Denise's Daily Dozen (32 page)

KEEP FITNESS FRESH

If you find yourself feeling a little ho-hum about your workouts, try injecting a little freshness into your routine. You can try new fitness toys like exercise balls or resistance bands, or download a few new songs or buy a new CD. If you really want to treat yourself, splurge on a new MP3 player or iPod since music is a great get-fit motivator. Of course there are no-cost ways to shake things up, too: Change where you work out (if you’re in the gym, head outdoors; if you work out outdoors, try my DVDs at home), the time of day you work out, or whom you exercise with. You’ll be amazed how a few small changes can get you psyched up about breaking a sweat.

A Dozen Tips from Denise: Healthy Lunch Options

W
hen you’re on the go during the day, you can still have a healthy lunch! Here are some quick (and tasty!) options for brown-bag and store-bought lunches. And if you don’t have time to make a complete lunch at home, bring some of the ingredients with you and purchase the rest during the day. It’s simple! Keep this lunch list nearby so you always have some healthful, on-the-fly ideas!

Bring these from home:

1.
Leftover soup, hummus, and cut-up veggies.

2.
Cooked chicken breast on whole-grain bread and low-fat cottage cheese.

3.
Hard-boiled eggs and berries or other fruit.

4.
Natural peanut butter and jelly on whole-grain bread, cheese slices, and grapes.

5.
Lean turkey wrap, a few tortilla chips, and salsa.

6.
Low-fat yogurt, a cup of sliced fruit, and ¼ cup whole-grain cereal.

Buy these on the go:

1.
Side salad with red kidney beans, balsamic dressing, and soy chips.

2.
Miso or vegetable soup and a whole fruit.

3.
Grilled chicken salad and a hundred-calorie snack pack.

4.
Small tuna salad on greens or spinach, and fruit-flavored yogurt.

5.
Sashimi or sushi and fruit salad.

6.
Steamed vegetables and brown rice.

TWELVE KEY KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

It’s amazing how just a few kitchen items can make eating well and losing weight a lot easier. You probably already have many of the tools listed below, but if you don’t they’re all inexpensive and well worth adding to your healthy-eating arsenal.

1.
Good cutting knives. You don’t need pricey knives or a lot of them, but you do need a few that work well. They make food prep such as chopping and slicing fruits, vegetables, and lean protein a lot faster and more enjoyable.

2.
Small plastic bags and/or containers. These help you divide food into appropriate portions, something that’s especially helpful when you’re trying to watch your weight. On Sunday, I often cook up batches of food like hard-boiled eggs and store them in individual bags that I can grab when I’m running out. When I come home from the store with boxes of cereal or snack foods, I divide them up into individual portions. Studies show that we tend to eat more out of big boxes and bags of food. Little bags and containers also make it easy to take healthy snacks and meals on the go, and making your own is more economical than buying pre-packaged snack packs.

3.
Measuring spoons and cups. Eventually, you’ll be able to eyeball what a tablespoon or half a cup of food looks like, but in the beginning measuring it out can really help you keep calories in check. You’ll be surprised to see not only what correct portions are but also how satisfying they can be. With foods I eat regularly, like cereal, I keep a measuring cup in the box so that it’s easy to scoop out an accurate portion.

4.
Food scale. Not everyone needs one, but if you have trouble figuring out what three ounces of chicken or fish is, it can be really helpful. The good news is that today you can buy a good scale for less than twenty dollars. All you need it for is to weigh your food, so skip the high-priced scales with lots of bells and whistles. That said, if you’re someone who likes gadgets, a high-tech version may motivate you to use it more often—and that’s good for your waistline.

5.
Salad plates, or plates that are seven inches or smaller. It’s amazing how the size of the dinner plate has grown over the last twenty to thirty years. The problem with that is we tend to eat more off a larger plate or feel deprived when we see a normal portion of food on a big plate. (Something about all that empty space makes us feel like we’re not eating enough.) Trick your eyes and your stomach and teach yourself about appropriate portion sizes by serving meals on smaller plates and bowls.

6.
A water pitcher. Having one makes it more likely that you’ll actually drink the recommended eight glasses of water than if you have to keep filling your glass from the sink. Also, with a pitcher you can add ingredients like those on
page 92
to make yourself a more enticing spa-like drink.

7.
A pretty fruit bowl. It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, just one that you’re happy to see on the counter every day. If you fill it with fruit and keep it out, you’ll remember to grab a piece of fruit when your tummy starts growling rather than start digging in the pantry.

8.
Cheese grater or microplane. I love cheese as much as the next girl, but I also know that too much won’t help tip the scale in your favor. When cheese is finely shredded, though, you can sprinkle it on foods like pasta and salads and enjoy its rich flavor without using too much. This works best with cheeses that have a strong flavor like Parmesan and cheddar.

9.
Colander. Washing fruits and vegetables before you eat them is important because they may contain pesticides. And even those grown without these chemicals need a scrub-down since they’re probably handled a lot from the time they’re picked at the farm until they reach your kitchen.

10.
Steamer basket. These little metal baskets go inside your pots so that it’s easy to steam up vegetables. They cost less than ten dollars at mass merchandisers, department stores, or home stores, yet they cook veggies in a way that makes them tasty and helps them retain their important nutrients.

11.
Nonstick pan. Though many oils contain important healthy fats (one of the twelve foods you should eat daily), too much oil can add too many extra calories. With a nonstick pan, you can whip up dishes that are delicious but don’t require extra oil or butter.

12.
Blender. Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a smoothie, and the recipes for these are endless. Blenders are also good for making soups and salad dressings. Though some are pricey, you can definitely find an inexpensive one that will do the trick.

Tuwanda Coleman,

50, television producer, Nashville, Tennessee

POUNDS LOST: 30

I
’m a southern Kentucky girl who grew up eating everything prepared with lard and bacon grease. Our breakfasts were as big as dinners, and we never finished a meal without a decadent dessert. By the time I was fourteen, I was forty to fifty pounds overweight. I lost about thirty pounds when I went off to college because I was no longer around my mother’s delicious, fattening foods and had to walk two miles up and down a hill to class about three times a day. But once I started working, I slowly started to gain weight, eventually going up to my highest weight of 180 pounds.

“Around this time, I met Denise because I booked her on a talk show I produce in Nashville. I’ll never forget it. I’d already started working out with Denise’s morning exercise show and loved how she showed exercise moves that anyone could do, no matter what their fitness level. She also shared a lot of helpful tips on eating. One of my favorites is ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper.’ I was so excited to take a picture with Denise but when I saw it I was so disappointed in myself and how I looked. I was the heaviest I have ever been.