I love to eat at restaurants. But being a nutrition writer, I know that what typically makes restaurant food taste so good is lots of fat (and bloat-inducing salt). Even that healthy-looking grilled fish is likely topped with a good-sized smear of butter. But who wants to cook every night? We all deserve to dine out once in a while. I’m at a healthy weight even though my family eats out a lot — so here are my tips for dining out without gaining weight.

Share. There’s a dessert at Longhorn that’s delicious — but it consists of two full-sized pieces of chocolate cake surrounded by several scoops of vanilla ice cream. (Oh yes, and whipped cream.) While we rarely order dessert, if we do we always split it among three or even four people. Another way to use this tactic: Order one fewer dishes than there are people at the table and share. For example, if there are four of you at a Chinese restaurant, you can order three (healthy!) dishes so you each get to taste everything without going overboard.

Watch out for watch words. No matter what the cuisine, words like crispy, smothered, fried and golden brown signal lots of fat and should make you head the other way.

Order sides. At one restaurant we frequent, I used to order the salmon — which included a salmon fillet and a salad anda baked potato and rice. I would eat until I was stuffed, and there would still be food left over. Then, one day, a friend said to me, “Why don’t you just order side dishes?” So now I typically order a salad and a baked potato and that’s plenty to fill me up. (When I’m feeling especially virtuous, I get the baked potato dry instead of with sour cream.)

Instead of sides, you could also order two appetizers; many restaurants now offer boiled pot-stickers with a dipping sauce, shrimp skewers, or other healthier apps.

By the way, this tip is perfect for vegetarians who go out to eat with non-veg friends. So many restaurants have a sorry selection of meat-free meals, but you can almost always put together a nice meal out of sides and appetizers.

Box it up. I mentioned this tip in my post Sneaking Health Into Your Day : When you order a meal, ask the server to box up half of it before bringing it to you. That way you’re not tempted by the mounds of food on your overflowing plate even after you feel full. Bring home the other half and you’ll have dinner tomorrow too!

Skip the soda. There are 155 calories in one 12-ounce serving of Coke, and something like 12 teaspoons of sugar. If you’re eating out, why not treat yourself to some wine, which has heart-healthy benefits, plus fewer calories and less sugar than soda? One serving of Sauvignon Blanc has 119 calories .

Just ask. I once went out to a restaurant with a fitness model-slash-personal trainer. Even though it wasn’t on the menu, she asked the server for grilled chicken breast with no added fat, plain steamed broccoli, and a dry baked potato. The chef was happy to oblige. You’ll never know if you can get healthy options unless you ask — and if enough people ask, more restaurants will start to offer them. Try asking for meats cooked without added fats, salads served with dressing on the side, crudité plates with fresh veggies, smaller servings (even if you have to pay full price), and veggies that are steamed instead of fried.

Okay, now you have the tools to get a healthy restaurant meal that won’t wreck your weight-loss efforts. Try them the next time you go out!

Stay healthy,

Linda

 Make Over Your Drinks

I don’t eat much in the way of sweets — store-bought cookies are not at all tempting, and whenever we make a homemade dessert like cake or brownies, my husband and I tend to eat one serving and let the rest go stale. But drinks are my downfall. I just love Pepsi, extra-sweet iced tea, lemonade, hot cocoa, and sweet milky chai — not to mention sugar in my tea and coffee. Even healthy-seeming orange juice packs in a lot of calories.

And guess what else? I don’t like water. So replacing all the baddies with H2O isn’t going to cut it for me.

So what’s good (besides plain water?). Well, seltzer water, unsweetened teas and coffees (preferably black or with low-fat or non-fat milk), water or seltzer with a splash of juice or a slice of lemon or lime, and low-fat protein drinks all make the cut. (Protein drinks have calories, but they’re functional drinks: You need the calories to get you through a workout and the protein to boost your results. They also serve as meal- and snack-replacements, while most people drink Coke and other sweet beverages in addition to a full day’s worth of food calories.)

To make over my drink profile, I started by cutting the sugar out of my tea and coffee. It’s a small change that has big impact, since I tended to pile three teaspoons of sugar into each cup of coffee or tea. It took a few days, but now the sweet stuff tastes strange to me and the healthier options taste better!

I then replaced Pepsi at restaurants with unsweetened iced tea. I don’t love iced tea without sugar, but it still beats water. I save the soda for a rare treat, just as if it were dessert (and it kind of is dessert when you think about how much sugar is in there!).

Then there are the lemonade, chai, hot cocoa, and Thai iced tea (which has sugar and half-and-half). I don’t want to deprive myself of everything I love, so I try to keep it to one sweetened beverage per day. The rest of the time, I drink unsweetened tea, iced tea, and coffee.

