Super Slice to the Rescue: Making a Healthy Pizza

Scratch This: 

1 slice cheese pizza (on average) = ~550 calories

Make Your Own:
1 "pie" home made flat pizza = 320 calories


Ingredients:

1 9-inch tortilla with 80-110 calories

1/4 cup low sodium tomato sauce

1/4 cup low fat shredded mozzarella

vegetable toppings of your choice 

salt, pepper to your liking

Super Suggestion: thinly sliced mushrooms, colorful peppers and onions

Directions:
Toast tortilla for 1-2 minutes, or until edges are crispy brown. Prepare tomato sauce, mozzarella and vegetables over the toasted tortilla on a sheet of tinfoil. Place back in toaster oven for 3-4 minutes, or until cheese melts. Salt and pepper to your liking.

Finished Product. Bon Appetit!

Super Truths: The Realities Why You're Not Losing Weight

5 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight

Here are 5 simple explanations why your latest endeavors to shed the pounds have been met with disappointment:

1. You gorge on healthy food

Healthy doesn't mean 0 calories. Keep portions in check even when you're eating food chock full of nutrients.

2. You're surrounded by unhealthy eaters

Nothing is worse for someone on a diet than watching someone not on a diet chow down on pizza, pasta, cookies and more. And while we don't advise dropping all of your unhealthy friends for new ones, try focusing your group get togethers on activities. Watch a game together, try karaoke, bike riding, or even throw a dance party.

3. You drown your food in sauces/condiments/dressings

Add on the add ons. The calories in ketchup, cheese sauces, and thousand island dressing add up. In small doses, these add on's are fine, but if you're pouring them on to give bland foods flavor you might as well have something a little more indulgent that requires less additional flavorings.

For more condiment advice, check out our earlier blog post devoted to these delicious add ons.

4. You're always on a diet

Having a constant mentality of being on a diet sets you up for failure. If you slip up, you'll end up going all in and splurging because "you already broke your diet." Commit to being healthy and exploring a healthier lifestyle instead of restricting yourself to only certain foods. 

For more about all or nothing dieting, check out our earlier blog post devoted to this dieting personality.

5. You LOVE eating out

Walking into a restaurant is like walking into a calorie minefield: you have no idea which dishes will be total explosions and which will be okay. Calorie counts can be off the charts with restaurants using oil everywhere, butter and margarine whenever and saucing everything. If you don't want to give up a night on the town, split a meal, stick with healthier options like grilled chicken, and sip water.

Super Summer Feasts: The BBQ Guide

BBQ’s are a summer staple but if you’re not careful, the night could turn ugly when you pile up your plate with calorie laden items. Try these simple tips to stay healthy and enjoy the best of the hot season’s delectable treats:

#1: Vegetate

When we say vegetate, we don’t mean sit and be lazy. We’re talking about vegetables! Set up the fire, spoon a pinch of salt, garlic and pepper on to your favorite veggies and grill them. Pile your plate high with these. Our favorites include colorful peppers, asparagus, zucchinis and carrots.

For more on brightening up your plate, check out our earlier blog post about color coding your diet.

#2: Steer clear of ANY dressed salads

Dressed salads are your worst nightmare. While they may stack up more nutritionally, these salads can pack more calories in a small serving than a burger or deep fried fries (and who wouldn't want to have those instead?!!?).

Tip: If you really must have your potato salad or cole slaw, drain out most of the liquid to save on calories and fat
#3: Go bunless

How about just digging into your meats? Use a fork and knife like you would at a nice restaurant. This will not only save you calories on the bun, but you'll also slow your eating down. You could also try wrapping your burger, hot dog or chicken in a lettuce wrap (it's surprisingly really refreshing) or just opt for one side of the bun (hot dog buns are generally lower in calories so opt for those).

#4 Portion Contortion

A good sized burger and chicken breast is about the size of your palm. Stick with the average sized hot dogs (brontosaurus, foot longs, and any other varieties that sound like Jurassic Park are probably best left off your plate). Try to limit yourself to 1 side and keep the portions to the size of your phone. Your best bet is a knish with just 170 calories.

#5 Condiments

Swap sliced avocado for mayo, use ketchup sparingly, step away from bbq sauce and slather on the mustard.

