List of Healthy & Unhealthy Soups

What To Eat While Eating Out

Eating Out at Fast Food Joints

Healthy Snacks and Dips for Card Parties

Its difficult to portion control when it comes to snacks. They are consumed while standing and socializing that might prevent the mind from registering the damage done in terms of calories. With moods elevated for the coming festive season and friends, family and relatives getting together for card parties, its difficult to escape the snacks. Snacks are also known as finger foods,  are small in size but can be very high in calories as most of them are either deep fried or consumed in large quantities. This  directly impacts the waist line and reverses any weight loss that you might have achieved especially for this festive season.

Not considering all snacks to be unhealthy but most of them are made from using cheese, refined flour, oil, high carb ingredients and many of them are deep fried. Also the dips which offer different flavors can be equally unhealthy if the ingredients have high salt, sugar or high fat.

We know it that its not just the snacks that play spoil sport to your weight loss resolutions but also the alcohol that accompanies it. If not the alcohol then the sweethened soda beverages, cold drinks, packaged juice, soda water etc are there to keep sipping on your favorite snack. Now we don’t want ti imply our options but present you some healthy options for consideration. Evnen if you are eating healthy options portion control is a must as every extra calorie consumed gets saved as fat in your body.

There are plenty of healthy snack options available and using some culinary skills and keeping out the unhealthy ingredients you can prepare or outsource some snacks for better health and taste.

Some Healthy Dip Options

Hung Yogurt Dip: Hung yogurt or greek yogurt is a healthy option as it is rich in nutrition and keeps a check on calorie intake. To make a dip you can use shredded garlic cloves, table spoon olive oil, chopped coriander and peppermint, some chilly flakes and salt for taste and combine it with greek yogurt. It tastes delicious and is a great substitute for   cheese dips, mayonnaise or other fattening dips.

Hummus: Chickpeas is the main ingredient in the recipe which is an excellent source of protein and important vitamins and minerals. Mash the chickpeas in a blender and mic chopped garlic (optional), seasame paste, olive oil, lemon juice and garnish it with coriander or peppermint leaves. This is a great dip that can be eaten with breads and cereals, pita bread and is filling too.

Green Chutney: This is a common dip in Indian menus and and compliments all the snacks. You can prepare green chutney in a variety of ways. You can make it in combination of coriander leaves, peppermint leaves, raw mango, lemon juice and salt for taste. If you want to further experiment it you can add a paste of onion and garlic paste in it to further the taste.

Fresh Vegetable Platter: For vegetable salad you can have plenty of options of vegetables that you can mix and prepare different salads. You could use fruits for a mixed taste and bring in more flavor to it. Simple salads with tomatoes, cucumber, radish, carrots, bell pepper, cruciferous vegetables are mostly available. You could add lean meat options, cottage cheese etc to avoid making the salad plain and simple. Even boiled eggs or scrambelled eggs can add flavor to your simple salad.

Whole wheat Pita Bread: Pita bread is a great substitute for chips to be served as snacks. It has fiber and protein in it that helps you get fuller faster and longer preventing  you to continue nibbling. The salt in chips is highly addictive thats what makes you keep munching them and before you realize it you have finished a large packet of chips all by yourself.

Barbecued Chicken: Everyone loves Barbecue chicken and vegetarians can opt for barbequed veg platter. Chicken is a nutritious food option rich in protein and low in fat if the fat is removed properly. Grill your chicken in the open and with some spices and dips enjoy eating it while you play cards and make some money.

Dry Fruits: Some different healthy dry fruits that you can casually munch while concentrating on your game can be a interesting choice. It will add nutrition to your body, is small in portion and can be eaten directly. Offer almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashew-nuts etc. Peanuts or peanut salad can be a healthy option as well.

 

Are Vegetable Soups Healthy

Soups are often categorized by general people as non-fattening or healthy foods. But are they as healthy as they are known to be. Popularly soups can be divided into two groups: clear and thick soup. Clear soup are generally more healthy as they have the least amount of calories while thick soups are usually contain a lot of starch, sometimes cream and other high carbohydrate ingredients.

To help you further explain the difference clear soups do not contain anything else except for the strained liquid. Any liquid that has vegetables, meats or even noodles is considered a thick soup.

A bowl of clear soup can help you lose weight. This doesnt mean that you get on a only soup diet. It means that adding a bowl of clear soup before your meal can help you prevent from overeating while adding important nutrition. A clear vegetable soup contains vitamins & minerals while a bowl of non-vegetarian clear soup has zinc, protein besides vitamins & minerals.

