10 Ways to Make Your Favorite Foods Healthier

Recently diabetes has increased a lot in this country. There are many theories about why this has occurred, but one thing is for sure - We are getting heavier as a society. I have never wanted to be as thin as a rail, but I don't want to be heavy. So I try to make the foods I eat more healthy. But I am certainly a work in progress.

It seems that most women are dieting frequently. But it has been shown that "dieting" alone doesn't lead to long term weight loss. It has to be accompanied with behavior changes and changes in the diet long term.

I was asked to compose list of 10 ways of making your favorite foods healthier.

1. Avoid frying- Baking or boiling will make meats and other things have less fat and thus less calories. I saw a recipe about how to make French fries that are baked. I tried it, and they were very good without all the fat.

2. Eat more fresh foods- Frequently when things are cooked, fat and sugar are added to improve taste. Canned items frequently have a lot of salt. A nice, fresh salad is tasty without many calories or fat (stay away from the dressing.)

3. Steam foods- You can steam veggies to cook them without added fat. (and skip the cheese and butter.)

4. Skip the salt shaker- Salt makes many people retain water. Also some people are sensitive to salt, and it increases their blood pressure.

5. If you use dressing on your salad, use on that is low fat. Some only have 5 calories a serving.

6. Cook from scratch more. You can control the amount of fat and sugar added to make it more healthy.

7. Avoid white bread. Switch to whole grain bread.

8. Eat more fiber. When you increase your whole grain consumption, it makes you feel fuller. It also helps the end product of digestion. (if you know what I mean.)

9. Limit or avoid margarine, butter, mayonnaise and sour cream. If you use them, try the lower fat versions.

10. Switch from regular ground beef to lean or extra-lean ground beef, ground chicken and turkey breast. That decreases the fat and calories.

Another thing I recommend it to increase your intake of filtered water. Filtered water is healthy and makes you feel fuller.

These tips are some easy ways to make your favorite foods more healthy. Hopefully, we can all become more healthy and lose some weight at the same time.



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