The Hungry Girl Diet: Big Portions. Big Results. Drop 10 Pounds in 4 Weeks (19 page)
Read The Hungry Girl Diet: Big Portions. Big Results. Drop 10 Pounds in 4 Weeks Online
Authors: Lisa Lillien
Caramel Apple Crunchcake DESSERT FIX!
97 calories, 1.5g fat, 75mg sodium, 17.5g carbs, 1g fiber, 7.5g sugars, 3.5g protein
2 tablespoons light/low-fat ricotta cheese
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
1 drop vanilla extract
1 full-sized caramel-flavored rice cake
¼ cup thinly sliced apple
Dash cinnamon
In a small bowl, mix ricotta, sweetener, and vanilla extract until uniform.
Spread ricotta mixture onto the rice cake. Top with apple and cinnamon. Yum!
Cannoli Bites DESSERT FIX!
97 calories, 3g fat, 147mg sodium, 14g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 7g sugars, 4.5g protein
2½ tablespoons light/low-fat ricotta cheese
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
1 drop vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 caramel-flavored mini rice cakes
In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, sweetener, and vanilla extract until uniform. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spread ricotta mixture onto the rice cakes. Eat!
Supplemental Snacks
If you are 75 or more pounds overweight, have a vigorous exercise routine, or feel the approximate 1,300-calorie level is too aggressive for you, consider adding one of the following supplemental snacks to your day (in addition to your three daily snacks) …
* 100 calories’ worth of fruit (see
HG’s Fruit Chart
) with 6 ounces fat-free plain Greek yogurt
* 100 calories’ worth of fruit (see
HG’s Fruit Chart
) with ½ ounce almonds or pistachios (about 12 almonds or 24 pistachios)
* 3 ounces (about 6 slices) no-salt-added turkey breast with 100 calories’ worth of veggies (see
HG’s Veggie Chart
)
LIFE AFTER THE FOUR-WEEK PLAN!
(CONTINUED WEIGHT LOSS, MAINTENANCE, AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES)
Adjusting to Weight Maintenance
Better-For-You Craving-Busters
Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Shops
CONGRATULATIONS!
You’ve completed the four-week plan.
Wondering what to do now? Keep reading …
More weight to lose?
You can continue following the plan for as long as you’d like until reaching your goal weight. You can start back at Week 1 (to reinvigorate your weight-loss journey), continuously repeat Week 4 (the most flexible), or pick it up anywhere in between.
Another option is to follow a modified version of the plan, using new skills you’ve sharpened, meal ideas you’ve come to love, and more. Simply count calories, aiming for the same 1,300-calories-per-day as the plan. (Or 1,500 calories, if you’ve been having the supplemental snacks.) You can also use HG recipes and snack suggestions to make those 1,300 calories satisfying and delicious!
A third option is to use HG recipes, snack ideas, meal techniques, etc., in conjunction with any diet that allows you to be flexible with your food choices. The Hungry Girl universe is filled with options, so you can choose foods that help you stay at or below a specified daily target.
If you’re not already a subscriber, sign up for free daily emails at
hungry-girl.com
! The newsletters are packed with food finds, new recipes, and so much more … All excellent tools for modified versions of the plan.
To maintain your weight loss …
For maintenance, we suggest you continue to count calories. Use Hungry Girl recipes, food finds, and survival strategies to make maintaining easy and fun! In fact, the entire next section of the book is filled with tips, tricks, and strategies to help you maintain a healthy weight in a realistic and enjoyable way.
One way to find a ballpark estimate of the calories you need to maintain your weight is to multiply it by 10. So, for example, if you weigh 150 pounds, 1,500 calories per day is your estimate. However, it’s not a good idea to dip below 1,200 calories per day. And keep in mind that personal metabolism and activity level can affect how many calories you need to maintain your new weight.
To find your individual calorie needs for maintenance, try one week at the calorie level determined by the above method. (If this level is lower than what you consumed on the plan—1,300 to 1,500 calories—stay at the number of calories you consumed on the plan.) If you continue to lose weight, increase by 100 calories and stay at that level for a week. If you gain weight, decrease by 100 calories and stay at that level for a week. Continue increasing or decreasing, as needed, until you find your ideal intake for maintenance.
Don’t want to diligently count calories forever? Use the 80/20 rule, making smart choices the majority of the time and loosening up the reins the other 20 percent. This way, you’ll always have some wiggle room and flexibility without throwing off your weight-management goals. If you notice your clothes fitting tighter or the number on the scale going up, start paying closer attention to the exact number of calories you’re consuming.
CALORIE COUNTING 101
If you’ve decided to count calories, you may be wondering how exactly to go about it. Good news! There are so many great resources out there ready to give you the info you need. Here’s a crash course to get you started …
Online Nutritional Databases
Calorie Count and CalorieKing are just a couple of the easy-to-use resources out there. They’re crammed with nutritional information on hundreds of thousands of foods, from fruits and vegetables to the brand-name products on supermarket shelves. Both also offer mobile apps, so you can count calories (and fat, carbs, sodium, etc.) on the go.
Restaurant Nutritional Info
Many restaurants provide nutrition stats for menu items, either on location or on their website. And many chains are actually required to disclose this information, which is great news for consumers. Some even have calorie counts listed right on the menus. If you’re heading out to dinner, start by checking out a restaurant’s website for this information. If you’re not able to check in advance and don’t see calorie counts on the menu, ask if they have a nutritional pamphlet available for you to see. For specific restaurant survival strategies, flip to the
Dining Out Survival Guides
!
Nutritional Panels (and Need-to-Know Label Info!)