For more condiment advice, check out our earlier blog post devoted to these delicious add ons.
#6 Walk around

Do a full lap around the table of food options before digging in. This allows you to assess the situation and prepare to make healthy choices as you begin to put things on your plate.

Final Note: Enjoy yourself! You're at a bbq not just for the food but for the company as well. Engage in conversation, throw around a football with your friends and family, and even offer to help the host and hostess move things along (set up, serving, cleaning etc.).

Super Saves: Small Fixes to the Way You Eat

Sometimes staying healthy is not about what you eat but how you eat. Here are 3 ways to change the way you eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner with a little dose of portion control:

#1 Switch up your plates

More room on your plate, more food in your belly. Just use smaller plates to reduce the amount of food you pile on and feel great about cleaning your plate. 

Bonus tip: Try using a salad plate instead of a regular sized plate for a calorie slash of ~250 calories.

#2 Skip seconds

Keep your plate full but avoid returning for second helpings. This will help you keep portions in check. 

Bonus tip: Count to 10. Do you really want that second helping of pizza or fries? Doubtful.

#3 Course Loading

Dividing your meal into courses will slow down your eating and give your brain time to register fullness. 

Bonus tip: Try starting with a soup (high temp prevents you from scarfing down) or salad (the greens will take up room in your stomach) before moving on to your main dish.

Super Salad: Build a Better Salad Today

Salad bars are the latest craze. Just because its on the menu doesn’t mean that it’s a healthy option. Hiding within all the nutritional bounty are some pretty evil add ins.

Use this guide to build a better salad on your next visit to the salad bar:

#’s reflect calories per average serving

Source: www.justsalad.com

 

Let’s start with your base:

c  Arugula: 28

c  Iceberg: 6

c  Mesclun: 35

c  Romaine: 18

c  Spinach: 26

While iceberg is the least caloric, spinach and romaine pack a higher nutritional bang despite their higher calorie counts.

Add Ins:

 

c  Artichoke hearts: 20

c  Asparagus: 8

c  Avocado: 65

c  Beans (varied): 105

c  Beets: 20

c  Broccoli: 20

c  Butternut squash: 30

c  Carrots: 30

c  Celery: 8

c  Corn: 60

c  Cranberry: 95

c  Cucumbers: 8

c  Edamame: 75

c  Eggplant: 40

c  Grape Tomatoes: 20

c  Green peppers: 10

c  Hearst of palm: 20

c  Lentils: 70

c  Mandarin oranges: 25

c  Portabella mushroom: 15

c  Radish: 8

c  Red onions: 15

c  Roasted red peppers: 25

c  String beans: 15

c  Sun dried tomatoes: 95

c  White mushroom: 6

Aim to spend 100-150 calories on add ins by sticking with hearty, low calorie vegetables that pack a high nutritional buck. Remember: Colorful = Nutrient-ful!

Not all Proteins are created equal:

c  Blue cheese: 165

Egg Whites = Protein Powerhouses

c  Cheddar: 160

c  Egg whites: 20

c  Feta: 100

c  Goat cheese: 60

c  Grilled chicken: 150

c  Hardboiled egg: 85

c  Hummus: 80

c  Mozzarella: 115

c  Parmesan: 100

c  Tofu: 60

c  Tuna (nonmayo): 75

Watch: cheese portions 

Pile on: eggs whites

 

Toppings:

c  Croutons: 120

c  Crushed chips: 100

c  Pumpkin seeds:  70

c  Tortilla strips: 110

c  Walnuts: 160

Steer clear of loading up on these crunchies. Choose seeds and nuts over fried bread (aka tortilla strips and croutons).

 

Dressings:

c  Balsamic vinaigrette: 220 (SUPER SHOCKER!!)

c  Balsamic Vinegar: 10

c  Caesar: 150

c  Olive oil: 240

c  Ranch: 150

Safest bets: BYO, mustard or balsamic vinegar

Super Seasonings: Decoding Condiments

Burgers, fries, hot dogs, pasta, etc. just wouldn’t be complete without some flavorful condiments. But some of these add on’s add up to a boat load of calories.

