Losing Weight by Reducing Sugar Intake

Here is my plan to lose weight. I was told I need to cut sugar out of my diet. Initially this seemed impossible. I asked my nutritionist, "How do I do this?" His recommendation, "Replace sugar with stevia or honey."

For me, this means making a lot of dinners and bakery goods by scratch. No more pre-packaged goods. Not only are they more expensive, but I also cannot control what ingredients go into them.

I am also learning tips on how to bake with honey. I don't know about you, but I have tried stevia. I do not think it tastes anything like sugar. So, I am going to bake with honey. I looked up how to cook with honey on-line. One recipe recommended replacing sugar with honey. However, they also recommended using less honey than you would normally use sugar. I tried this approach. It didn't work. The cake was not near as sweet as it should have been. I also forgot to lower the temperature by 25 degrees. The cake ended up extra brown.

Next time I am going to lower the temperature of the oven and use a one-to-one ratio when replacing sugar with honey.

To save money and lose weight, I am beginning to make all of my own meals by scratch. This takes planning and preparation. However, I know eating healthier is good for my family and good for my body. By making meals from scratch, the meals are likely to have lower calories and not have unwanted added sugar.

Because I need to make meals from scratch and I do not have time to make meals from scratch, I am learning ways to make homemade meals quick to prepare. One way I do this is by preparing the same meal with two or three times the amount we need for dinner. This way I am able to freeze the rest and use later. I have found soup without noodles, fully cooked chicken and casserole dishes freeze nicely. You can also freeze homemade spaghetti sauce and mashed potatoes.

(Tip on making ahead mashed potatoes: For Thanksgiving, I made ahead mashed potatoes (from the potato with butter, milk, salt and pepper). I froze it. When I took it out of the freezer, the potatoes did not have the consistency I desired. My husband recommended adding instant potato flakes to the real mashed potatoes. I added the instant potato flakes and a little boiled water (less than recommended to make mashed instant potatoes). The potatoes regained their consistency and tasted delicious! Everyone raved about the mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving.)

You can make ahead many items and freeze them. If you need a list of what can be frozen, do a Yahoo! search to find what can and cannot be frozen.

Besides preparing baked goods with honey and making meals from scratch, I find losing weight and staying healthy is a matter of discipline. If I can sneak some spinach into a meal, I do. It tastes great in soup and on pizza. I also have some carrot juice I keep in the refrigerator, I throw it in soup or in a casserole dish. No one knows the difference and it adds a few extra nutrients. I keep vegetable and fruit baby food on hand for the same purpose. No one notices a fourth cup of a bananas, squash or green beans in a similar colored dish. I find it enhances the flavor of the food and gives my family a few extra nutrients.

There are several books out by the Sneaky Chef. These books are by Missy Chase Lapine. She simplifies eating healthy by adding nutrition where it isn't noticed.

Here are some tips on replacing sugar with honey:
http://www.homebaking.org/foreducators/askexperts/bakinghoney.html

Instead of measuring my weight pound by pound, I am making healthy choices. I can tell I am making good choices because every day my family's skin tone is looking more and more radiant. As the pounds drop off, my family will be healthier too. It is a win-win for everyone!