Category: eating

What to Know Before You Start Intuitive Eating

If you have been looking into intuitive eating – that is great! It has terrific benefits from healing your relationship with food to saying goodbye to diets forever. But there are some things to understand before you start intuitive eating.

start intuitive eating article cover image

What to Know Before You Start Intuitive Eating

You Can’t Focus on Intuitive Eating and Weight Loss at the Same Time

This fact is one of the most important things to understand about intuitive eating. It is NOT a diet, nor is it a way to learn how to control your portions to help you lose weight. If you have a goal of weight loss, intuitive eating will not work for you. You have to come to a place of body acceptance, where you fully accept that your body may not get smaller, and might even get a little bigger before everything balances out. If you can’t do that, you won’t be able to embrace eating intuitively entirely.

This is Not a Linear Process

Intuitive is not linear, like most things in life. There are ebbs and flows, good days, and bad days. One day, you might feel like you have a handle on it, and your appetite is getting back to normal, and the next day you feel ravenous and out of control with food. This is all normal and part of the process. Don’t give up! Just keep going and learning. Trust your body, follow your cravings, and understand that it will all lead you toward a life free of diets.

You Won’t Feel Out of Control Forever

That feeling of being out of control around certain types of food if you aren’t tracking won’t last forever. It can cause a lot of fear and anxiety in the beginning, especially if you feel like you have a history of food addiction and overeating. If you are used to restricting food and writing down every single calorie and carb, it feels scary to let all that go suddenly.

But the feeling of being out of control doesn’t last forever. You have to learn how to follow your body’s cues and trust it to guide you in the right direction.

Finding a Good Support System is Crucial

From the very beginning of your intuitive eating journey, you need to have people who will support you. You don’t have to tell everyone what you are doing but find at least one person you trust who you can talk to about it. Someone who won’t judge you, who won’t throw diet talk in your face, and who isn’t going to trigger you in any way. On the opposite end, you may need to distance yourself from people who are deep in diet culture.

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Gastric Bypass Diet: Dos and Don’ts

According to studies, gastric bypass surgery can help get rid of excess body weight by as much as 90 percent. Sounds too good to be true, right? But that’s possible if a patient follows a strict diet plan to avoid regaining weight and to enjoy the full benefits of the surgery. The aftermath of the operation requires specific lifestyle changes, and that includes eating habits. Make sure you get the proper nourishment you need by following these Gastric Bypass Diet guidelines.

Gastric Bypass Diet article cover image

Gastric Bypass Diet: Dos and Don’ts

Follow your physician’s or dietician’s recommendations on vitamin and mineral supplements after the surgery.

The surgery causes most of the stomach and part of the small intestines to be bypassed. This bypass procedure, in turn, causes your body to have difficulty taking in some nutrients, which leads to vitamin and mineral deficiency. To keep your body from losing its much-needed vitamins and minerals, make sure that you take proper supplements regularly. Usually, the supplements include multivitamins, vitamin B-12, vitamin D, iron, calcium, among others. The multivitamins should be chewable to help them break down and be absorbed before they pass through your body. Flintstones for kids is often recommended – to be taken twice a day. Avoid the gummy vitamins as they are hard to digest post-surgery. Additionally, Vitamin D should be chewable too for the same reason, and the calcium should be a chewy 500 unit. I love these from Amazon – they come in several different flavors.

Don’t take huge meals on the Gastric Bypass Diet.

That would defeat the very purpose of your surgery. Just because you have achieved weight loss, that does not mean you can go back to binging or other unhealthy eating habits. Remember—following the surgery, your stomach’s volume has been drastically reduced. Your tummy can hold only 1 ounce of food. Overeating won’t do your tummy any good. Aside from adding unnecessary calories, overeating can cause body pains, vomiting, and dizziness.

Be sure that you eat only small amounts of food. Follow your doctor’s recommended food amounts. Soon after the surgery, you can eat about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food in every meal. And before you feel full, resist the urge to take another bite.

Over time, your stomach stretches and can contain more food. Thus, you can adjust your food intake as time progresses. I really like the food portion scoops and plate set from Livligia.

Chew thoroughly.

Chew – chew – chew! Make your digestive system’s job easier by chewing your food thoroughly. Why do you need to do so? After the surgery, the small opening between your stomach and your small intestine may be blocked by large pieces of food. When that opening is blocked, food will remain in the stomach and will not be able to pass through the small intestine. This blockage will cause nausea, pain in the abdomen, and vomiting.

