Alternative Lifestyles

So, progress is a slow thing. We can see this in our society, our government, our education, and the progress we strive for individually. My own progress with getting back into shape and down to a healthy weight has been just that, a slow thing.

However in recent months I've made changes and decisions everyday to help me achieve my goals, and making those new and different steps towards my goal have actually sped up my progress. Though some days it feels that I'll always be a looming shadow of my former self, recently I've noticed progress!! It's come in a smaller number on the scale (I'm down 17lbs!! 131.6!!), fitting into a pair of pre-pregnancy pants(given they were my fat pants lol), and noticing that once again I'm having to buy a new pair of pants!

These little steps I've taken each day are paying off. In our instant-gratification obsessed world it is easy to hope for quick fixes and short cuts, but delaying gratification to obtain realistic and amazing results with time and hard work feels soo much better in the long run.

Today I'd like to talk about one of my "small steps"; Healthy Alternatives!

There are things you can do each day to reduce your intake of calories and put you on the path to success!!

Eating out:

Eating out can mean a world of pitfalls for people on a diet! Even so called "healthy alternatives" at your local fast food resturants still can mean almost half your daily allowance of calories!!

Here in Oregon one of my partner andmy favorite restaurants is Burgerville;

(sidenote: At the beginning of getting back into shape I decided to return to my former vegetarian lifestyle. This is a demonstration of how even that can have pitfalls!)

Burgerville is WONDERFUL enough to have their nutrition facts included on their website and I recommend that if you know you are going to be eating out please look at the nutrition of their food, what you find might surprise you!

I used to always get the Spicy Blackbean Anazazi Burger. I thought, okay it is a garden burger how could it not be healthy choice? Well here is the breakdown!!

The Colossal Cheeseburger: 540 Calories

Tillamook Cheeseburger: 640 Calories

Spicy Blackbean Anazazi Burger: 680 CALORIES!!!!!!!!!!

When I saw that I about fainted!! So much for eating healthy!! So instead I usually get the Rogue River Blue Cheese salad w/ basalmic (which is INCREDIBLE and filling), but if I do have some extra calories to throw around what I get now is the White Bean basil burger which has only 490 calories. Pheeww!!!

This demonstration shows how important it is to be educated on what you are eating, and seeing through the gimics.

There are small things you can do, for example:

Subway?? how about swapping out the traditional mayo & mustard for the significantly lower calorie honey mustard dressing or even better just a sprinkling of EVOO and Balsamic Vinegar.

Where ever you are never be afraid to ask for light amounts of condiments or cheese.

Another helpful tip is to leave off condiments like cheese and sour cream to your favorite Mexican food and add more salsa! Salsa with it's spicyness is low calorie, tasty, and said to help kick start the metabolism anyway!

Teriyaki eaters? How about ditching the sugary sweet teriyaki flavor and going with some low cal tamari or soy sauce with some sriracha? Another way to reduce caloric intake is to ask for less rice or yakisoba noodles and more veggies!

If you are eating pasta at home try swapping out your traditional pasta with whole grain pasta or quinoa pasta, which pack a lot more bang for your calorie-buck! Another absolutely AMAZING pasta alternative is Spaghetti squash!! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spaghetti-Squash-I/Detail.aspx this recipe is INCREDIBLE! Even my carnivorous boyfriend loves it! .. infact I think I'll make it tonight!!

Love Parmesan cheese? try nutritional yeast which has a nice cheesy flavor for more vitamins and minerals and less cholesterol and calories.

Another one of my favorite alternatives is when eating raw veggies, instead of dipping them in high calorie ranch or another dressing, try just a nice dousing of Balsamic Vinegar!

Balsamic vinegar is also a great alternative for any salad dressing!

and when eating your toast in the morning swap out your traditional butter or margerine for some cream cheese, which usually has a less amount of calories but also has some protein!! Taste great too!!

A scrabbled egg has 75 calories, but you can scramble 2 egg whites for only 50 calories, and no cholesterol!

There are MANY MANY more ways of taking that extra second to think about another healthier option. These are just to get you thinking about what you can do today to help you avoid that demon called "instant gratification" and accomplish those goals!!

One Love my peeps!!

Laura