Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Easy weight loss programs and veggies

Vegetables are critical to having success with easy weight loss programs. While some people love getting their greens, others don’t enjoy them as much, if at all. Since eating vegetables is absolutely fundamental to weight loss, we’re sharing some ways that patients of our weight loss clinics have found to make getting your greens easy and delicious.

Most easy weight loss programs recommend that patients eat between eight and 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. While it may seem like a difficult task, the tips we’ve found make it easy and fun!
Get your greens in at breakfast—throw a mixture of vegetables in your omelets or scrambled eggs in the morning. This is an especially effective method for those who don’t like the taste of most veggies. Some great choices that are perfectly in line with any of the meal plans and menus recommended by our weight loss clinics include tomatoes, spinach, peppers, and mushrooms.

Call it a casserole. Mixed dishes are another great way to enjoy the flavor of veggies while keeping in line with any medical weight loss program. Add peas, carrots, cucumbers, kidney beans, green beans, tomatoes or any other veggies into a casserole or stew and the whole family will learn to love them.

Sometimes when patients use medical diet pills, they may not have the appetite they need to eat all their veggies, yet they need the nutrients. We often recommend that they get a juicer and disguise the “veggie” tastes with a base consisting of apple or pear juice. It may taste so good, you’ll forget there’s anything green in the mix.

Another way to enjoy veggies is by combining them into weight loss products that serve as meal replacements. Many of our patients incorporate tomatoes, onions and mushrooms into our soups, macaroni and cheese, or Fettucini Alfredo mix.

If you really like the idea of combining meal replacement-style weight loss products with vegetables while improving the taste of both, try pureeing and then mixing them in. Chop them up, toss them into a food processor and then add to everything that you can. Veggie purees can also be mixed into hamburgers, meatloaf and other ground beef and turkey recipes.

You can also supplement your quick weight loss plan by creating some rules for eating veggies. For example, you can make it a goal to fill half of every meal plate with veggies. This works best for people who truly enjoy vegetables, yet still struggle to get the portions or servings right. By filling half your plate, you can expect to get at least three solid servings of fiber while decreasing the entire calorie count of your meal.

For those who use medical diet pills, yet still get night time cravings, make it a rule to eat only raw veggies as a snack. Since they’re very low in calories and high in fiber, veggies are your best option for snacks. Plus, they have little or no effect on your blood sugar, so won’t keep you up any later. If you need a little pizzazz, dip them in salsa or balsamic dressing for a little low cal zing.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Balancing medical weight loss programs with a busy work life

Even when you use FDA approved medical weight loss pills to assist with cravings, working full-time can wreak havoc on the best laid dietary plans. Often times, you rush off to work without eating breakfast, substituting coffee and lattes to give you energy and get you through your day. You grab something quick for lunch and end up feeling tired and lethargic by mid-afternoon. The next thing you know, it’s 4 pm and you’re reaching for the vending machines and slamming a Red Bull. Not ideal choices for achieving success with easy weight loss programs.

To experience successful medical weight loss, you need to have a strategy for eating healthy. The busier your day, the more likely you are to experience high stress and find yourself reaching for unhealthy, fattening snacks. When your nutrition is poor, it only makes for more stress and the chances of gaining weight and getting ill increase exponentially. This drives many clients to come into our weight loss clinics looking for easy ways to improve their work diets.

A great start is exactly that—never skip breakfast! Even if you’re not hungry when you wake up, your metabolism needs to rev up with some nutrition, preferably between a half hour and an hour of waking up. If you don’t have the time to make breakfast at home, then set up some breakfast food at work. Head to the office kitchen and heat up some oatmeal or eat some fruit and Greek yogurt. Add a cup of green tea and you’ve started your day off right.

Another great way to stay on track with medical weight loss programs is to always carry fruit with you and stash some at your desk. If you have delicious looking fruit sitting on your desk, it will be hard not to eat it by the end of the day. This will also help you avoid the vending machines!