Don’t swallow the food that you cannot chew well. To make eating easier and more comfortable, take smaller bites and chew them until their texture becomes pureed before swallowing.

Don’t eat and drink like there’s no tomorrow.

Avoid eating too fast—this will only lead to sweating, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. These are the symptoms of dumping syndrome, a condition wherein foods enter the small intestine quickly and in abnormally large amounts.

You must eat and drink slowly. Eating a meal should take at least half an hour while drinking 1 cup of liquid should take half an hour to one hour. Where I told you to chew – chew – chew, this is where you sip – sip – sip. Also, avoid foods that have high sugar and fat content.

Don’t drink liquids while eating on the Gastric Bypass Diet.

This tip is by far a tough one. I had a tough time with it! Drink only before or after your meals, keeping at least a thirty-minute window between them. Otherwise, you will feel the symptoms of dumping syndrome. Also, drinking liquids with meals make you feel full immediately, and this stops you from eating more nutrient-rich foods. It also helps push your food through faster, so what you do eat, doesn’t have as much time to let you absorb the nutrients.

Try one new food at a time.

After your gastric bypass surgery, avoid eating just any food. Certain foods and beverages like milk, soda, meat, rice, and pasta may cause pain, nausea, vomiting. Try only one food at a time—and if it causes discomfort, do not eat it.

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How Yo-Yo Dieting Can Be Worse Than Obesity

More research is coming out to show that dieting, in general, is harmful to your body (and your mind) and that it most likely isn’t making you healthier in most situations. However, yo-yo dieting, where you are always back and forth between being on and off a diet, can be even worse for you.

How Yo-Yo Dieting Can Be Worse Than Obesity cover picture for article

How Yo-Yo Dieting Can Be Worse Than Obesity

This is when you either bounce to different types of diets constantly, or you are on a perpetual restrict and binge cycle. Your body is going through a lot of changes at a rapid pace, which can be far unhealthier than if you had stayed overweight.

Your Hormones Fluctuate Like Crazy

To start with, when you diet, especially back and forth between eating and restricting, your hormones are completely out of control. Severe calorie restriction and yo-yo dieting, where you have a lot of changes in what you eat over a long period can cause your cortisol levels to increase. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and can increase your risk for heart disease and diabetes!

You Might Have a Bigger Appetite and More Cravings

Yo-Yo dieting also changes your appetite and what you crave. It may seem like you are out of control, but this is not about willpower, it is actually from dieting itself. In your body, you have two different hunger hormones – leptin and ghrelin. Ghrelin is the hormone that increases your appetite, while leptin decreases your appetite and ca help you feel full. If you are dieting, the hormone leptin often decreases, while ghrelin increases, creating an imbalance. Feel like you are continually starving? Your diet might be why, and not just because you aren’t eating enough.

Yo-yo Dieting Makes Your Metabolism Slow Down

Wonder why when you start a diet, you seem to hit a plateau quickly? This is probably the result of your metabolism slowing down because of all the feast and famine periods your body has gone through. Your body is brilliant and knows what it’s doing. But when you put it through the wringer from yo-yo diets, you are making it harder to lose weight thanks to your metabolism slowing down. Stop undereating, give up the diets, and start to eat intuitively.

How Yo-Yo Dieting Can Be Worse Than Obesity woman on scale

You Lose All Sense of Hunger and Fullness Cues

When you have pre-determined portions, types of food, and meal eating windows, you lose all sense of when you are hungry or full. When you are on a diet, you don’t rely on your hunger, but instead on numbers. How many calories you can have, how many carbs, making sure your sugar is low, and protein is high, watching your fiber. You might also get into timed meals, eating every 2-3 hours, or intermittent fasting. All of this damages your ability to know when you are hungry or full.

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Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery is among the most popular bariatric surgery, with the number of those who are choosing to undergo the procedure doubling from 2001 to 2003. The American Society of Bariatric Surgery estimates the amount to be 140,000 annually. This procedure is primarily done to resolve issues of morbid obesity and the diseases associated with it. You need to know what a Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery looks like if you want to see yourself successful.