It seems like a no-brainer, but it’s actually frighteningly easy to misread product labels. First of all, don’t be swayed by some of the more misleading front-of-the-package claims. Just because something is “organic,” “made with whole grains,” or “reduced fat,” doesn’t mean it is low in calories or diet friendly in any way. Flip over the package for the hard facts. The single biggest mistake people make when reading labels is assuming that the “per serving” stats listed are for the entire package. You might be holding a product that
looks
like a single serving, only to find out it contains 2.5 servings … which means all those numbers have to be multiplied accordingly, or you need to measure out a single portion and stick to it.
ADJUSTING TO WEIGHT MAINTENANCE
Loosen the reins a little, but keep things familiar.
A lot of people rely on careful calorie counting while losing weight to keep the number on the scale moving down. But since maintaining weight is a lifelong goal, it’s important to find an approach that you can really, well,
maintain
! When you’re finished with the plan, it helps to have a slew of go-to guilt-free dishes with similar stats, both at home and at restaurants. This way, you won’t have to overthink things or calculate calorie counts on a regular basis. The meals in this plan (including those in the
Dining Out on the Plan
section) can be incorporated seamlessly into a maintenance routine.
Check in … with yourself.
Be accountable and honest with yourself. Maybe you don’t have to weigh in each week, but if you notice your jeans are starting to get a bit tight, it’s probably time to step on a scale and step up your maintenance efforts. You might even want to give yourself a monthly weigh-in date, like the first of the month, so you’re less likely to let things go without realizing it.
Keep health a priority.
Maintaining your goal weight can be harder than losing the weight because you don’t have the motivation of seeing a lower number on the scale to keep you going. But the ultimate goal is to get healthy and stay healthy. Even if you aren’t cutting calories and doing calorie-burning cardio sessions, you can still make nutritious choices and try to get in some physical activity every day.
THE 80⁄20 RULE
It’s all about a realistic approach to eating smart. If you make good choices most of the time, you can be a little more flexible other times. This way, you won’t feel restricted but you won’t go overboard either. Making perfect food choices 100 percent of the time (forever!) isn’t a realistic goal for most people, and if you tell yourself that you have to do it, you’ll be more likely to get discouraged and give up after a “bad” meal or day.
Actually, 80/20 is more of a concept than a hard-and-fast rule. If you adopt the idea, it sort of works itself out. I usually plan to eat smart most the time, but things happen. Maybe I’ll have a cocktail and some bar bites with friends, a meal I order will be prepared with more oil than I’d like, or I’ll have a few bites of a dessert that I really love. But since I eat well most of the time, I’m able to indulge every once in a while without worrying too much about it. And if I go too far overboard, I just eat a little lighter the next day and step up the exercise. It’s all about figuring out what’s best for your lifestyle and being realistic, mindful, and honest about what you’re eating.
TRIGGER FOODS
What exactly are trigger foods? Well, they differ from person to person, but one thing remains the same across the board … Once you start eating them, it’s extremely difficult to stop. They might send you into an eating frenzy or cause you to crave
more
food for the entire day! Everyone has different triggers. For some people (like me), it’s salty snacks like crackers and chips—I’ve gone through an entire multi-serving bag of chips in one sitting. (Yup, this happens to me, too!) For others, it’s chocolate and sweets. (Everyone has a friend who can inhale an entire bag of M&Ms or a pint of ice cream … or BOTH!) I typically try to avoid my trigger foods, but when I do treat myself to them, I use some tricks …
Find single-serving options.
Since I love nuts but can’t be trusted around big bags of them, I keep 100-calorie packs handy. Mini bags of 94% fat-free microwave popcorn are great for popcorn fans. If your favorite snack doesn’t come packaged in single servings, try this next tip.
Break large bags up into mini bags/containers with a single portion in each.
This TOTALLY helps. In fact, I recommend doing it as soon as you get back from the store—keep those giant snack bags out of your home whenever possible.
Pop a mint or a piece of sugar-free mint gum right after you have a serving of your trigger food.
The mintiness can help stop you from craving more of that food. (The fresh breath is an added bonus.) This one works extremely well.
PORTION-CONTROL TIPS
Look for portion-controlled products.
I have to state the obvious here. Having prepackaged single servings is one of the best ways to avoid overeating. For snacks like cookies and crackers, pick up 100-calorie packs of your favorites. For desserts, go for sugar-free pudding snacks (with 60 calories or less) and individual cups or bars of light ice cream. So seek out portion-controlled foods. It REALLY does help.
Buy in bulk, but portion it all out ASAP.
Single-serve treats can get pricey, so buy multi-serving shelf-stable items, and stock up on sealable plastic baggies and/or containers. Then as soon as you get home from the supermarket, divvy up your goodies into individual servings. It’s worth the small amount of extra time it takes.
Use smaller bowls and plates.
Some dishes are ENORMOUS, and they can make realistic portions appear tiny and sad. (Who wants a cereal bowl that’s only a third of the way full?) There are even some cute color-coded sets that can be used for both measuring and eating. Very helpful and convenient.
When it comes to foods you eat regularly, familiarize yourself with how their serving sizes look.
This way, when you’re out and don’t have access to measuring cups or food scales, you’ll have a pretty solid idea of what a serving looks like.
TOP INGREDIENT SWAPS
Instead of Sweet Potatoes …
Butternut Squash
The taste and texture of butternut squash are very similar to those of sweet potatoes, but the squash is much lower in starchy carbs and calories. It’s perfect for fries (like the recipe
here
), casseroles, soups, and stews! It’s even good mashed with a little light butter, salt, and pepper.
Instead of Eggs …
