Feeling Good 9/14

Weight loss' Super Foods!!! Can you truly eat more AND lose weight? Better yet, can you eat more TO lose weight?

Ever wonder how some people can eat what they want (or seemingly) and still stay slim & trim? Well, I thought I knew because I was one of those people until it started catching up with me LOL! While I'm still not overweight & can eat almost anything, I could stand to lose a few pounds, IMO, so I started looking for food facts! The thing is, I love to eat. I feel like eating is a gift, a privilege, an art form, if you will (yeah it's that serious LOL)! I don't want to starve myself or eat tiny amounts of food that leave me NOT satisfied! I have no problem with eating 6 smaller meals a day but the dieting thing is not my forte, so here are some foods I found that can be eaten & enjoyed without the worry of gaining all that weight. Bear in mind that all things do NOT work for all people. If you know that eating too many carbs adds too many curves, stay away from those foods! so try some of these out to see what works best for you!

SoLo =)

Quinoa
Curbing hunger is as easy as piling your plate with this whole grain. It packs both fiber (2.6 grams per 1/2 cup) and protein, a stellar nutrient combo that can keep you satisfied for hours, says chef Sarah Krieger, R.D., spokeswoman in St. Petersburg, Florida, for the American Dietetic Association. Eat more: Serve quinoa instead of rice with stir-fries, or try Krieger's take on a scrumptious hot breakfast: Cook 1/2 cup quinoa in 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup orange juice for 15 minutes. Top with 1 tbsp each of raisins and chopped walnut.

Steak
Beef has a rep as a diet buster, but eating it may help you peel off pounds. In a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women on a diet that included red meat lost more weight than those eating equal calories but little beef. "The protein in steak helps you retain muscle mass during weight loss," says study author Manny Noakes, Ph.D. Try to consume local organic beef; it's healthier for you and the environment. Eat more: Grill or broil a 4-ounce serving of top round or sirloin; slice thinly to top a salad, or mix with veggies for fajitas.

Kale
Long sidelined as a lowly garnish, this green belongs center stage on your plate. One raw chopped cup contains 34 calories and about 1.3 grams of fiber, as well as a hearty helping of iron and calcium. But kale's earthy flavor might take some getting used to. Spinach, another nutrient powerhouse, is a milder-tasting option. Eat more: Mix chopped raw kale into cooked black beans, says Jennifer Iserloh, founder of Skinny Chef Culinary Ventures, in New York City. Or slice kale into thin strips, sauté it with vegetable broth and top with orange slices. Make it a meal by tossing the mix with quinoa.

Pomegranates
The juice gets all the hype for being healthy, but pomegranate seeds deserve their own spotlight. In addition to being loaded with folate and disease-fighting antioxidants, they're low in calories and high in fiber, so they satisfy your sweet tooth without blowing your diet, Krieger says.
Eat more: Pop the raw seeds on their own (many grocery stores sell them preshucked) as a snack at your desk. "Use them in salads instead of nuts," Iserloh says. "They're especially delicious on raw baby spinach with lemon–poppy seed dressing." For another take on the seeds, use our easy recipe for sweet and spicy pomegranate salsa (see our recipe section this week).


For more great ideas, visit the Healthy Living section of Shine from Yahoo!

Info & Photo credit: Shine.Yahoo.com