Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD, CEO and founder of F-Factor is here to help you eat clean in 2019. Today the Queen of Fiber is sharing her best healthy hacks with us, The Royal Family of Flavor (yes, we just crowned ourselves).
Tanya’s Words of Wisdom:
Temporary solutions tend to equal temporary results; permanent changes can lead to permanent weight loss, and to keep changes permanent follow these tips.
1. Eat foods high in fiber – Fiber is the zero-calorie, non-digestible part of a carbohydrate that adds bulk to food, swells in the stomach, absorbs and removes fat and calories, and boosts metabolism. When you eat foods high in fiber you feel fuller longer – so you’ll generally eat less throughout the day, and still get the carbohydrates needed for energy.
2. Jumpstart your metabolism by eating breakfast – Skipping breakfast slows metabolism, which inhibits weight loss efforts. Studies show that breakfast eaters burn calories more efficiently throughout the day and are more likely to be thinner than non-breakfast eaters.
3. Catch those ZZZs – The quantity and quality of your sleep affects the hormones that control feelings of hunger and fullness. Not getting enough sleep sets the stage for overeating, which makes weight loss efforts all the more challenging.
• Detail: (Aim for 7.5 hours a night)
4. Baking? Go Bananas! – Mashed banana has the ideal consistency to be used in place for butter and oil in recipes for cookies, brownies, pancakes and muffins. Swapping 1 cup of butter or oil for ¾ cup – 1 cup mashed banana, slashes calories and fat, and adds beneficial nutrients like potassium and vitamin B6.
5. Eat your meals – breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner—to keep metabolism going – When your body is deprived of food for many hours between meals, it starts conserving fuel and burning fewer calories to protect itself from starving. Your metabolism slows down, therefore inhibiting weight-loss despite reduced caloric intake. Also, blood sugar levels begin to drop within two hours of eating, which can trigger bingeing and food cravings.
6. Sweeten your smoothie a smarter way – By swapping fruit juices out for Bai Malawi Mango or Bai Brasilia Blueberry as a base in smoothies, you cut down on the amount of added sugars and calories, and give your smoothie an extra kick of natural caffeine.
7. Keep a LARGE (1 liter) water bottle by your side morning, noon and night – Water plays a key role in nearly every bodily function and it fills you up so you tend to eat less. I recommend my clients drink 3 liters of water each day, which can seem overwhelming with average size water bottles (6 per day!). Bai’s new Antioxidant Water comes in 1 liter bottles – much more manageable – and added antioxidants don’t hurt either.
8. Go Greek– Nonfat Greek yogurt is not only higher in protein and lower in fat than other dairy products, it’s also versatile. Enjoy it as protein for breakfast or a snack, or use it as a lower fat ingredient in recipes. Swap a cup of sour cream out for a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt and you’ve cut fat by up to 98% and added 36% more protein. You can also substitute a cup of oil with ¾ cup of nonfat Greek yogurt slashing 99% of fat, and adding 15g protein.
9. Journal – Recording what you eat and/or your activity in a journal is one of the best ways to hold yourself accountable. Journaling can help you evaluate the nutritional composition of your diet, and reveal patterns of eating that you may not have realized, like doing X makes you feel sick, or doing Y keeps you up all night.
10. Imbibe intelligently – Alcohol isn’t the reason Americans are overweight, and while totally abstaining from alcohol in order to lose weight is not necessary, what you drink does make a difference. One of the best ways to cut calories from your cocktails is to skip the sugary mixers and juices and use Bai to flavor (life) instead. One of my favorite margarita recipes is the Sparkling Blood Orange Margarita. It’s so fresh, simple, and delicious.
