Eating For Fat Loss Does Not Have To Be Boring

A common misconception about eating when your goal is fat loss is that the food needs to only consist of bland chicken breast or fish with steamed vegetables. Who’s seen the fish & a rice cake video? (click this for funnies)

The only thing limiting how tasty your food it is you choosing not to add any flavours to it.

If you are in the habit of smothering your food with full fat mayonnaise, drizzling it with butter, oil or some other high calorie dressing then its definitely something you’ll need to track as calories but that’s not to say you can’t use them. Simple herbs & spices add such negligible calories its not worth tracking.

Flavour your food with herbs & spices

Herbs & Spices not only add great flavour to you food but there is research to suggest they provide some health benefits.

If you are completely clueless in the kitchen and i’d recommend investing a cookbook or use some online recipes to get some ideas. Many modern cookbooks will provide the macro’s for the recipes but this can also be done by entering the recipe into the application.

Being relatively experienced preparing quick healthy dishes what I do is choose a regional theme that encompasses a variety of herbs & spices. Some simple combinations I use are -

Indian: Cumin, Coriander, Garam Masala, Turmeric, Chilli powder, Garlic, Ginger, Tamirand

Mexican: Coriander/Cilantro, Thyme,Parsley ,Tomato puree,Cumin,Chilli

Thai: Thai 5 or 7 spice, Lemongrass, Fresh Lime or Lemon, Garlic, Ginger, Fresh chilli

Chinese: Chinese 5 spice, Garlic, Ginger, Cloves, Soy sauce, Cinnamon

Italian: Basil, Oregano, Garlic, Tomato Puree, Black Pepper, Sea Salt

French: Garlic, Black Pepper, Herbs de Provence, Sea Salt, Paprika

Supermarkets and ethnic food stores have a wide variety of readily mixed spice combinations for you to choose from.

3 options to avoid overcooking your meat

No it doesn’t have to be bland grilled dry chicken breasts and white fish! Here are some ideas to make your sources of protein taste better.

George Foreman Grill- This is much better than using a regular grill to cook you meat and will leave it a lot juicer.

Stir Fry- Cut the meat finely then quick stir fry it, This will help avoid the meat getting overcooked and drying out.

Slow Cooker - Stick a load of slow cuts of meat in the slow cooker in the morning before work, then set the timer for it to be ready for when you come home. Most have an option to go to a ‘warm mode once its cooked to avoid overcooking your dish. This is by far the lowest labour intensive method relative to the number of portions you can prepare.

Stir fry your veg instead of steaming

Steamed vegetable to be honest can be quite boring flavour wise and its something I rarely do.

I prefer cutting a medley of different vegetables and making a stir fry which is you combine with a protein source such a meat or fish gives you an easy one pot recipe with less washing up afterwards. Cook the meat or fish first and take out and place to the side in a bowl. Next stir fry the veg in the juices and any additional flavourings you are using then fold the meat or fish back in a the end. This helps avoid overcooking it.

Invest in a large wok and you’ll be able to make 3-4 portions at a time which can see you through to lunchtime and possibly dinner the next day.

Here are a few vegetable combination ideas incorporating a variety of colours. To this you can add any herb’s & spices to your tastes-

Onion, Broccoli, Red Sweet pepper

Green Beans, Carrots, Chestnut mushrooms

Asparagus, Beetroot, Kale

Cauliflower, Spinach, Tomatoes

Spring Onions, Pak Choy, Shitake Mushroom

Chuck it all in one pot (Hotpot)

Certain cultures especially in Asia have been doing this for centuries. In a nutshell you put everything into one pot and let it cook. The only thing you need to get right is the timing of adding the ingredients. 

I don’t use any special pot for this, just one appreciate for the number of servings I am making. If you are a former poor student with honours you may have even learned the trick of using a rice cooker for this function!?

Get a pot, fill to half way with boiling water and add either a stock cube or fresh stock. This is your base. There are many ways to flavour your base. I personally prepare stock and then store it frozen in ice cube trays for easy future use.

You then put the meat/fish which if cut finely should only take around 3-5 minutes to cook. Next the noodles for another 3-5 mins and finally vegetables for a further 3-5 mins. Putting the vegetables in last helps avoid over cooking them and decreasing their nutritional value. Add herbs & spices to taste. 

This by far is the least labour intensive option and you’ll have very little to wash up afterwards. Again you can use a large pot to make multiple portions. 

Wrap Up

How you view eating goes a long way to govern whether you’ll be successful at sticking to. If you view eating healthy as a chore you will fail.

Invest in nourishing your body properly and you’ll be surprised how much more energetic you will feel.