Can these small changes really work? Here’s how it plays out. Say you used to have one can of Coke and three cups of coffee or tea with two teaspoons sugar each every day. There are 155 calories in a 12-ounce can of Coke. One teaspoon of sugar has 16 calories. One can of Coke and six teaspoons of sugar add up to 203 calories per day through beverages. That’s 74,095 calories in a year. It takes 3,500 calories to make a pound, so if you cut out those beverages and do nothing else, you’ll lose 21 pounds in a year. That’s no small potatoes (or should I say small Coke)!

Do you drink your calories? Have you done anything to move towards less caloriffic choices such as water or unsweetened beverages? I’d love to know. Please post in the Comments below!

I hope this finds you well.

One more pound off. I was trying to figure out why my weight loss slowed whey down. The only thing I can think of was I was trying to get my protein in by adding more powders and that added more calories. I have to make adjustments to get enough protein but not the extra calories. I will cut out the cheese for snack. 2 pounds to my below 270 mark… I can do it!

Got to watch the live finally tomorrow on the Biggest Loser! I will write more after the show.

I’ll talk again soon.
 

Camille

I know you cried…don’t lie…lol. This week, “Biggest Loser” touched my heart. Mike’s brother crying because of his weight. I sure can relate. I am amazed at the weight these people have lost in 15 weeks, just awesome. Like Tara said they are lucky and blessed to have this opportunity. It is really neat that we get to witness their success and see that it is possible. I know I have lost weight this week but I am not going to tell you until Monday hehehehe… but it is good friends, very good.

If you are new to this site…please take advantage of Designer Whey’s Free Healthy Diet Program. It is worth it! I can personally attest to that. Part of my eating plan I include the weight control powders along with the lite and lean powders. I love seeing my progress and seeing how many calories I ate for the day then comparing to the movement I made. If you don’t know, one pound equals 3500 calories so if you burn that amount per day you could potentially lose a pound a day! The Biggest Losers burn 7000 calories a day (not recommended with out a trainer and your doctor) that is why they can lose 10 or more pounds a week.

I am fired up again friends, determined to keep on this path to a lighter me. I hope you are too. Keep moving forward, keep making healthy choices for yourself…you are so worth it.

Take care,

Camille

I am on day 3 of my detox regimen. Its going pretty good. Day one I ate only fruits, not so bad, I like a variety of fruits. Day two I ate only vegetables. That was a little harder, I don’t like as many veggies. Plus, in the detox regimen you can make French onion soup (no bread or cheese of course) loaded with any veggies your heart desires, except potatoes. You can eat the soup at anytime with the days food plan. Today was mixed vegetables and fruits. The only side effect of eating French onion soup every day, several times a day is… well… when you pass gas it smells like onion soup! LOL. I keep waiting for this huge movement but it has not happened yet. I hope it will be one of those ‘ah ha’ moments, lol.

What’s interesting is I am not craving sugar at all! So that tells me I definitely need more fruit in my diet. I think I consumed so much fruit (which we know is nature’s sugar) that I did not need to crave the candy. Maybe when you crave sugar you simply need to add more fruit to your diet.

I did have a glass of my Lite and Lean powder before I cleaned house. I felt I needed it to make it through four hours of cleaning. Good thing its only 30 calories. My daughter is a trooper; she is following it to the tee. Except she keeps saying she can’t wait until Saturday to eat the donut she put in the freezer from a school party. I do have to hand it to her for not eating the donut, she stuck to her plan. I think I will encourage her to cut in thirds and eat only 1/3. I guess… don’t know. What do you say to not offend you teen daughter??? I did tell her to eat a protein bar before track practice. Maybe that is why she is not having hunger pangs.

Today I cleaned house for four hours straight, walked the dogs then went swimming. I swam 10 laps, back stoke taking a breather between laps, just for a minute.  I take my kids with me to the pool. They are always trying to beat me. They get close, but this big ol’ mama still can out swim them. Well, for one lap anyway. I am sure I could not beat them 2 laps in a row but we will keep that secret to us right…friends????

I hope this finds you healthier then yesterday. Don’t forget to drink your whey every day!

Camille

Our church is having a diet and nutrition course for the next few weeks. I am learning a lot and thought I would share with you all what I have learned in just one session.

To stop cravings – eat every 3 hours small meals that include protein.

Exercise: How much and how long – You only need 30 minutes a day of cardio. Cardio is simply raising your heart rate higher then your sitting heart rate. Here is something interesting… you do not need to do 30 minutes in a row. I never seem to fit in 30 minutes a day then felt bad but if you do 3 – 10 minute work outs or even if you start out doing 5 minutes – 6 times a day that works! You can jog in place, jump rope, dance, rebound or anything that will get your heart rate above your sitting rate even… sex… LOL. OK, now run home and tell your husband its exercise time!