Vegetables and poultry can be added to your soup to make it a healthy meal but it might add to the calories count of the food. You can then prepare the soup with enough vegetables and poultry to work as  a substitute for a meal. While it control the calories it adds the correct amount of essential nutrition to the diet. Also often soups especially served in restaurant carry cornflour, high sodium to make it more appetizing also add empty calories to the soup. High sodium content in the soup often results in water retention leaving one feel bloated.

While eating out choose the healthier soup option to avoid putting on weight and adding empty calories to the diet. Following ingredients that are often added to the soup like milk, cream, butter are fattening and should be avoided.Avoid packed and processed soups as they are high in sodium and contain no antioxidant properties.

To summarize it stick to clear soups that are made of clear, strained broth. If you want to add vegetables & meat to your soup then make the soup as your meal and not an appetizer, incase you are watching your weight. Check the ingredients of the soup before ordering. If you can ask the chef to prepare you a clear vegetable soup without any corn flour and low salt in it.

Hope this article helps you chose better while eating out or wondering what can be eaten when you are on a weight loss program.

Should You Eat Junk Food?

Junk food is  not healthy and we know it. Eating junk food can almost be compared to the warning sign on cigarette packets. All smokers know its bad for health but yet they smoke. Junk food only provides empty calories to the body without any nutrition. But prolonged consumption of  junk foods can even cause irreversible damage like diabetes, high cholesterol, heart diseases etc.

Some of the universal favorite junk foods are potato fries, salted chips and snacks, candy, sugar, high sweet content food, sweet desserts, fried food products, fast food fried foods and products like sweetened sodas. A lot of food companies are marketing foods like sweetened cereals, packaged soups, biscuits as health products. But if you read the ingredient content you would notice the high sodium, sugar and corn syrup content of these products. This does not mean they are lying . These so called healthy foods might contain some nutrition than others but are still not completely healthy. The similarity between partially healthy and completely unhealthy foods is that they are high in calories that only leads to storage of fat.

Junk food products that are salted are loaded with sodium that increases cholesterol in the body affecting heart health, results in water retention and slowers metabolism.It also causes high blood pressure and hypertension. On the other hand sweets lead to excessive calorie intake which leads to increased blood sugar levels causing type 2 diabetes in the long run. It causes storage of fat and increases visceral fat than reduces the insulin effect. Yet if you reverse your nutrition from empty calories to healthy foods then you would experience weight loss and better health.

Below are some unhealthy food options  that can be easily replaced with somewhat healthy options:

Cheese Burger with Coke: This is all season snack for us and is so satisfying and filling is what we feel. This is a monster diet when we look at the calories it provides. The combo provides approx 380 from the cheese burger and 210 from an 500ml bottle. The cheese and, high sodium in the burger and sweet in the drink is not so healthy choice.  Instead choose from vegetarian wraps that are made of healthier grain as a good substitute for white bread.

Cholle Bhature: Famous indian food which is combination of chick peas and fortified flour which in high in oil and sodium. Its taste makes you eat more of it which spikes the calorie intake to 170 calories from chick peas and 275 calories from two pieces of Bhature which is deep fried. Why not instead eat sprouts or boiled chick peas with salt, pepper and lemon with a slice of garlic bread.

Potato Wedges with Salsa Dip: The touch of the salsa dip on widgets is mouth watering but is high caloric. Its small size and shallow dips with each bite increase the caloric intake. 380 calories from the wedges and 80 calories from the salsa dip. Drinking some sweetened beverage could further increase the caloric intake as it is high sodium which makes you feel thirsty making you eat and drink more. Instead look for finger foods that have green vegetables in them for better nutrition. Eating grilled vegetables can be tasty too if you are open to giving them a chance.

Hot Chocolate Fudge: Sweet desserts that promise happy moments are certainly not healthy with their calorie intake. One hot chocolate fudge adds 350 calories to your diet. What about eating some dates insted for the sweet tooth? You could drink a cup of cappucino instead. Dark chocolate is healthy and could make a healthier choice. ‘

Cheese Pizza Slice: Dont be confused that sharing a pizza and eating two slices would not be unhealthy. Cheese and the pizza provide nearly 450 calories eating two slices. Some sweets or sodas increase the intake again. Choose veggie or chicken pizza with out cheese. Opt for thin crust, whole wheat pizza without any fillings in between.

