into another giant piece? I think we all wish this could be true and I’m pretty certain that it can be as long as some attitude changes occur along the way as well.

Think of the possibilities here – they are endless! To admit that you actually enjoyed eating your food and not having to feel ashamed or embarrassed of doing it - wow, what a revelation! And, a great one at that, as it helps substantiate the point that our feelings toward food relate to our patterns towards food. I’d like to venture out on a limb (preferably one that is nicely toned) to say that if someone feels better about their food choices and attitudes towards these choices then they will feel better about themselves. At which point – this massive self-esteem boost may drive them to make better choices in the end as they start to value and understand the foods being eaten and how they affect not only their bodies but their minds. It’s a feeling of euphoria and one that is not caused by a sugar rush from all that cake you just ate.

So, here’s your cake. Oh, and eat it too!

Calories. IN equals OUT.

Calories. Calories are the end output of all the food that is consumed. Not only are they required to live but adding up too many of them can result in an unpleasant stomach bulge or muffin top over those too tight jeans of yours. A few things can be done to help avoid this, with some options being more pleasant than others. For one – a new pair of jeans a few sizes up can be purchased so there is room to grow into them – don’t forget elastic or spandex is a key ingredient here! Or simply less food could be eaten but that wouldn’t be very satisfying would it? Don’t forget the blood, sweat, and tears associated with hours of exercise – ruthless!

Traditionally nutritionists, dietitians, doctors, and scientists alike would tell you that maintaining your weight comes down to calories in equal calories out. As long as you’re in the negative weight can be lost but if you’re in the positive weight will be gained. And this is absolutely fine as long as you are meticulously counting your calories and not living your life because who wants to carry around a calculator, notebook, pencil or pen, and of course, a book to look up the amount of calories in every single piece of food on the earth? That’s right… you don’t!

The confusion around the amount of calories actually in the foods you eat can be overwhelming. This is due to the many methods of preparation (adding a little butter here and there can really add up), the actual serving size versus the serving size consumed, and all those accompaniments like ketchup, mayonnaise, etc… that the food is slathered, dipped, or drowned in.

Calories also fail to take into account the relative “healthiness” of the foods that can lead to other health problems down the road and with that being said it is easy to realize that Calories are more than in equals out.

Calories. Not a simple equation.