Transform your life with instant self-help information about health, wealth, happiness, lifestyle and relationships…

If you’ve ever wondered how to prepare meals that will help you lose weight and include some of the unhealthy foods that you crave, we can help. Weight loss and an occasional treat do belong in portion control eating and the healthy meals at the heart of your eating plan are easy to prepare, nutritious and very satisfying.

Fresh foods are always the healthiest to include in your menu. By providing a variety of different flavors and textures they make eating interesting. Herbs like parsley, some rosemary, oregano or basil add special tastes to a wide range of meals. They can be grown in the smallest apartments and easily included in menus. Investing the time to grow or buy ingredients like these will help you vary your meals and is well worth the effort.

Some ideas below are based upon foods from each of the main food groups. No foods types are omitted. Even those that don’t fit the ‘healthy food’ category should feature from time to time. You enjoy these foods and you should eat them occasionally in small portions. In this way portion control eating makes losing weight possible without feeling as if you are ‘going on another diet’.

To lose weight on a regular basis you need to eat foods we call ‘slimming sensations’. These foods are low in processed sugar and fat and provide your body with the necessary nutrients. As you continue to lose weight, feel confident enough to include an occasional (small) slice of your favorite cake or share dessert with a friend. Your weight loss will continue even with a small portion of something you love.

The way to include all foods in your menu as you lose weight is to make sure that you limit the amount you eat of these and the frequency of this. A small potion eaten infrequently is the answer! This is the key to making portion control eating an enjoyable eating experience instead of a boring diet. Make sure that most food you eat is healthy and filled with the necessary vitamins, minerals and fiber your body needs and low in sugar, salt and fat. Doing this will allow you the capacity to enjoy a small treat containing more salt, fat or processed sugar than you generally allow from time to time.

Portion control is not about ongoing deprivation that makes you crave the wrong foods more than you should. A small serve of something you really enjoy, as a special treat will not counter balance the value of all the vegetables, lean meat, fruits and cereals that you include in your menu. You’ll still come out ahead and feel better for it, more determined to work towards your weight loss goals.

The following suggestions are healthy food choices for a meal comprising food from each of the main food groups. A meal plan like this can be prepared quickly and easily at home or ordered when you dine out. You can even prepare or order a healthy meal like this and add a special treat without compromising your intake of important nutrients.

Appetizers

Fresh, steamed seafood such as shrimp cocktail

Eggs

Never fried, poached or boiled

Salads

Salads with low-cal dressing, lemon juice, vinegar, or vinaigrette

Breads

Crackers or whole grain rolls

Potatoes and Substitutes

Noodles – preferably whole wheat noodles

Fats

Olive oil, low-calorie salad dressing

Vegetables

Boiled, steamed or raw

Fish, Poultry, Meat

Broiled, grilled, roasted, baked, never fried poultry, fish, or seafood

Desserts

One scoop or ½ cup of ice cream or sorbet

Flavored coffee

Beverages

Seltzer water, low-fat milk, sugar free drinks

Coffee, tea

Planning a portion control meal like this revolves around a balanced proportion of foods from each food group. Your meal plan should include 50% vegetables and fruit, 25% grains and 25% proteins. To make healthy eating a part of your life forever while you still lose weight or maintain your weight loss, always include those less-than-healthy-foods that you really love, in small portions now and then.

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

Tags: portion control, portions

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Cooking & Food Recipes, Health and Fitness, Women Love Life, Your Diet & Your Body. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.