In gastric bypass surgery, a small pouch is created in the stomach. This little pouch is stapled, and the small intestine’s upper portion is also attached to this tiny pouch. The middle section of the small intestine is attached to the rest of the stomach. Food will bypass the rest of the stomach and the rest of the small intestine. The stomach will be in a smaller size, which would make it full faster. Fewer calories will be absorbed.

Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery

This procedure would require a diet change. Since the digestive system is altered or shortened, every food intake would be valuable. Some common side effects brought by the surgery are nutritional deficiency like anemia and osteoporosis. This fact is why patients need to follow a different diet and take mineral and vitamin supplements.

Protein is King

A Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery would make sure that weight loss will be maintained over time. It would typically involve high protein food. Foods high in protein would ensure that new tissues are being built, and the wounds are healing properly. Ideal high protein foods will be low in fat like red meat, chicken, or turkey without the skin, fish, eggs, and cottage cheese.

Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery chicken plate

Sugar and fat are among the foods that are to be avoided. A gastric bypass diet would involve foods low in sugar and fat. Sugary foods are high in calories and fat. Fat is difficult to digest. Consuming too much sugar could also result in the Dumping syndrome that has nausea, dizziness, vomiting, sweating, and diarrhea as symptoms. The body could also react the same way to too much fat. Foods with too much fat and sugar, anyway, do not have sufficient nutrients that would be essential to the body.

Watch the Fiber

Foods high in fiber are also limited in the gastric bypass diet. Fiber could block the stomach, small intestine and would require more gastric acid to digest it. A doctor’s approval is needed before ingesting any laxative or fiber pills.

Gradually Work up to it

This change is not done immediately. There are stages in a gastric bypass diet. Clear liquids would be the first stage. For the early days, clear liquids like water, sugar-free juice, clear broth, and no fizz soda are to be consumed in small amounts. Within the first two weeks, low-fat, high protein liquids are on the list. It is also essential to take chewable multivitamins during this stage.

Doctors would determine when would be a suitable time for the patient to progress to a soft or puree diet. Some would be able to eat after two weeks, while others would have to wait longer than that. Some people who are in this stage would sometimes resort to eating strained baby foods while others would prefer eating soft foods like scrambled eggs, low-fat cheese, blenderized lean meats, etc.

Two months after the surgery, the patient could now start eating a regular diet, starting with high-protein food. Food consumed should be in small amounts. Remember that the stomach is reduced in size. After the gastric bypass, the stomach could accommodate about an ounce of food. Eventually, it could stretch and hold about 4 to 8 ounces or a cup to half a cup of food.

One thing that people should be conscious of would be overeating. Gastric bypass surgery can make the stomach smaller; however, this does not affect the overall attitude to eating. People could result in overeating because of genetics or emotions. Lifestyle change is essential. Overeating could cause regaining the lost weight, expansion of the pouch, and in worst cases, rupture of the stomach.

There are many support groups, education, and counseling available to help deal patients with these difficulties. Just becareful of the online groups – they share a lot of mis-information.

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How to Avoid Weight Gain after Gastric Bypass

Gastric bypass is a procedure that leads to a significant bodyweight loss. About 75 to 90 percent of excess weight (or about 100 lbs.) is eliminated, thanks to this safe and effective surgery. Usually, weight loss occurs within a year and a half after the surgery. The procedure involves reducing the size of the stomach so that the patient will not be able to eat as much food as he did before the operation. That way, overeating and taking in calorie-rich foods are prevented. Despite that, and the success that often comes with it, some people will experience weight gain after gastric bypass surgery.

How to Avoid Weight Gain after Gastric Bypass

But unfortunately, Weight Gain after Gastric Bypass is possible several years after the weight loss surgery. Most patients keep on losing weight until achieving their ideal weight within one to three years after the procedure. Have you undergone weight loss surgery? You likely lose much weight in one year, only to have the excess weight back. That usually happens to patients who do not follow the recommended food intake and the necessary lifestyle changes following the surgery. Good thing, there are several steps you can do to avoid gaining weight ever again. Read on the following tips to get the most out of your weight loss surgery.