Here’s a roundup of 3 favorite condiments:

Ketchup
Serving Size: 1 tbsp Calories: 15

Ketchup seems pretty reasonable at only 15 cals per 1 tbsp. Considering that a tablespoon is about the size of your thumb and most people eat about 4-5x that just with an order of fries, you’re looking at factoring in an additional 60 to 75 calories to your calorie tally. Don’t forget that most ketchups contain high fructose corn syrup ( = BAD ).

Try ketchup’s superior relative – Salsa.

Salsa

Serving size: 1 tbsp Calories: 4

Salsa has an added fiber and protein bonus

Make your own healthy salsas

Mayonnaise
Serving Size: 1 tbsp Calories: 90

Ten grams of fat. Period.  And again, the likelihood of using just a single serving size is slim.

For the same creamy texture, try light mayonnaise, low fat mayonnaise or even mashed avocado.

Light Mayonnaise

Serving Size: 1 tbsp Calories: 35

Low Fat Mayonnaise

Serving Size:1 tbsp Calories: 15

Avocado

Serving Size: 1/4 of avocado Calories: 70

Click here for some healthy avocado recipes

Sour Cream
Serving Size: 1 tbsp Calories: 30

Try dolloping plain Greek yogurt on potatoes for the same tart and tangy taste but fewer calories and a higher protein count.

Plain Greek Yogurt

Serving Size: 1 tbsp Calories: 8

Learn why yogurt is an awesome ingredient in these recipes

Super Meat: Choosing the Right Type of Meat

For many dieters, red meat is totally off limits. BUT meat can be a great source of protein, zinc, selenium, iron, and B vitamins. The problem comes from people choosing the wrong types of beef.

While we’re not such fans of the hunky chunks, if you have a hankering for some meat here are a few smarter options to chow down on:

• Roasts 
• Rounds of steaks 
• Top sirloin 
• Bison 
• Extra-lean ground beef for burgers 
• Grass fed beef (difficult to find in many restaurants) 

These are the big NO NOs. Meats to avoid: 

• Heavily processed and high fat meats like hot dogs, salami, bologna and frozen meats 
• Burgers that are more fat than ground beef 
• Meat that is streaked with fat. Visible fat = major calories, saturated fat and cholesterol 

Not at a restaurant? Cooking yourself? Firstly, bravo! Secondly, best ways of cooking your meat:

• Grilling 
• Broiling 
• Roasting 
• Baking

As a general rule, keep the portion of your meat to 3-4 oz. which is about the size of your fist or a deck of cards. 

The average restaurant sized portion of meat is 10 oz!! So when you’re out to eat try these tips to avoid a heart attack meal:

• Split your dish with someone else 
• Eat half and brown bag the rest 
• Order an appetizer sized meat and a large salad and make your own meat salad 
• Order a small sized piece and sandwich your steak with a slice of bread from the bread basket

Remember meat can be good just steer clear of the Fred Flintstone sized brontosaurus T bones!

Super Slimmers: Occasional Dieter

Find yourself saying: "I have to lose X lbs by this wedding, formal, party, reunion etc."


Diagnosis: You are an occassional dieter


You enjoy: Dieting based on events. What ever is coming up on your social calendar, dictates your diet routine. There may be some weeks with no engagements and out goes the diet. Then there will be the weeks where your literally starving yourself to shed last minute pounds.


Things to avoid: Food/drinks that bloat. A lot of people think that the best way to lose weght quickly before a big event is to just gorge on vegetables, but they dont realize that vegetables retain water, making you look like you've gained a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Some other bloaters are fake sugars, heavily processed foods, high sodium foods, dairy, and fiber filled foods. Drinking with a straw also will bloat you because you inhale more air as you swallow.

Eat: 1) WATER. Flush out calories and sodium with drinking lots of water. Of course don't go overboard with this, but increase your water intake just a bit to decrease your bloat.

2) Make sure to have the same number of calories and nutrients but limit portions. Almonds, avocados, olive oil, peanut butter etc. are all foods that come in small packages but pack a powerful bang of nutrients. By curbing the size of foods but retaining the same amount of nutrients you should prevent your stomach from expanding too much and filling out. 

3) Up the ante on foods rich in Calcium which naturally decreases bloating -- foods like yogurts, grains and fish.

If you know yourself, you know that you will not lose major pounds in the 3-4 days or even 1-2 weeks before a major event. However, you can healthily monitor your water retention so that you're debloated and ready to rock out!