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Diet Article: Identifying Weight Loss Goals, Methods to Save Calories in Your Diet

Why do you prepare the foods that you do? Are your reasons based on health? On flavor, texture and how they appear? Do you often cook special foods due to someone in your family - or someone at your family table who has special dietary needs?

Or do you have any input on what is served at meal time?

Do you base your menu on your budget?

All of the above posed questions are excellent points to consider when meal planning. A great meal can be based on all of the above. For example, let's look at a very healthy, beautifully prepared meal that can fit into almost-any healthy diet or weight loss plan:

First, let's prepare a pot of pinto beans. If you don't have the time in your busy schedule to do such, not to fear. Just pick up a large can or a couple of medium sized cans of pinto beans. Heat them until they are hot and bubbly.

Now let's prepare a pan of golden, crusty cornbread out of whole grain cornmeal. You can use either white or yellow cornmeal - or even blue if you wish. There are always a lot of choices when it comes to cooking in the kitchen. And you can make any recipe your own by adding your favorite ingredients. For example, we're going to add a bit of cream-style corn and sliced jalapeno to our cornbread - along with 1/2 cup of shredded reduced fat cheese. If you have family members who can't handle these ingredients, simply prepare the cornbread as you would.

You can even pour the batter into different shapes of molds. I have one that has imprints of fish and it's crafted out of iron - like an iron skillet. But I'll be if that batter doesn't stick to the iron no matter what I do. Next time I go camping, I need to take it with me and toss it into the campfire and allow it to season. New cast iron is very notorious for sticking but once it's seasoned, foods rarely stick.

Along with our serving of pinto beans and cornbread, let's add a delicious carrot pudding. To prepare, boil a one pound bag of carrots that have been shredded, peeled and washed with the tips snipped off. When they are tender, mash them as you would potatoes. Add a bit of reduced fat cream or milk. Add a dash or two of salt and pepper. Add about 1/4 cup of white table sugar and 1/8 cup of light or dark brown sugar along with a Tablespoon of light margarine. Also add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Transfer to a beautiful serving dish and dust with ground cinnamon if you wish. You may need to return them to the oven for just a few minutes if they become too cool amid the mashing and preparation process.

Let's also add some healthy reduced fat milk to our meal along with a bowl of baby spinach that has been mixed with a fruit based low fat salad dressing and your favorite fruit. Any of the following compliment the spinach and the dressing well: strawberries, dried cranberries, golden raisins. Add a few English walnuts to the salad if you wish.

What a delicious, healthy meal that is also very inexpensive to set on your family table.

What Types of Food are you Most Drawn Too Based on Interest & Appetite?

Keep in mind that all of your responses can assist you in identifying the foods that you like best, the foods that you are more drawn too - as well as your weak and strong points where your daily diet is concerned.

Do you like to stick to your favorite foods which you know are dependable? Do you enjoy discovering new foods, exotic foods? Do you tend to like a bland diet or a spicy diet?

Do you like some foods more than others such as cheese and pudding? Do you prefer certain Americanized foreign foods such as Mexican, Italian and German.?

Do you like your foods fried, dried, grilled, roasted or baked?

Which food groups or group do you like best? Fruit, vegetable, protein, dairy or grain? Do you currently have too much dietary fat in your daily diet? What can you do to minimize the fat content?

Finding other methods such as a substitute for fats can assist greatly in rendering impressive weight loss results. For example, rather than a pat of butter or margarine, opting for spices or even a reduced fat margarine can slash fat grams and calories. Even the methods in which the foods are prepared impact texture and flavor. For example, a serving of boiled carrots might required a bit of fat for flavor while a serving of grilled carrots will taste delicious and full of flavor without any additives.

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