{Guest Post} Subtle ways to change your diet for your wedding- Part 2

This is part 2 of  Subtle ways to change your diet for your wedding. If you would like you to read the first part of this guest post click here. I would like to thank Kristi Charter for taking the time to write this informative guest post for my blog. 

Making the Right Choices

To ensure you stick to your healthy eating plan, you will need to change your mind frame and begin making the right choices. Saying this is one thing, but actually going through with it is another. So in order to change the way you make decisions about food you should start by focusing on the cooking methods you use. Sometimes getting results can be as simple as continuing to eat the same food but altering the way you cook it. This means less frying and more baking and grilling. When it comes to cooking your food, you should also invest in quality non-stick frying pans so that there is no need to cook with oil or butter.

Increasing your nutritional knowledge and familiarising yourself with product labels is the next step.  Products labelled as ‘low in fat’, ‘99% fat free’ or ‘light’ are not necessarily the healthiest option. In some cases if a product is lower in fat it will consequently be higher in sugars or sodium.

When reading product labels you should also be aware of the calorie trick that can often fool consumers. Most people will read the number of calories on a label and assume that’s the total number of calories for the entire packet, however it might only be a proportion of the calories in the packet. To ensure you are not fooled you will need to take note of the calories per serving and how many servings there are in the product you are about to consume.

The biggest challenge you might be confronted with is what to eat when you are out to dinner. Your eating plan shouldn’t control your social life however you shouldn’t use dining out as an excuse to throw all your hard work out the window either. Simple, easy tricks you can implement when out to dinner might be asking your waiter to hold the sauce or ask for the sauce to be presented on the side in a dish rather than drizzled all over the top. This will help cut calories from your meal. Another calorie cutting trick when you do have the option is to always order a side salad or vegetables instead of fries.

Also be wary of ordering salads, while you might think it’s a great idea more often than not the dressing on your salad can be just as harmful as eating the fries.  Opting for lower calorie options or foods that pack a nutritional punch is also wise.  For example try ordering fish instead of steak. 

Monitoring Your Fluid Intake 

Three essential words to changing your diet for the better are: drink more water. It couldn’t be any simpler.  The health benefits associated with drinking more water goes without saying, however the dietary benefits may not be as obvious. Drinking a glass of water before and while you eat a meal will help prevent you from over indulging. Our thirst can also sometimes get confused with hunger, so to ensure you are not just thirsty when you find your mind wandering to what you can eat you should drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes before you decide if you are actually hungry. Drinking plenty of water also ensures your bowels continue to function normally, something very important when watching your weight.

You should avoid soft drink as much as possible and keep in mind that juices are just as high in sugar.

If you struggle to drink water and need flavour try adding lemon or mint to your water. Alternatively you might like to try ‘diet’ or ‘sugar free’ cordials.  Aside from water you should also be adding green tea to your daily fluid intake. Green tea is packed with antioxidants and is also credited as being a ‘fat fighter’ to help aid in weight loss. 

While these are some truly helpful dietary tricks that you can easily incorporate into your eating habits, combining a healthy eating plan with regular exercise and sticking to it is the only way to truly see results and have you glowing on your special day.  

Author Bio:

‘Kristi Charter is an experienced freelance writer with a breadth of knowledge across an array of subjects. Captivated by the wedding industry, Kristi regularly blogs for Wedding Invitations Perth.’ 

 http://giantinvitations.com.au/page/wedding-invitations-perth

{Guest Post} Subtle Ways to Change Your Diet for Your Wedding Part 1

It’s no secret that most brides go on crazy fad diets to get themselves ready for their big day and while there’s nothing wrong with wanting to trim your figure, many brides go about it in completely the wrong way. Unfortunately for many brides the latest raved about diet trends simply don’t work. While you may see immediate results from going on a fad diet, it’s just not sustainable.  You should think of your ‘diet’ as less of a diet and more of as a marathon and a new way of living rather than an overnight solution to your body woes.  To do this you should start slowly and be realistic in what you can achieve because your likelihood for success will as a result increase. It is also unreasonable to expect that you can simply cut out a range of foods from your diet and it will work. So to help you get on the right track we’ve put together some neat little tricks for changing your diet that will help you see long-lasting results.

