Nutrition and Weight Loss Ideas

Anyone who is working on their nutrition and weight loss program needs to pay close attention to the methods they use to prepare the food they eat.

The primary objective for food preparation is to keep the vitamins and nutrients in the food, not lose them through a cooking method. The methods you should try to avoid are frying, boiling, sauteing and, (sorry folks!) microwaving.

Some of the better cooking methods are steaming, and stir-frying. Steaming is especially good when preparing vegetables. You don’t have to add any oils or fats, and steaming the vegetables allows all the nutrients to remain in the food rather than be lost as they would be with boiling. Stir-frying works along the same lines in that the food is cooked quickly thereby keeping the vitamin and minerals from being cooked away.

Another aspect of the cooking process is what you add to the food as you cook. Of course, the main offender is salt. It is much better to let people add their own seasonings as some people may have sensitivities to salt — or may have blood pressure problems where salt intake has to be reduced. There are also several substitutes for salt that contain beneficial nutrients of their own. You want to stay away from saturated fats or sugars in your preparations. Use olive oil or Splenda if you need to use these as additives. Using fresh herbs and spices can also add flavors that will make your mouth water.

Even though we do cook much of what we eat, we want to be sure that we always include fresh fruits and vegetables with our meals. These are not cooked and are loaded with good nutrients. Have fresh salads with fresh veggies in them and enjoy some fresh (not canned) fruit for your desserts. If you have to use canned fruits for some reason, be sure to get the variety that has no added sugar.

Don’t hesitate to use cookbooks that focus on healthy meals for your recipes. The internet is also a great place to find nutritious meal plans and recipes.

You can accomplish so many of the benefits of good nutrition and find that losing weight and keeping it off will come more easily once your cooking methods are on track.

If you find that being able to always prepare good healthy meals just doesn’t fit into your schedule as often as it should, you can always add a good supplement to your diet. Here is some information about the nutritional supplements I add to my nutrition and weight loss program. These have helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I’m not kidding. I urge you to click on the links in the box below — you won’t be sorry!

Have a great and healthy day. I’ll be back soon with some more nutrition and weight loss thoughts for you.

And give the South Beach program a try. Not only is the food good, but the methods of preparation fit right into a good healthy lifestyle. That’s what I follow and it sure has worked for me. Here’s where to go to learn more:

Shanti,

Ron
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