  • Stop eating when you are full. Eating more food than your stomach can hold will result in not only weight gain, but also a pain in the abdomen, vomiting, nausea, and dizziness. Also, avoid eating when you are not hungry.
  • Avoid going back to your old, unhealthy habits. Binging or comfort eating are just some of the causes of weight gain and obesity. Sure, old habits die hard. But if you cannot resist the urge to overeat, then your weight loss surgery is as good as useless.
  • Find some ways to deal with stress, anxiety, loneliness, and other emotions that lead to binge eating. Seek help from a professional such as a psychotherapist to be able to curb negative emotions that trigger constant food cravings.
  • Make sure to follow the diet plan designed for you. The diet recommended for people who have undergone weight loss surgery includes foods that are low in fat and sugar. Now, if you eat sugar- or fat-rich foods, then expect your weight to increase again.
  • Follow an exercise program. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight. You can do yoga, Pilates, aerobics, walking, jogging, and other physical activities to keep your body and mood in great shape.
  • See your doctor. If you notice that you are gaining weight at any point after your surgery, it is best to consult your doctor to determine the reasons for your weight gain. Your weight gain may be due to medical causes such as a disease, and the doctor can help you find solutions to stop the problem. On the other hand, some instances of weight gain after surgery are caused by a patient’s diet or fitness routine. Your doctor can also help you determine those problems and suggest changes or adjustments to your eating habits and regular workouts to stop your weight gain.
How to Avoid Weight Gain after Gastric Bypass

Remember, nothing beats a healthy diet and consistent exercise regime to make sure that you maintain an ideal healthy weight years after your gastric bypass surgery. Do not forget always to consult your doctor whenever you encounter health problems. Doing so gives you the peace of mind that you will not have to deal with obesity problems ever again.

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How to Reduce Blood Pressure Without Medication

As we get older, there are a ton of sicknesses and health risks that we need to consider. Blood Pressure is one of those things. Blood pressure is something that should not be too low, or too high. Things that could cause low blood pressure include blood loss from a wound or injury, being really cold or really hot, or even being extremely dehydrated. High blood pressure can be brought on by being overweight, unhealthy eating, or even stress. So many people end up taking medication, and then more medication for the side effects of that medication! Today I am going to be sharing with you ways to reduce your blood pressure, as well as regulate it on a day to day basis. It is possible when you know How to Reduce Blood Pressure Without Medication.
 How to naturally reduce your blood pressure

How to Reduce Blood Pressure Without Medication

Keep in mind that I am not a medical professional, and you should always consult with your doctor before taking on any diet or exercise program. These are just tried and true tips to start turning things in the right direction and without using medication.

Eat Healthy:

Healthy eating is not only great for the health of your body but also for your blood pressure! Try to eat as healthy and nutritious meals as you possibly can, this will help to maintain a healthy weight and allow your body to function properly. Resulting in your blood pressure staying a regular rate. A good rule ot thumb? If it comes out of a box or can, it probably shouldn’t go in your body.

Keep Stress Levels Down:

This is a tough one as often, certain situations are out of our control. Stress is one of the biggest factors when it comes to high blood pressure. It is essential that you keep your stress level down if you have high blood pressure or are at risk for high blood pressure. Being over stressed could result in worsening conditions such as a heart attack. Try to remain as calm as you possibly can and refrain from letting little things get you too upset.

Drink A Lot of Water:

Drinking a lot of water is another factor that plays into both your health and well being as well as your blood pressure. Not only does drinking a lot of water everyday help you to maintain a healthy weight or even loss weight, but it also helps to keep that blood pressure down. Who knew?

Exercise:

We should all be regularly active whether we are at risk for health concerns or not. Exercise is a great way to keep your body young, keep your body in shape, and actually helps you to enjoy life because exercise boosts your endorphins. This makes you feel good and live stress free!
 
Having high blood pressure is no fun and no one should have to deal with it. So in order to avoid this, take care of your body, eat healthy foods and drink plenty of water, and take the time to enjoy life and not become too stressed over things. Just remember that your body is a temple and you must care for it in the best way that you possibly can!
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Top 5 Healthy Diet Options For Women

Healthy Diet Options for women seem to be everywhere, but which ones really are healthy? As someone that has tried various diets in the past, I totally understand the appeal of finding a magic cure or solution to losing weight.  Whether it is a pill to take or a food to eliminate, the promise of dropping weight easily is appealing to most.  The problem is, not many of those are truly healthy.  So, I am sharing some tried and true healthy diet options that I know are not only safe but work.

