Good Diet Reicpes

Ever heard of FlyLady? She has a whole crew of people that address different needs women have. One is the Dinner Diva!
She gives menus, grocery lists and the recipes for all sorts of dinner needs. There is a whole slew in their Body Clutter selection. She is a nutritionist, mom and time saving wonder! swww.savingdinner.com
www.flylady.net

I love this weight watcher recipe
Diet Coke Chicken-cook boneless skinless chicken breasts in one can diet coke + 1 can rotel until chicken is done and tender. Serve over rice if desired. Very good

Also-layer graham crackers in a casserole with sugar free jello chocolate pudding (crackers, pudding, crackers, pudding....) keep in fridge overnight or several hours. Top with light cool whip. Surprisingly a very nice dessert.

Well, I don't have actual recipes to share, but I have a few tips that have helped me in shedding pounds even when I did not follow a rigid diet .... here they are:

eat a mix of nuts (walnuts,almonds,pecans,brazil,hazel,etc) about 20-30 minutes before your main meal ... nut oils help line your stomach and create a feeling of fullness, so you don't eat too much food in one sitting

take longer than 20 minutes to eat your meals ..... it takes about 20 minutes from your first bite, for the brain to process the signal from your stomach, so you start feeling full. If you have hardly eaten half your meal in the first 20 minutes, you will still feel satiated.

Divide your daily volume intake into more meals a day. More frequently you eat (ideally, every 3-4 hours), your metabolism keeps working to digest the food. The longer it works, more calories you burn. Moreover, if periods of starvation between meals is longer, your body gets into the starvation survival mode, so it starts storing more fat from each meal, for later use during the next starvation intervals.

Make & maintain muscle mass. Muscles burn more fat to maintain themselves. When people with more muscles skip a meal, they lose more weight, faster. Do muscle exercise every other day .. give them a day to heal from all that stretching & straining.

Create a routine and feed your body at the same time every day. It takes 2 weeks for your body to learn what your intake routine is (if there is one!). Then your body feels comfortable about predicting the next meal and stores less fat, because it can rely on the meal's frequency.

Eat hot foods .... hot peppers boost your metabolism & help you lose weight.

Sleep more. Longer sleep helps maintain muscle (that burn fat) and releases hormones that discourage fat storage.

Do not stress. Stress releases cortisol that slows your metabolism and increase your waistline.

Keep away from refined sugars .... if you have a sugar craving, try a small piece of dark chocolate or munching on baked sweet potato 'fries' (they are sweet!), fresh fruit medley, baby carrots, etc

I hope these tips help you & your husband .... enjoy your cruise! You said you have lost 70 lbs already ... do you have any tips/recipes to share with me?

Hey, L.! Congrats on your cruise! It took me a long time to talk my husband into a cruise too. He finally took me on our 30th anniversary last year. We were in 30 foot waves and I was in bed 3 of the 5 days. Hope your experience is much better. Get the patches for behind your ear!!! Wish I had!! About the recipes, I have a wonderful website for you with Weight Watchers recipes, food lists, restaurant food lists, etc. It's called Dottie's Weight Loss Zone at www.dwlz.com. Good luck on your weight loss and cruise!! C. H.

I have been on weight watchers the past three months, and they have some AWESOME recipes online. My husband is the most picky man you will ever meet on food, and even he will eat these. Just go to www.weightwatchers.com and check it out. I don't think you have to be a member to look at some of the recipes. My kids love the Baked Macaroni and Cheese, and the Chicken Poppers (homemade chicken nuggets). They also have some great ideas for making some of your favorite recipes lower. Also, you can check out www.halfmysize.com, they might have some good ones, too. Great job on the weight loss, by the way! That's awesome!

Creamy chicken enchiladas:

1.5 cups pre cooked chopped or shredded chicken ( I personally use canned)
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tub fat free sour cream
1 can 99% fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 can green enchilada sauce (split, half for filling half for topping)
1 block low fat cream cheese cut in cubes
1 pkg 2% shredded or fat free shredded cheese
1 pkg mission carb balance tortillas

sautee the onions and peppers with pam spray or a tsp of olive oil until tender, add chicken tomatoes and 1/2 of enchilada sauce heat until warm. Add cream cheese until melted.

Grease 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350.

In a separate bowl mix enchilada sauce (or use blender for smoother texture). 1/2 can enchilada sauce, tub of sour cream and can of cream of mushroom soup. Set aside.

Now put them together. Take a tortilla, put a thin layer of enchilada mix in middle, top with shredded cheese and roll, place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat until you can fit no more or have no more filling. Pour enchilada sauce over top. sprinkle remaining shredded cheese over the top and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden and sauce is bubbly.

Recipe will serve 6-10 depending on the eater. 2 enchiladas is 8pts on weight watchers and you'll feel like you're going to explode if you eat all two.

We serve this with black beans...I use the rest of the onion and bell pepper to flavor them (I use canned) by suateeing first and then I add the beans, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 2tbs of salsa (fresh or canned).

I also make Lazanga using low-fat cheeses and thinly slicing eggplant length-wise to use as noodles instead of the noodles. You can hardly tell the difference. I'm sure there are other things we do, but i can't think of anything in particular at the moment.

HTH, M.

More strategies than recipes: These come from our recent trips to the hospital for heart surgery, etc.