Try to get out of the office when you can. Even if you only have 15 minutes, if you head outside for a brisk walk, it will help clear your head and boost your energy. This will give your metabolism an added boost and burn a few extra calories. Schedule it on your calendar if you have to.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Incorporate a Little French into Easy Weight Loss Programs

There are many aspects of diets in other countries that contribute to their lesser rate of obesity and health issues, and in turn, less presence of weight loss clinics and quick weight loss centers. For example, if you’ve read the best seller French Women Don't Get Fat, you understand the paradox of how French women consume butter and cream without gaining weight. It’s actually easy, and in fact, a premise throughout all of our easy weight loss programs: French women stay slim by eating petite portions. Portion control is key to losing and maintaining weight and if it’s a part of your culture, it’s a lot easier to live with. However, there are many elements of the French lifestyle that are easy to integrate into ours.

All of us can benefit from portion control, as well as some other essential aspects of the French lifestyle—eating small amounts of fresh, whole foods and lingering over the courses, taking the time to savor each bite. Eating quality food is a no-brainer, and the slower pace is another element we recommend as part of our easy weight loss programs. The longer you take to eat, the more time your stomach has to send the signal to your brain that it’s full.

Research shows that French women in particular have a much lower incidence of both obesity and cardiovascular disease. The French rate is 12 percent compared to our 36 percent. Hence, the need for weight loss clinics and FDA approved medical weight loss pills throughout the United States. In addition to the approaches mentioned above, the French are also active throughout their daily life, not just in respect to working out.

While increasing activity is essential to all quick weight loss programs, it’s also important to integrate more movement in every area of your life. For example, French women tend to walk everywhere and climb stairs. Many of the buildings are much older and don't even have elevators. Of course, we try to park our cars at the opposite end of the parking lot and take stairs whenever we can, but if you want to seriously boost the results of FDA approved medical weight loss pills, an easy way is to walk on as many errands as you can instead of driving—plus, think of all the gas money you’ll save.

It’s also a good practice to squeeze in a walk during your lunch hour and hoof it to lunch if you can. It’s a great way to aid digestion and boost your metabolism. If you get 15 minute breaks, take it outside as well. If the French can up the activity in their lifestyle, so can we—especially considering how beautiful the weather is in Southern California. The French weather their colder climate to walk to lunch, work or on errands, so we really have no excuse. Make the most of our weather and get out there and move!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Tips from Top Medical Weight Loss Clinics

While we don’t believe that having success with quick weight loss programs is about “tricks” or quick fixes, we know that there are many tips and simple methods that can make the journey a lot easier. We polled the staff and patients of all of our medical weight loss clinics to find some easy-to-implement tips for eating healthier and enhancing your efforts towards reaching your goals.

Instead of measuring ingredients with cups and spoons, which leave room for error, get a digital kitchen scale. This is the best way to accurately measure portion sizes and ingredients and a very popular method among patients of our medical weight loss clinics. You can then easily cut calories and fat while you cook by using exact portions of each item, or even decreasing the more fattening elements by just a little.

A digital scale will also help you ensure that portion sizes are accurate once the food is cooked. Portion control is an essential element of quick weight loss programs and being able to precisely measure what you eat allows you to stay on track easily and efficiently.

Another popular method for making the weight loss process easier is to find healthy substitutions. For example, fattening cooking oil and butter can be replaced with an array or healthier items. For baking, a popular substitute is applesauce. Chicken stock is great substitute for oil, cream or butter for cooking—the stock keeps food moist while preventing it from sticking. Chicken stock is also great for sautéing vegetables and adds delicious flavor. There are also some weight loss products on the market that act as great replacements for oil and butter.

Chicken stock is also an excellent complement to what are typically starchy foods. When making mashed potatoes, instead of relying on cream, milk, cheese or butter for creamy texture, low-salt chicken broth can do the trick. You can use weight loss products that serve as replacements for butter to add flavor when the dish is finished. If you make your own hummus, which is a great source of protein, chicken stock is an ideal substitute for Tahini, which is very high in calories. A little bit of extra virgin olive oil mixed with chicken stock will give you a delicious creamy, spreadable consistency.