Kick Start your Metabolism

The easiest and number one way to kick start your diet is to make sure you eat breakfast every day.

Skipping meals such as breakfast will cause your metabolism to slow down and start to hold onto fat instead of burning it off. Rather than cutting meals from your daily eating schedule, dieticians recommend actually adding healthy reasonably portioned snacks throughout the day to aid in weight loss. By adding meals you will be encouraging your metabolism to essentially pick up steam and start burning more. Eating breakfast and snacking throughout the day will also help you to control your eating habits, by helping prevent you from binging later on at night.

In order to eat regularly throughout the day, you should try scheduling your meals and adding snacks to ensure you are sufficiently full and getting all your daily nutritional requirements. You should do this by spacing out your meals and doing the bulk of your eating earlier in the day. It is also best to avoid late night snacking where possible especially right before bed. By avoiding late night snacks you will encourage your body to digest while you sleep.  

Making the Switch

Eating healthier doesn’t have to mean deprivation you can still treat yourself once in a while. A successful way to diet and moreover live is to follow the 80/20 rule, whereby you eat healthy 80 per cent of the time. Restricting yourself will only cause you to binge later down the track or affect your overall mood.  So your best option is to fulfil your cravings without going overboard. This will involve limiting your intake, whether it is the portion size or how often you eat something. Gradually you will find you crave unhealthier foods less and less and you might even find that you are able to completely cut them out as your wedding day edges closer.

Part of making your eating habit changes sustainable is to swap unhealthy options for their healthier counterparts. For instance, instead of eating a packet of chips why not snack on raw nuts.  Another great change to make is to introduce whole grains into your eating routine by substituting white bread, rice and pasta for their ‘brown’ alternatives.  When it comes to curbing your sweet tooth why not seek out natural sugars found in berries and other fruits. As for those chocolate cravings, you can also opt for dark chocolate which is full of antioxidants and other health benefits. However remember moderation is the key.

{Recipe} Green Flourless Pancakes

You may have had green juice and green smoothies but have you tried green pancakes before? Some may think of pandan pancakes but no I'm talking about pancakes made with green leafy veggies. Doesn't sound very appetising but it is in fact delicious.

I drink green smoothies almost every morning and yesterday morning I decided to be a bit creative. Making green pancakes! Ok, I got to say I got the idea of green pancakes from a fitness Instagram account. They mentioned using spinach but I used kale as that was in my fridge. I think green pancakes are a great way to sneak in some greens for the children. It's fun and cool right! I mean look how delicious they look, who would say no to them? 

Kale is one of the best green leafy vegetables, it contains vitamin A, C and K, iron, calcium, powerful antioxidants and is high in fibre, low in calories and has zero fat. Apparently it has more vitamin C than an orange. I find that a bit strange because I always thought the more sour the fruit the more vitamin C it contains but kale isn't sour at all. It also has more calcium than milk. Kale is also a great source of vitamin K which is needed to help heal wounds properly and to build strong bones (NHS.com). Since the green leafy vegetable is high in fiber it is therefore a great detox food. Who would have thought pancakes can be healthy and detoxifying! You can definitely eat these pancakes without feeling guilty. 

These pancakes are made with oat, kale, banana, egg white and baobab powder. That's a breakfast with good carbs which keeps your metabolism running. It has plenty of fiber to help you stay full longer, potassium to help lower blood pressure and help your brain, nerves, heart and muscles function properly. Also the protein from the egg white is essential for healthy growth of all body tissues and good source of energy too. Baobab powder has numerous benefits which I can go on forever, check out my previous post on baobab powder here.

Moving on to the recipe..

You will need:

• 1 stalk of kale
• 1 medium banana
• 1/2 cup of rolled oat
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of Greek Yoghurt
• 2 tbsp of milk ( I used rice milk)
• 1 pitted medjool date (optional) 
• 1 tbsp of baobab powder

Method:

1. Put everything into a blender and blend until everything is smooth. If the batter does get a bit too thick then add another spoon of milk. 

2. Heat a non stick pan with a bit of oil. You will only need a little bit of oil and if you're using a non-stick pan there's no need to add extra oil when making new batches of pancake. 

3. Cook each side for about 2 minutes.