Welcome to the PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD BLOG! 

~  Let's get healthy by enjoying our food and having FUN eating, cooking and even shopping!  Check in daily to see new posts with Tips on how to Lose Weight, Become FIT and give your Family foods they will LOVE eating! 

Small Changes Add Up

Here are more great ideas that will cut calories from your daily intake, possibly without your even noticing:

1.     Downsize Your Dishes. Use smaller plates and bowls to help you eat less. We tend to fill up the dish we’re using and then eat it all. Our brains also think we are getting more when the same amount of food is placed in a smaller dish.

2.     Savor Your Meals. Eating slowly helps you consume only what your body needs to feel satisfied. Eating too quickly, in less than 20 to 30 minutes, leads to overeating and feeling uncomfortably full afterwards.

3.     Leave Some Food on Your Plate. This is especially important if you grew up in the “clean plate club.” By leaving even a few bites, you can focus more on your internal signals of satisfaction and less on eating food just because it is there.

4.     Don’t Eat Out of a Bag or Box. When you eat out of a package, you are likely to keep eating until it’s all gone – no matter how many servings the package actually contains. Pour one serving into a small bowl.

5.     Choose Your Glass Wisely. Here’s another place where our eyes play tricks on us. When glasses are short and wide, we tend to fill them with more fluid and to drink more. Use a slender glass for any beverage except water.

6.     Rethink Your Drinks. High-calorie beverages like soft drinks, juice drinks, energy drinks, specialty coffees and alcohol add calories just like solid foods. Whenever possible, replace these drinks with plenty of water.

Let me stress how TRUE #4 is!!  Do not eat out of a bag...I go even further to say that your menu selections should not include processed foods...items that come in a box and bag.  START thinking about nutritional content ~ most processed foods have very little!  Even if the calorie count is low, if the nutritional value is low, the body does little with it but turn it into fat. 

Snacks: 

AVOID: packaged snacks...even low fat ones!  they are usually loaded with sugar and salt

Eat:  fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, trail mix*, eggs, baked potato, protein bar low in sugar and fat = kashi or luna bars are best!

Drink a protein drink that you made yourself with protein mix, water,  and frozen fruit

* I make my own trail mix =  raw almonds, raisins, dark chocolate chips, pecans

This is a great snack when you want something sweet but it is nutritional rich!