Healthy Diet Options

Top 5 Healthy Diet Options For Women

To me, a healthy diet option is one that includes a focus on limiting intake while making sure what you do eat is nutrient dense.  This can in some cases eliminate a specific food group for various reasons, but typically has more of an “in moderation” approach overall.  I know that many have had success with ready-made meals, supplements, shakes, and similar items, but typically the results are not as typical.  Those programs also can come with some bad side effects that potentially cause long-term health complications.  Not all diet plans are bad, but the ones that I prefer are definitely lifestyle changes.

Before beginning any diet or exercise program, make sure to consult with your physician.  It is best to have a routine physical, blood work, and a regular checkup prior to making any dietary changes. This helps not only keep you safe should you need to eliminate some things from your diet (sugar, salt, cholesterol), but it also gives you a solid baseline to compare your results to periodically.

Weight Watchers:

Weight Watchers has been a popular diet method for many years.  Popular with women and men alike, the in-person groups are great for accountability.  Weight Watchers is low-cost to join and has multiple options for online and local group meetings, accountability, and chat forums. One of the best things about Weight Watchers is that they do not eliminate any food groups.  Everything is calculated and you are given a set number of points per day.  This means you can eat anything you want, you simply have to account for it.  However, the recent change to their program helps you to make wiser and healthier choices by calculating things like saturated fats to make those not so great food choices look less appealing.  I love the flexibility.  I also love the apps, calculators, tons of recipes, and ease of finding foods to fit into your daily plan almost anywhere.

Calorie Counting:

This goes back decades and is still a popular method for many to learn portion control.  Setting up a specific number of calories per day and making sure you calculate each food item and account for it helps you to learn better eating habits.  It definitely helps you to quickly determine which foods are worse choices.  You’ll see that a big bowl of carrot and celery slices with hummus is a must healthier choice than the donut for a snack. You will begin making healthier choices that are satisfying and stay within your calorie range for the day. It’s also simple to calculate as you learn to measure portion sizes of favorite foods.

Healthy Diet Options

Gluten-Free:  

In recent years the trend of eating gluten-free has gained popularity.  Primarily, this diet regimen is focused on those who have Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.  However, it has also gained a lot of popularity in the diet world since the elimination of a lot of common bread products tends to lead to easy weight loss.  While I am typically against eliminating any food group unless there is an allergy, eating a primarily gluten-free diet does seem to have a lot of health benefits, reduced inflammation, and can be healthy and easy to follow.

Whole 30:

I love the idea of the Whole 30 or Paleo diet.  This plan focuses on eating things that were available easily for the cave man centuries ago. It simply revolves around as little processing or refining as you can manage.  That means you are probably eating lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. You won’t be including processed products, many sauces that aren’t homemade, or added preservatives in your diet.  For some, this is a wonderful way to not only drop weight but to learn how to manage blood pressure and blood sugar with simple dietary changes.  I love the book, The Whole 30, as a great beginner resource.

Vegetarian:

This is another of the healthy diet options that does eliminate major food groups, however, the focus is not just on eliminating meat and dairy, but on feeding your body healthy options.  The term vegetarian can mean many things, and can be simply removing meats but continuing to keep dairy in our diet, or you can become vegan and eliminate all animal products entirely.  While this is much harder to follow, I find that the health benefits of getting to know your body and your own nutritional needs is a big part of this.  Most who adapt to a vegetarian diet, do so after a lot of research and truly understand what is needed.  This is, however, one diet where I would recommend meeting with a nutritionist or dietician to make sure you understand the best places to naturally get calcium and protein sources.  The New Becoming A Vegetarian is an old but updated resource with a ton of amazing information on beginning this journey.

As you are looking to get healthier and lose weight, these healthy diet options are a great place to begin.  I find that for most looking for a healthier life, changing what you put into your body is the best method.  You can easily find a plan that works for you and your lifestyle, as well as your health.

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Vitamins That Women Should Be Taking

It is so important to care for our bodies. It is our responsibility to provide ourselves with the nutrients our body needs to grow and stay healthy and to stay active and keep ourselves in shape. Sometimes we are unable to provide our bodies with all of its necessary nutrients from just the foods we eat. This is why we can make up for these nutrient deficiencies with vitamins! Today I am going to be sharing with you some of the essential vitamins that we as women should be taking on a day to day basis in order to keep us healthy and functioning properly.