Balanced Diet

We are all familiar with the concept of eating right. There is so much information about all sorts of healthy foods and their calorie value. There is enough being written about how vitamins are good for you and what are the rich sources of this nutrient. But rarely do we get to know the approximate quantity that is required by the body on a daily basis. What makes a balanced diet. To make it a little simpler for you we decided to give you an overview of what should make your daily dietary intake.

 

The key nutrients that are required for smooth functioning of the diet are proteins, fat, fiber, minerals, iron, carbohydrates, vitamins and calcium. A diet that includes all these essential nutrients, in correct portion, is known as a balanced diet. Based on the average calorie requirement for a male weighing 60kgs: 2700 or a female weighing 55 kgs:2100 here is a list of essential foods to maintain your weight :

Read more

Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Quit believing in myths and start getting real. Rev up your metabolism naturally through food and workouts.  Clock your meals and sleep patterns at a definite time allowing your body adapt to the patterns to show results. Avoid yo-yo diets or crash diet and stick to your normal routine. Instead know the foods that you eat and learn healthy eating habits for a faster metabolism.

Here are a few breakfast ideas for you

Eggs: Poached eggs with a glass of milk and a multi grain toast. Eggs & milk provide with protein and important minerals like calcium , phosphorous etc. Toast providing some carbohydrate & fibre to keep you full of energy and Read more

6 not-so-healthy Healthy Foods

If you look out for healthy snacks in the grocery store, you need to read this to know which healthy snacks are really healthy, and which are not.

Unfortunately some of the not so healthy products are being commercially sold to people  as “Healthy/Diet Foods”. Here are a few examples that will tell you how and why they are not so healthy:

Diet Read more

Is Oatmeal healthy?

Oatmeal is the latest thing to recommend for a healthy breakfast. But is oatmeal really healthy? Let’s find out.

Oatmeal is overall healthy. It provides healthy carbohydrates. It is a good source of soluble and insoluble fiber and contains essential amino acids for optimum functioning of the body. The fiber slows down the digestion of starch and helps in regulation of blood sugar levels and keeps you away from heart risk. The fiber makes you feel full for a longer time which helps you lose weight. Further, the soluble fiber present in it helps in reducing LDL ( bad cholesterol).

It all sounds wonderful, but should you be eating oatmeal for every meal? Probably not, since Read more

5 Nutrition Packed Vegetables

All of us eat vegetables in some form or the other. Maybe in salads, mixed veggies etc. Do you know about the benefits of the vegetables that you eat. Some of them are as common as cabbage, that are loaded with nutrition.

Read below for health benefits of commonly available and eaten vegetables. Read more

Fish Oil Benefits

Fish oil comes from the tissues of oily fish. It is extremely beneficial because it contains omega 3 fatty acids: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). The human brain is comprised of 60% fats, and approximately half of that fat is DHA, omega 3. This might mean that nature intended the human brain to be “powered” by fats, so if you don’t have enough, your brain might not be able to run properly.

Consuming fish oil has many benefits from reducing risk of cancer to weight loss.

Here are few health benefits of popping that fish oil capsule everyday: Read more

Spirulina- Nutrient powerhouse

This wonder algae has received positive reviews from researchers and scientists world over and is now being developed as the “food for future”, simply due to its ability to synthesize high quality concentrated food more efficiently than any other algae.

Spirulina is loaded with essential amino acids. It has also been approved as a health food by the world health organization. If you compare spirulina with common foods, you will find that it contains many more proteins than eggs, milk or meats. It contains 18 of the 22 Read more

How to control food portions?

Food portions have increased tremendously over the years, whether it is larger meal sizes or just larger portions of everything, and it is showing on our bodies, and the health of the state with India being projected to be the capital in lifestyle disorders like heart disease, diabetes & obesity.

Lack of portion control is the biggest hurdle in achieving a sustained weight loss. To help you control portions, here are some tips that come in handy:

- Use Read more

Low Calorie Cocktails

Its the time to party. So to help you party in style and sensibly, we’ve compiled a list of some low calorie cocktails. Before we get to that, check out the list of the highest calorie alcoholic drinks, and some low calorie drinks.

Now, for the list of low calorie cocktails… Read more

Train your brain for weight loss

Most of us live in a world, where we are eating more food than we actually need for existence. Our portions are distorted and we are eating much more than we were previously. That’s why we are facing increasing problems of weight management, obesity and other lifestyle disorders, and thus an increasing need for weight management plans.

Can we train our brain to respond to the feeling of fullness by simple tricks? Is there a way our bodies be satisfied with less food? The answer is yes. Training the brain requires Read more

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