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Healthy Cooking Tips

Cooking healthy meals doesn’t have to mean eating bland food. With the right ingredients and tricks, you can prepare healthy cuisine that tastes great, and will keep your weight loss on track too!

Expert Tips for Cooking Healthier Cuisine

  • Start with nutrient-rich foods. Base your recipes on colorful vegetables, fresh fruits, lean meats, and whole grains.
  • Use nonstick pans. Nonstick cookware will require you to cook with less oil or butter.
  • Invest in a quality food processor. A blender or food processor is essential for adding vegetables to sauces. They’re also great for making smoothies out of fruit and ground flaxseed.
  • Brown your food with an oil sprayer. A little bit of olive or canola oil is all you need to crisp up many recipes. Using a sprayer will dramatically reduce the amount of oil (and fat) that ends up in your dish.
  • Grill, bake, or roast your foods. Basically, avoid frying your foods at all cost. Grilling and roasting your vegetables will not only make them healthier, but it’s also better for bringing out the flavor of the vegetables.
  • Make healthy substitutions. Using low-fat sour cream in your recipes, for example, is a great way to cut calories without sacrificing taste. You can opt for low-fat varieties of cream cheeses and yogurts as well.
  • Experiment with spices and herbs. Practice flavoring your foods with something other than salt. Fresh garlic, onion, peppers, basil, and oregano are all versatile flavors that won’t raise your blood pressure.

When you’re learning to cook healthier foods, you can start from scratch, or look online for variations of your old family favorites. A few smart substitutions and quality ingredients can go along way toward cutting your fat and calories without skimping on taste.

Comments

4 responses to “Healthy Cooking Tips”

  1. missy baty Avatar
    missy baty

    There are several ways to cut down on calories. One is use cooking spray instead of oils or butter.
    Watch what you drink. You can take in a lot of calorie just in fluids. Water is calorie free and good for you!
    Try to cook by the 3 B’s BAKE, BOIL, or Broil.
    Please share your recipes with other LapBand patients the more variety you have the less likely you will get board with your food and be tempted to cheat.

  2. missy baty Avatar
    missy baty

    Tip when eating out. Visualize your “at-home LapBand Portions” when dining out. Restaurant entrees can be at least 3 times the size of your usual portions.

  3. Michelle C. Avatar
    Michelle C.

    Cutting down on the salt is a first step to cooking healthy. There are a lot of salt free seasonings out there. You would be surprised at the variety. Salt makes you retain so much water, it can dramatically slow down your weight loss progress. Mrs. Dash has many different flavors for your tastes. Also try to cook with lean meats, substitute ground turkey for ground beef. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

  4. Leslie E. Avatar
    Leslie E.

    I agree with Michelle. I recently cut down on my salt intake and lost 4lbs with that being the only change I made. Having the lap-band affords you the opportunity not to have to “Diet”, but it is still important to choose healthy foods and develop healthy cooking habits. Make smart choices. Experiment with fresh herbs and seasonings to give some variety and new taste to your meals.

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