Vitamins That Women Should Be Taking

Vitamins That Women Should Be Taking

Multivitamin:

A great way to get multiple forms of nutrients in one go is to use a multivitamin. They make multivitamins tailored specifically for women of all ages, whether that be a kids, teens, women’s, or even elderly women. Each is more catered to that specific woman and their age group.

Biotin:

Biotin is a great vitamin for promoting that healthy hair, skin, and nails that we all long for! It will keep your skin glowing and healthy, hair long and strong, and nails growing like crazy and strong to prevent nail breaks. Although this is not ESSENTIAL for women to have in their everyday routine, it does help to provide us with that healthy hair, skin, and nails that I stated before.

Vitamin D:

Vitamin D provides you with plenty of calcium that will lead to strong and healthy bones throughout  your body, including strong and healthy teeth. This will help to bring down the risk of breaking or fracturing a bone in your body as well as preventing cavities in your teeth.

Folic Acid:

Folic Acid is an amazing vitamin to take because it promotes healthy brain function as well as a healthy spinal cord, this is also a great one to take for your baby if you are pregnant because just like anything else you intake into your body while pregnant, the baby will get these vitamins and it will aid in the growth of your baby.

Vitamin E:

Vitamin E provides your body with the essential vitamins for healthy skin. Vitamin E will give your skin a nice, healthy glow, as well as preventing wrinkles and keeping it nice and firm.

It is important to keep ourselves healthy and happy at all times. Vitamins are absolutely essential to keep our bodies healthy and running, so be sure you are taking the ones necessary for your health!

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Bariatric Diet Tips for Satisfying Cravings

We all have some kind of food craving from time to time. Unfortunately, these cravings are usually for foods that ar very high in calories, fat, and sugar. Dealing with cravings is difficult for anyone, and it is very important to know whether a particular craving was physiologically or psychologically driven. Your body may be telling you of something it actually needs, or maybe the brain is just playing tricks with you. These Bariatric diet tips help satisfy cravings and keep you on track for success in your new lifestyle change.

Bariatric Diet Tips for Satisfying Cravings

Bariatric Diet Tips for Satisfying Cravings

The physiological cravings are usually caused by very poor protein intake, inadequate calorie intake or wrong kind of carbohydrates that can cause fluctuations in the blood sugar level of an individual. Psychological cravings, on the other hand, are mainly caused by stress and being over-tired. So it is very important to understand the root cause of your psychological cravings. You must maintain a food diary wherein you are supposed to write what you are eating and how much and how you are feeling? It will shed some light on the cause of these cravings. Here are a few tips on how to prevent a potential craving.

Do not skip meals

If you are skipping meals or your snack-time then you are putting yourself at risk for experiencing a kind of extreme hunger later on in the show. With cravings, there is also an increase in the number of unhealthy choices in food. You must give your body all that it needs before you start losing control.

Plan well ahead

You must take note of the time when your cravings strike. If the cravings mainly strike when you are hungry, then you must start eating healthy snacks between meals. The snacks must be carefully planned so that you can keep the hunger and the cravings at bay. The concept of portion control is also very vital here. Each of the snacks should be lower than 200 calories. Shoot for healthy choices like peppers and bean dip, hard-boiled eggs with a few multi grain crackers, fruit smoothies with protein powder, and yogurt with nuts or granola. Always blend a protein with a complex carbohydrate. Try these 100 Snacks And Appetizer Recipes For Meal Planning.

Stay fully hydrated

Dehydration is a leading cause of almost all kinds of cravings. This is because when we are not hydrated properly, our bodies start looking for a source of quick energy which we term as cravings. Sugar delivers a quick jolt of energy, but it lags far behind in terms of nutrition. It means that sugar plays a very minuscule role in supporting the biological functions of the body. One can make drinking water tastier by adding slices of fresh fruit or simple healthy garnishes to the water, like cucumber slices coupled with fresh mint leaves, or lemon juice with several organic orange slices. If you have undergone any kind of bariatric procedure then the concept of staying hydrated becomes extra important for you. The amount of water that your body needs will depend upon a host of factors like the activity level, age, and gender. I have 10 Water Infusion Recipes for you here.

