Fast and Easy Healthy Cooking Tips

September 29, 2014

Losing weight and eating right can be challenging, but ease some of the burden with these healthy cooking tips.

If you’re looking to lose weight or just adopt a healthy lifestyle, cooking food from scratch is a must.  While there are many “diet” foods on the market, like frozen dinners, they often have long ingredients lists filled with unpronounceable words.  The best way to control your food and ensure it is wholesome and nutritious is to cook it yourself.

Many people think of healthy food as boring or bland.  They focus on what they can’t have, rather than experimenting with ways to make it taste great.  Try some of these easy healthy cooking tips and see how much more enjoyable eating healthy can be.

• Stick with lean proteins like chicken and turkey breast, fish, pork tenderloin, beef top sirloin, or bison.
• Build flavor with fresh and dried herbs, spices, citrus juice and zest, and vinegar.
• Non-fat Greek yogurt can be used in many different ways including in salad dressings, dips, sauces, even as a sour cream substitute on chili, tacos, or a baked potato.
• Try adding puréed or finely minced vegetables (carrot, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, etc.) to extra lean ground beef, chicken or turkey to add flavor, bulk and moisture.  Then use the mixture for making meatballs or stuffing into bell peppers, mushrooms, or cabbage leaves.
• Invest in a spiralizer to cut vegetables into “noodles.”  This makes a delicious, healthy substitute for pasta.
• Skip the oil and sauté or stir-fry in a few tablespoons of low sodium broth or even water.  Save your fat servings for when it really counts, like extra virgin olive oil on your salad or a little grass-fed butter on your multi-grain toast.
• When you do use oil, MEASURE IT!  You’ll be surprised how you only need a teaspoon or two in something.
• To add flavor, and to help tenderize, marinate your meats with citrus juice or vinegar, fresh herbs and spices.  Use a very small amount of oil (measured!) if you like or skip it and add a few tablespoons of water instead.  This is a much better option than using bottled marinades that are full of salt, sugar and fat.
• Cut way back on your salt intake.  Look for low-sodium broths, canned tomatoes, beans, and condiments like soy sauce.  Use salt substitutes or “lite salt” blends.
• Get a kitchen scale and weigh all your proteins (4 to 6 ounces per serving) and measure your portions of good carbs like brown rice, sweet potato, beans, and quinoa (half-cup serving).

 

Don’t forget one of the most important pieces of the healthy lifestyle puzzle; exercise!  Pogamat is great for your at-home fitness programs, yoga, pilates, cardio and strength training, plyometrics and so much more!

The post Fast and Easy Healthy Cooking Tips appeared first on Pogamat.

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

---

Also in Pogamat blog