Heavy Duty Light-Weight Meal Planning

Posted on March 16, 2007 in Fitness by byronb

Recent studies show that extended periods between meals can increase sensitivity to sweet and salty tastes, making us first crave them and then binge on them.  Essentially, by denying ourselves things like potato chips, snack cakes and other junk food, we end up defeating ourselves.  However, a combination of steadily-timed light meals and healthy sweet snacks can keep your energy up and help quell those cravings for Twinkies.

Light meals boost your metabolism without making you feel as slow or sluggish as a heavier meal can.  A light chicken salad will keep you alert for the rest of your work day, where a cheeseburger and fries will have you wanting a nap a few hours later.

Also, light meals and snacks make it easier for you to lose those pesky pounds.  Though it seems counter-intuitive, eating more frequently can help you lose weight.  When you’re not going through long stretches of hunger, you have less urge to stuff yourself when you finally find food.

It can be hard to get away from infrequent, heavy meals.  Fast food restaurants and vending machines make it all too easy to snack whenever we get hungry and at nicer establishments, the portions tend to be large.

There are lots of tips to eating lighter meals, and the ones below can help you get started.

• One major step towards lightening your meals (and you weight!) is to plan your meals.  If you make a list of the groceries that you need, you can combine the ingredients in new ways to make altogether new meals.  One real convenience available to the modern busy person is the internet; some services will deliver your groceries to your door for a small fee.  Save time and money, and eat better as well!
• Salads!  Forget your iceberg lettuce disappointments.  Salads are versatile and can be complete meals on their own if you get creative. Sprinkling some shredded chicken can make a salad more filling and if you skip the French or Thousand Island and replace it with a healthy vinaigrette, you add zest and lose calories.
• Bread!  Using starch as a basis of a meal gives it some heft without making it as heavy as using pasta or noodles.  Small loaves of bread rather than sliced loaves make for an interesting change and buying wheat and wholegrain instead of white cuts a surprising amount of sugar out of your diet.
• Don’t forget dessert.  There is no reason to remove healthy sugars from your diet; in fact, it can be harmful.  Even for those of us who don’t have a die-hard sweet tooth, the urge to reach for a candy bar can be pretty overwhelming.  Finishing up your meal with a fruit cup or a granola bar can help you satisfy that sweet craving without breaking out the Twinkies.

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