Bariatric Diet Tips for Satisfying Cravings

The balance needs to be maintained

Protein remains the topmost priority in almost all our meals but it is also very important to include some healthy carbohydrates like fruits, and whole grains, along with healthy fats like peanut butter and olive oil. You need to consider your present dietary stage in case you have recently undergone bariatric surgery. We all go through the same stages: liquid diet, pureed food, soft food, and then gradually back to things like salads and ground beef.

Resist the sweets

Let’s face it, these might have helped get you to the point that you needed the gastric surgery! Resisting the sweets can be a tough proposition, and we suggest that it is not a good idea to deprive yourself of the food that you love. Try intuitive eatting instead, so you may indulge in very small servings of the desired treat. For example, if you are craving for chocolate, then you can have a small piece of dark chocolate. Try to avoid that so-called sugar-free candy, as it has a very high-fat content and it contains lots of calories. It seems like it should be heathier, right?

Avoid the problem places

Is there a certain place that triggers you? When you have a very strong craving, you must try your best not to move towards those places where resisting something will be a very big challenge. This may include places like a fast-food restaurant you used to frequent, those office vending machines in the early afternoon, and the food court in the shopping malls. Those people with the free smaple trays can really suck you in and the next thing you know? You are looking at a plate of Chinese food that has 1,500 plus calories while being high in fat.

Learn to control your hunger

When you are in the process of establishing a regular meal pattern, you need to strictly rely on eating by the clock rather than eating according to hunger. It is common to loose that ability to be “hungry” after surgery, so the clock is your friend. This helps keep your metabolism stronger, and you will be burning calories more efficiently. This will ensure that you remain in full control of your hunger pangs or the cravings.

In our food-rich society, it is natural that you will be bombarded with great choices of both healthy and unhealthy foods. When you follow a regular meal pattern then you will be in better control of your cravings.

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The Top 5 Healthiest Fast Food Joints and What to Eat

I know, it seems like an oxymoron when you say the phrase: healthiest fast food. Fast food is often revered as being unhealthy, and for the most part, it can be. There is a lot of deep frying, stuffing with cheese, and loads of fat, calories, and sodium that goes into many fast food options. Luckily, there are also some that are known for their healthier options, even if you aren’t talking about the entire menu.

The Top 5 Healthiest Fast Food Joints and What to Eat

These are some of the healthiest fast food joints to choose when other options aren’t available during your travels.

  1. Chick-fil-A

Surprisingly enough, the fast food restaurant with your favorite chicken is on the list! Chick-fil-A is great about using ingredients fresh that doesn’t contain a lot of preservatives or artificial ingredients. They make the food healthy each day and everything on the menu is free of trans fats.

Chicken sandwiches are okay, but the bread and cheese might be a bit much depending on how healthy you want to be. A better option is the chicken salad or grilled chicken nuggets.

  1. Chipotle

This one is probably not quite as surprising since many people know about the fresh ingredients and healthy options offered at Chipotle. Nearly all of their options are healthy, so this depends on your limitations, such as wanting to go low-fat, vegetarian, or low-carb. Choose a bowl if you want to lower the calories and carbs, or go with a salad. You can choose the grilled chicken and vegetables, rice, and any toppings you like.

  1. Panera Bread

If you are traveling somewhere that has a Panera Bread, you’re in luck! This looks like a diner, but it is actually more considered fast food. You order at the counter, then find your seat or have it to-go, but it doesn’t offer a drive-thru.

At Panera, choose any of their salads, sandwiches, or soups. Their chicken is hormone and antibiotic-free and they offer the choice of an apple instead of chips with sandwiches.

  1. McDonald’s

Yes, you can eat healthy at McDonald’s! The huge fast food chain is just about everywhere you go, so it’s important to figure out what you can eat. At McDonald’s, the general rule of thumb is to skip the burgers and fish and go for the grilled chicken. You can either eat it with the bun or go bunless to have it wrapped in a lettuce leaf for an even healthier option. Choose apple dippers on the side instead of French fries, or go for one of their salads instead.

subway restaurant sign

  1. Subway

When you are craving a sandwich, you are sure to find a Subway around the corner. The main benefit of Subway is that you choose how your sandwich is made. Load it up with veggies and skip the cheese, or add some avocado for some good fats.

You can also get your sandwich in a flat bread for reduced carbs, or turn any sandwich into a salad to skip the bread altogether.

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