For breakfast: think fruit first and always. For example, if having cereal, put lots of fruit (we like frozen raspberries, etc.) on the bottom with just a little cereal on the top. We hardly notice the loss of crunchies. Have some kind of juice.

Try to eat 7 fruits/ veggies each day. Not easy!

A quote that rings true: for breakfast, eat like a king; for lunch, like a prince; for dinner, like a college kid with a maxed out credit card.

Most dinners, have only veggies and pasta/rice. Skip the meat. Always have something green, preferably salad.

Throw out all boxed foods in the pantry, fridge, freezer. Eat fresh, not fake food. Move from sodas to water. Add a little cranberry juice to the water if plain is too boring.

Remember to eat what you LIKE. One piece of candy every now and then works wonders.

No eating after 8P.

Have a small snack between meals. 6 almonds or 10 almonds work wonders.

Good luck! It's worth the effort.

For toning: I am a Turbo Jam fan. I is as easy/hard as you make it. It's fun, so time passes quickly.

Congrats on the cruise! I don't have any recipes for you, but I have been on 2 cruises. Just to warn you, it's all about the food (and the fruity cocktails). You'll leave your cruise with added pounds, so don't be surprised. They have a breakfast buffet, midnight buffet, pizza 24 hours, lunch/dinner buffets or sit-down style. We went on Carnival Cruise Line's Holiday (5 day) & Conquest (7 day) cruises. Don't forget the sunblock! The closer to the equator you get, the closer to the sun you get (burn more easily). My neighbor just got back from a cruise, and she had bad sunburn/swelling from just 20-30 mins in the Mexican sun without sunblock (she's very fair skinned). We liked the cruises, but prefer being docked in a port than the "At Sea" days.

I love the website www.angelfire.com. It has great recipes that taste great. At the bottom of every page it tells you all the nutrion facts i.e. calories, carbs, wieght watcher points....so no matter what diet you are doing, it is super easy to convert.

weight watchers or dotties has some good recipes on line. As for toning up if you have the time a good gym could help or swimming works all of the muscles

Hi L. !

Lettuce lettuce lettuce ! That's right! It's healthy, easy to 'make' and doesn't cost much. Boring you say? Well, surround it with *grilled* fish, chicken, veggies and even potatoes and whole wheat bread; fruits. Healthy Egg Beaters are great to. Sauteeing is wonderful, just don't have your food swimming in oil.......ewwww.

No fats or sugars, stay away from sauces and spreads unless they are lite/no fat. Stick with **no fat/low calorie** Dannon Stay Fit yogurt and lite ice cream.

All this and a dash of common sense should take a chunk off you lovely people in no time. You will do fine.

Here is something I use for toning. You have to click around, but there is something for every part of your body, and it's free! You don't have to register or anything. Get right to it. Pictures, printouts, THE WORKS! So go to it!
http://www.prevention.com/cda/categorypage.do?category=bo...

Congrats on your upcoming trip.! I'm thrilled for you and your loving 'dorky' husband. Now go have a fruit salad topped with no fat cool whip, and all the best in your new happy fat free life.

Sincerely,
Falean

Congrats on the weight loss!!!
One of the things that I have started cooking is rosemary chicken. Spray Pam on a baking pan. Season skinless boneless chicken breast and cook on each side for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Depending on your oven, it might need a couple more or less minutes. It is so simple tasty and you can change the seasoning and have a different meal, make it thyme or oregano or basil or whatever seasoning you like best. Sometimes we serve it with rice, sometimes smart noodles, sometimes veggies.
Good luck and remember, have fun on the cruise.

Hello, I would say try and find a good weight watchers cook book, they have great recipes and in the book it tells you how much fat and calories are in each meal. I also wanted to tell you congrats on your weight loss so far. That is awsome. What have you done so far to lose the weight, I am also on a diet. Good luck on the rest of your weight loss.

Someone posted about Dottie's weight loss site. I used WW to lose weight, and use her site a lot, especially the resturant page - it gives points values for when you eat out.
Congrats on the cruise! I've been on 2 and LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Warning - make sure you've got your healthy eating down pat, otherwise your clothes may not fit by the time the cruise is over - they feed you non stop! :)

Why not try a weight-loss cruise? I know Richard Simmons does one...I'm sure there are more. Really, the key to weight loss is not so much what you eat, but how much. Portion control is EVERYTHING. I'm sure you know that if you've done so great already! I recommend pilates exercises for toning. I'm a physical therapist and I've never been able to tone my middle well until I bought a home video. WOW! Most gyms have classes now too, or you can find videos everywhere.

If you like things a little spicey, you might enjoy this one:
Salsa Chicken
1# chicken breasts
lime pepper
italian seasoning
olive oil
salsa fresca - fresh salsa, though canned works too - we find canned is usually sweeter when reduced and prefer fresh deli salsa.

pop 1 pound of chicken (we usually cut it into bite sized-pieces for faster cooking, but you can also use whole breasts or chicken fingers) into a ziplock bag with some lime-pepper. shake the bag so a little lime-pepper gets on each piece.

Then heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Shake a generous abount of italian seasoning on each piece of chicken and cook the chicken till no longer pink. Add about 2 cups of salsa fresca and saute the chicken in it...just cook it till the salsa reduces to a consistency you like.

all done! It's very low-fat, very flavorful and goes great with some steamed veggies and perhaps some rice on the side.