You need 1 hour each week strength training – it does not take very many pounds for strength. 2 – 5 pound weights is great! Carry a weight in your car and do bicep curls driving…ummm… one arm at a time! You can use soup cans or water bottles. I say use water bottles that you refill then after you are done doing reps, drink the water!

You need flexibility every day – stretching, bend touch your toes when you get out of bed, stand up from your computer. Practice flexibility anytime. Just get some stretching in wherever you can. That’s it to stay fit.

It’s best to exercise …ANYTIME! Morning does revs up your metabolism and helps keep it going all day.

The figure below is how to figure out how many calories you need to lose 1 pound a week just by your food intake. **Add exercise and you lose more!

1. Add 655 to this calculation 4.35 X Weight in Pounds
2. Add your answer to this calculation 4.7 X Height in inches
3. Subtract your answer to this calculation 4.7 X age
4. Subtract 500 calories

This equals the number of calories you need to take in each day to lose 1 pound a week. Not doing anything but this formula you could lose 52 pounds a year!

My weight is 278, Height 69 inches and I am 41
655 + 1209.3 (4.35 X 278) + 324.3 (4.7 X 69) – 192.7 (4.7 X 41) – 500 = 1495.9 calories a day. (1500 is close enough!)

To figure out how much water you need to drink a day it’s your weight divided by 2. My weigh is 278, I should be drinking 139 oz of water a day… whoa sure will be pee’n a lot! That’s over a gallon a day! That is hard to see doing but I think I will make it a goal to drink a gallon of water a day… Or lose weight so I don’t have to drink that much!

I hope this helps you with your weight loss journey. Start with figuring out your resting heart rate add a little more movement every day and before you know it you will have worked yourself up to 30 minutes of cardio a day. I will close for now…

Until next time… Camille from Michigan

I hope you had a great weekend.

My kids are great kids. Typical kids but fun and a joy. As they get older I want to be able to keep up and prevent the path of obesity that I jumped on. It’s important to teach our kids to be healthy. Dr. Phil had a show about obese kids with obese mothers and told one mother, “You don’t have the right to NOT teach your kids to be healthy” Whoa…that’s a slap in the face! He is right…our kids learn what we teach them. They eat the foods we buy, they learn to like the foods we serve or allow them to eat; like McDonalds and such. Did you know that some of McDonalds Happy Meal combos can rate over 1000 calories?

Like most kids my kids can be relentless when they want something to eat. I give them good things to choose from. I always have fresh fruit, nuts, carrots, whole grain cereal available so when my kids nag me about how ’starved’ they are, they have some healthy choices. I should feed myself like I feed my kids and if I played like my kids I would not have an obesity problem….hmmm something to think about. Maybe the next time I tell my kids, “go outside and play” I should do the same!

Have you tried the bottled Protein Blitz products? I did and for the energy I liked it a lot. Though I did not care for how sweet the product is, I can certainly see its benefits. Because of the how I felt after drinking Protein Blitz I took an empty bottle poured half of the Protein Blitz into it, added water, and then drank them both. I got the benefits of the Protein Blitz plus the extra water did not hurt either. If you have not tried the Protein Blitz you are missing out and all I got to say about that is WTF…lol

Have a great week!

Camille

When I was in my 20’s I could party all night, close down the bar so to speak, get up go work a double and do it all over again. But now it’s like I have been there, done that in that phase in life and really don’t care to relive it. It seemed fun back then but now I have to get up tomorrow and I don’t like the after party feeling the next day any more… if you know what I mean.

At the coffee shop my husband made a comment that has stuck in my head. We were talking about what’s to come in the next 25 years, our kids grown, college, marriages, grand kids…I will be 66 and my husband will be 76. Its not a question of where will we be in life in the next 25 years; it’s a question of will we be alive in 25 years…whoa that is scary. I am not afraid of what will happen after I die, I know where I am going. My biggest fear is the actual process of dieing. I do not want to go through it. I do not want to take my last breath. I do not want to submit to having the beat of my heart stop. I fear having to experiencing that moment between taking my last breath and waiting to come back to life in eternity. What will it be like, will it be silent and dark, or will I be aware of the surroundings. I guess that is something in life and death that is only to be know when it happens. I hope it won’t happen anytime soon.

In biblical times people lived way beyond the common years of our time. People lived beyond 100 years to 900 years maybe more. That makes me believe that it is still possible to live that long. We have to take a look at how people back then lived and try to live that way. Things that come to mind are. They walked every where, they ate the foods of the season, they went to bed when the sun went down and got up when the sun rose again, they meditated, they stuck together, they worked together, they loved each other… so maybe if I, and you, implemented the things people of that time we could extend our lives beyond what anyone would have believed.

Have a great week friends, until next time…

Camille