Cooking Tips for Weight Loss

As I was preparing dinner last night I was thinking about all of the great tips and substitutions for cooking that I have learned over the years that help me to make my meals healthier and lower in calories. Keep in mind that I am by no means a great cook, so these tips and substitutions are pretty basic, but that is what makes them great. As my dinner simmered away I jotted down all the cooking tips for weight loss that I could think of. I’m sure there are lots more and I encourage others to share their secrets with us.

There are many simple cooking tips and substitutions you can use to make the meals you prepare at home healthier and lower in calories.

With a focus on losing weight, the majority of us will spend more time preparing our own meals instead of buying restaurant food and eating out. Learning how to prepare your meals in a healthy and low-calorie way can really help propel you in the right direction for losing weight. Also, these cooking skills will come in very handy for years to come as you work to maintain your weight once you’ve dropped the pounds.

There are some ingredients commonly used in daily cooking that can be simply substituted with healthier options. Also, the method by which you prepare your food can determine whether your meals are going to make or break your diet. Cooking for weight loss is not difficult and can be easily done by even a beginner cook.

Some of the best cooking substitutions for weight loss are the following:

• Use applesauce in the place of butter or oil in baking recipes
• Use olive oil cooking spray instead of butter to grease pans for baking and frying
• Use cornstarch to thicken sauces instead of a roue (butter and flour)
• Use low-fat dairy (milk, yogurt, sour cream) instead of the whole varieties
• Use a banana to substitute for 2 eggs in baking recipes
• Use soy cheeses as a substitute for milk cheeses
• Use artificial sweeteners, honey or fruit juice concentrate instead of refined white sugar
• Use olive oil or flax oil for salad dressings instead of vegetable oils

As I mentioned above, how you prepare your food is as important as what you put into it, especially when you’re trying to keep your calories low. There are many cooking tricks that people use to reduce fats and calories in homemade meals. Below are a few of the best.

Cooking Tips for Weight Loss

• Rinse cooked ground beef – Once ground beef has been browned, it should be rinsed with hot water then drained in a colander. This removes quite a bit of fat that is contained in the meat without affecting the flavor. Once the beef is drained, continue the recipe as normal.
• Chicken broth instead of butter – Chicken broth can be substituted for butter in some recipes. This works best in pasta, stuffing and rice.
• Oil-free marinade – Marinades can be prepared without oil either by just omitting it all together or substituting it with red wine, fat-free Italian salad dressing or concentrated fruit juice.
• Fat-free cottage cheese for casseroles – Fat-free cottage cheese when baked in a casserole becomes bubbly and gooey just like other cheeses. This substitution works best in cheesy casseroles like lasagna and tuna casserole.
• Bake or broil instead of deep-frying – There is no reason to deep-fry your food when baking and broiling are so simple and much lower in fat. If you are really craving a deep fried taste, then brush your food with some beaten egg and roll it in a mixture of crushed corn flakes, salt and pepper. You won’t believe how closely this healthy option resembles fried food, particularly when used to make fried chicken.
• Make just enough for controlled portions – This last cooking tip for weight loss is one I think is very important. When preparing a meal, you should make just enough to give a controlled portion size to each person. This helps to prevent overeating, which can occur when you make a huge amount of food and you can just keep eating and eating. If you want to make more so that you have left-overs for lunch or dinner the next day then separate out the portion for left-overs before you bring the food to the table. Also, if you are using a recipe that states it makes four servings, but you are only cooking for two then reduce all of the ingredients by half so that you prepare just enough.