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Quick Weight Loss Tip - #8: Juggling the Juggler

Can using different methods of cooking accelerate the rate of weight loss? You betcha!

Juggle that boring diet by shifting cooking gears and you can save calories as well as preparation time in your humble kitchen.

Here are two excellent examples of how the method of preparing your food can result in weight loss:

Betsy is on a diet plan. While she is at the market she sees that chicken is on sale so she makes a purchase.

As she is driving home she passes by her former hot-spot chicken shack which has the best tasting fried chicken in the world. But she is good and true to her diet plan and drives right on by, craning her neck as she passes. Farewell little chicken shack!

Once home, she unpacks the foods she purchased from the market, setting some of the chicken aside which she plans to cook for lunch. Although she is craving fried chicken, those recipes where the meat is rolled into corn flakes or bread crumbs just can't match that fried chicken flavor. So she decides to pan roast the chicken.

When it is almost done she races to her refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of dipping sauce and pours it liberally onto the golden pan roasted chicken. The end result is absolutely delicious! She also used more dipping sauce at the table and the flavors were so rich that they almost knocked her out of her wicker chair.

However...and unfortunately Betsy didn't take time to view the nutrition label on the dipping sauce or she would have seen that one tiny Tablespoon contained 160 calories. Ouch. For that matter - double ouch. Fact is, she could have enjoyed a chicken breast - a fried one at the chicken shack for less calories than her richly glazed, twice-dipped, pan-roasted chicken.

How could Betsy have created a tastier chicken without all those extra calories?

If you're dieting, always keep in mind that the spice rack is one of a dieter's best friends. All contain close to zero calories and add so much flavor without adding fat or caloric values.

Next time, Betsy should reach for the lemon pepper and sprinkle it onto her pan-roasted chicken. Delicious - and so low in those calories that she is looking to avoid.

Now let's look at Dieter Daisy. She is a Bacon Lover and has an intense craving. So at breakfast time she decides to 'go for it' and enjoy a couple of slices of bacon with her scrambled egg whites and whole grain toast. She also plans to account for the calories in her daily totals as she doesn't want to go over that set amount.

She reads the nutrition label and discovers that each slice of bacon contains 70 calories when fried in the pan. Because she is having two slices she adds 140 calories to her daily diet journal.

So how did it taste and was it worth those additional calories?

Because Daisy wasn't used to eating as much fat, the bacon tasted way-too greasy. After she had consumed both slices she decided that she wouldn't be wanting bacon for a long time to come.

So how could Daisy have saved calories and had her bacon too? By cooking the bacon in the microwave, she would have reduced the calories by more than half. One slice of bacon prepared in the microwave between two sheets of slightly moistened paper towels contains about 25 calories. So Daisy could have saved almost 100 calories using this preparation method. That's enough to purchase any of the following: all 100 calorie snacks sold in those fancy packages at the market, a serving of jerky with calories left over - or almost any serving of fresh whole fruit such as a medium banana or apple.

Methods of Preparing Foods to Reduce Calories

Chicken can be roasted, grilled, boiled, or baked.

Carrots can be enjoyed in the raw (the carrots, not you!) (unless you want to), boiled, stir fried and grilled.

Heat up the flavor by paying attention to texture and the 'Cook's Cut'. If you're accustomed to shredding carrots, try dicing them. If you're accustomed to cubed chicken, try shredding it.

Mixing up the textures, flavors and cooking methods helps shape a healthy diet, which in turn works to shape-up the dieter.

In Summary:While recipe ingredients matter a lot where caloric values are concerned, cooking methods are equally important.

All foods begin in a raw state and when combined they can turn into healthy recipes or fatty foods that won't fit well into your weight loss plan. Working with foods closest to their raw state and adding minimal ingredients - while using wise, lower calorie cooking methods can assist in a big way where weight loss in involved.

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