Your Monday Challenge:

So half of the year has passed now. Did you make any resolutions this year? How’s it going?

44% of us resolve to lose weight and 45% of us resolve to eat better. This week I’d like to help you get back on track Here are five things to consider if you are having trouble staying on track:

1. Using oils in dressings and when cooking. Contrary to what most people think, olive oil does not have some magical quality that makes us healthier when we consume it. What olive oil, and other vegetable oils, do have is 120 calories per serving (1 Tablespoon) with no added nutritional value. Oil is fat, pure and simple, and when we eat or cook with oil we are unnecessarily adding nutrient poor, calories to our diet. Its easy to cook without oils or fats when you learn how to steam fry your foods.

2. Eating Out. Did you know that chain restaurants actually have scientists working in menu development? Their job is to figure out how to make foods taste so good that we crave them and want more. They usually accomplish this by adding salt, oil, and sugar to the recipe and the cooking process. Next time you have a “healthy” meal from a restaurant, take a moment to consider what you are really eating. Does your entrée come with a sauce or dressing? Chances are good that its loaded with sugar and salt. And the entree is likely cooked with plenty of oil and other types of fat added after cooking. These calories add tons of flavor to our foods without providing nutrients. They are highly palatable – meaning we really, really like them and then we eat way too much. Make it a point to cook and eat at home more. Plan ahead and bring your lunch.

3. Drinking your calories. Does your coffee or tea only taste good with syrup or sugar? Take a look at the amount of sugar in a large sweet iced tea from the ever popular Chick-Fil-A and you’ll see that you are washing down your salad with 43 grams of sugar. This means that cup of iced tea has 10.75 teaspoons of sugar. OUCH! Watch out for soda, flavored waters, energy drinks, and even fruit drinks which are all loaded with sugar with no nutritional value. Keep away from sugar substitutes like aspartame and sucralose – not only can they be toxic but studies have shown that using these no calorie sweeteners just make us crave more sweets. Wean yourself off the sugar laden beverages and start drinking more water and herbal teas.

4. Skipping breakfast. Do you skip breakfast or have just a quick bite? You’re probably doing yourself a disservice. A recent study observed two groups of people eating the same amount of calories throughout the day (both had 1400 calories daily). The first group had breakfast as their biggest meal of the day (700c), followed by a good lunch (500c), and a light dinner (200c). The second group had a light breakfast (200c), a good lunch (500c), and dinner was the biggest meal of their day (700c). The group that consumed the larger breakfast lost 2.5 times more weight than the larger dinner group and lost over four more inches around the waist. That’s worth a try, right?

5. Eating Processed foods. Eat foods whole (as they are found in nature). Eat the whole grain not the bread made with flour processed from the grain. Eat the orange, skip the juice. Swap in brown rice or quinoa for white rice. Whole foods are nutrient dense which means they are filled with intact fiber, water, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. There is a synergy in the way nature creates food which benefit us tremendously.

Your challenge this week is to identify a bad habit that is keeping you from your goals and work on changing it this week.

Do you have any of these habits? Or any others that are holding you back from your goals?

Post in the comments below and let me know.

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Healthy in a Hurry

Coming soon - 3 Ways to Tofu & Let’s Get Saucy

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