When you want to lose weight, a healthy and balanced diet is a crucial part of your weight loss plan. By no means should you starve yourself, since then your body will only think you’re entering a famine, with the result that it will store every calorie that it can spare, and try its utmost to gain its weight back once you stopped your diet and food is readily available again.
A much better option which will lead to long-term weight loss and effective weight maintenance is to simply eat healthier. Reduce calories – not by eating less, but by replacing fatty and sugary foods with healthier ones like fruit, vegetables, grains and whole grain products. Eat foods high in nutrients instead of calories. This way, you can still eat normal portions and enjoy meals without feeling deprived of anything. And because this is a kind of eating you can stick to for a lifetime, it will also enable you to have a healthy weight for a lifetime.
The following two recipes (making four servings each) are easy to make and low in fat since no fat needs to be added, provided you use a non-stick coated dish which won’t need greasing. If you need to grease your dish, apply a thin layer of margarine, olive or canola oil with a brush instead of pouring oil in.
Baked Fish with Squash and Marrows
Ingredients
- 4 medium white fish filets
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 squashes, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 medium marrows, sliced
- 1 chili, chopped
- spice for fish
Steps
- Preheat the oven on 200°C.
- Cook the squash for about 10 minutes in boiling water until it starts getting soft. They need to be a bit firm still otherwise they will fall apart later in the oven. Drain.
- Wash and dry the fish filets and season with spice for fish. Place them into an ovenproof dish. Spread onions, garlic and chili over the fish. Spread marrows and squash on top.
- Cover with foil, put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and grill for another 5 minutes until slightly brown.
Baked Fish with Pepper and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 4 medium white fish filets
- salt, cayenne pepper
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 green peppers, cut into bite-size pieces
- 250 g mushrooms, sliced
Steps
- Preheat the oven on 200°C.
- Season the fish filets with salt and cayenne pepper and place them into an ovenproof dish. Spread onions, pepper and mushrooms over the fish filets.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then open it up and grill it for 5 minutes until slightly brown.
Both recipes are based on a large portion of vegetables, providing you with many important vitamins and minerals without overloading you with calories. They also ensure your portion is of a size that will fill you and not leave you hungry.
Serve the fish with brown rice or whole grain pasta to ensure you eat complex carbohydrates instead of simple ones. They will fill you quicker, preventing you from overeating, and keep your blood sugar constant for longer, giving you lasting energy. Unlike of refined rice and pasta, you can barely eat too much whole grain products as they will fill you too soon. This food group is also recommended by experts to be one of your main foods, right next to fruit and vegetables, since it is high in nutrients and fiber whilst rather low in calories.
If you want to make these meals a special treat, you can sprinkle 50 g grated low-fat cheese over it after removing the foil.