Tired of Trying to Lose Weight

by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites

If you're frustrated in playing the Weight Loss Game, it's time to shake up your Daily Diet. After all, weight loss shouldn't be your primary goal - rather your good health.

Losing weight is stressful and studies prove that stress is enough to create a situation 'ripe' for weight gain. Weight loss then becomes a battle of wits - mind over tummy, tummy over mind - one vicious circle!

If this sounds familiar, there is a way to forget all about dieting and still accomplish weight loss. A few healthy changes is all that you need. Let's get started!

Baking presents opportunity to save a plethora of calories. Before topping that delicious homemade cake with a wall of frosting, think out of the box. What about a dusting of powdered sugar? And you can even create a pretty pattern on top of the cake in the process. OR - what about 7 minute frosting? Use 2 egg whites and about 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar, then beat until soft peaks form. Then slowly add Splenda to suit personal taste, plus a dash of vanilla extract. This frosting is quick and delicious and contains less than 50 calories. For chocolate frosting, I add a bit of powdered cocoa after the eggs form peaks. As a note, it generally takes about 2 minutes for the eggs to form peaks, and another minute or so for the peaks to become stiff.

OR - you can also save fat and calories by topping the cake with fruit and light whipped topping.

As to pies, it's not so much the filling that contains the bulk of calories - rather the top and bottom. Most single-servings of a pie crust contain 100 calories or more. When the pie contains a top and bottom - that's 200 calories or more.

To keep calories in check, consider the following options when baking pies: single pie crust, meringue pie crust which can actually be created using our 7 minute frosting recipe above, then baking it in your oven and allowing it to cool before filling; also consider puff pastry dough as well as filo dough which can help save calories.

As to cookies - how many times have you witnessed this situation?

Jackie decides she wants to enjoy some cookies and milk. She loves the ones that are chocolate with the creamy white filling. She pours herself out a tall glass of milk, then grabs five cookies. In the days that follow, she can't understand why the numbers on her scales are increasing. Here's one reason why....

Those five innocent cookies contained 75 calories each for a total of 375 calories. That glass that Jackie used for her milk actually held 3 cups of milk rather than one. She enjoyed whole milk containing 160 calories per cup for a total of 480 calories. Add that to the cookies for a grand total of 855 calories. Jackie's body requires only 1,800 calories per day, so the cookie and milk splurge 'ate up' almost half of her daily calorie requirement.

And oddly enough, we tend to forget all about snack time when we go to counting up the cost of calories and the foods that we consumed for the day. They are like.....using a debit or credit card. At the time we're enjoying them - it's like they are free. Then unfortunately, a few days later, the bill arrives and yes.....we must pay the price of weight gain. Therefore - snack time presents yet another opportunity for healthier choices and a leaner body. Opting for fresh fruits, veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese, a quick protein snack such as a stick of jerky - or even a small wedge of cheese with a bit of fresh fruit can take us a step closer to better health.

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