Weight Loss Tips, Tricks and Recipes

This week I shared with you my own experience with losing 15lbs in 3 weeks and how I did it eating what some would consider a crazy high amount of calories.

I want to stress again that my goal is not to make you think that YOU need to, or should, lose that much weight that fast or that YOU can eat as many calories as I did and still lose weight.

But some of you have asked me why I can eat so much and still lose weight and the answer is; muscle. As I’ve been talking about, muscle IS your metabolism, the more you have, the more calories you need to maintain it. So although I knew I was going to lose scale weight my goal was to make it all fat and not my precious lean muscle so I ate enough to feed and keep my muscle and then I gave each workout my all so my body would ditch the excess fat I had stored.  It worked like a charm and it’ll work for you too.

But maybe you don’t feel like you have a lot of muscle yet. This may be true which is even more reason not to starve what you do have and cause it to go away. You still have the same mission I have; keep the precious muscle, shed the fat, but in your case, we may also want to add on a few more pounds of the beautiful stuff. Nutrition is one of the key elements and that’s why I started the retelling of my personal story with that side of it.

Ok, so below I’m going to give you a few of my favorite recipes and some of my favorite tricks to combat the cravings that come even when you eat plenty of food.

Priceless Tips and Tricks

Dealing With Cravings

Cravings are unavoidable; you need to be prepared:

1. Eat a spicy lunch Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers, suppresses the appetite and helps keep your cravings for fatty snacks in check.
2. Chew Gum Research shows that people who chew gum after lunch eat fewer calories at their next meal and are less likely to crave sweets than those who don’t chew gum.
3. Need Chocolate? Have some –In moderation Find ways to get your chocolate fix without a full blown sweet binge. Try drizzling some chocolate sauce on fruit, or eating A Hershey kiss instead of a Hershey bar.
4. Get Enough Sleep When you don’t get your body’s needed seven to eight hours of shut eye your craving increase for high-carb, high-calorie foods. Just two nights of skimpy shut eye can trigger the response.

Curried Tuna & Apple Pita –Ready in 15 minutes. 1 serving

• 3oz canned tuna, drained
• ¼ cup chopped, unpeeled apple
• 2Tbsp Greek yogurt
• ¼ tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts
• Sea salt, to taste
• ½ large whole-wheat pita
• ½ cup shredded lettuce leaves

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine tuna, apple chunks, yogurt, curry powder, mustard, peanuts and sea salt.
2. Line the pita with the lettuce and spoon in the tuna salad. Serve.

Nutrition: Calories 271, Fat 5g, Carbohydrates 27g, Fiber 5g, Protein 30g,

Sausage and Vegetable Skillet –Prep time:25 minutes, serves 3

• 3/4 pound Turkey Italian sausage cut into ½ inch slices
• 1-1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 cup cubed yellow squash (about 1-1/2 squash)
• 3/4 cup chopped green onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2-1/4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
• 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or more to taste

In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat in oil until no longer pink; drain. Add the squash, onions and garlic; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes. Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper; heat through.

Sarai’s Perfect Oatmeal

• ½ cup oatmeal
• 1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries
• 1 Tbsp golden raisins
• 1 Tbsp Chopped Walnuts
• 1 Scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 Cup Water

Combine all in a bowl and microwave for 2 min.

Sweeten to taste with agave or artificial sweetener.

Energy Muffins

Here’s what you need…

• 1 cup mashed banana
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup refined coconut oil (I get mine here –http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/expeller-pressed_coconut_oil.htm)
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup frozen blueberries, left to thaw in a strainer

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 18 standard-sized muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine banana, egg whites, water and oil. Add the flour and mix. Gently fold in blueberries. Immediately spoon batter into muffin cups.
3. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove muffins from tins and cool on a wire rack.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 98 calories, 4g fat, 13g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 3g protein.