Thank you, friends, for contacting me about yesterday’s post (with 5 tips for losing weight and going green) asking for more tips – here you go.
Reducing your carbon footprint while you reduce your love handles is simpler than you think. The large quantities of meat the typical American consumes is one of the biggest eco-problems – and one of the easiest to fix. Consider this morsel from a new book, Go Green Get Lean, by Kate Geagan: If you switch to a vegetarian diet for just two weeks, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 122 pounds and your calories by nearly 12,500—that’s 3 ½ pounds gone – in 14 days!
Need more motivation to green up your eating? By scarfing down the average American’s diet, according to Geagan, you generate far more carbon dioxide emissions (2.8 tons per year) than you do by driving a car (2.2 tons).
Change is easy – OK that’s a lie – but it isn’t complicated at all. The key to developing new eating patterns depends as much on your attitude toward food as what you consume. So here are a few things to think about, so you can lose weight, save money, and take steps to save the planet, too.
1. Forget 3 squares — eat 6 smaller meals spaced evenly through the day.
Though we were all raised on eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, some diet experts say it’s healthier to keep the metabolism stoked evenly throughout the day. Consume 6-7 small meals of 200-300 calories each, every 2-3 hours. It works on several levels: first you get used to eating small portions – and you realize that these smaller (and greener) portions can be just as satisfying. Second, it keeps your metabolism revved, so you burn more calories as you eat. And third, you won’t ever get really hungry – so you won’t overeat at mealtime. How can you — it’s always meal time.
2. Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry.
You know you buy more when you’re famished. And fattening snacks seem so irresistible in that state of mind that you don’t notice that these processed foods (like potato chips and flavored crackers) cost more per pound than the most expensive meats and exotic fruits and vegetables. Before you leave home, grab a carrot or some gum to munch on while you shop. And stick to the list.
3. Go meatless – try tilapia: it’s the little black dress of the fish world.
Cutting out meat yields a big cost savings. And it’s about the single-biggest green modification you can make in your diet. Going vegetarian can reduces your carbon footprint by over 5000 pounds annually, according to Josh Peterson in Planet Green.
Even the more expensive fishes, like salmon (rich in those valuable anti-aging, anti-oxidant Omega-3s) are often less expensive (and better for the planet,) than many cuts of meat. For an inexpensive alternative, try tilapia – a mild white fish with lovely texture that works. It’s the little black dress of the fish world –you can dress it up, dress it down, so versatile it works with any kind of spices and flavoring or just on its own sautéed in organic olive oil with a splash of lemon. (Top 20 Tilapia recipes.)
4. Cut out sodas – lose two pounds per month.
Sodas are expensive and packed with sugar. If you eat as much sugar as most Americans do — 150 pounds per year – you’re releasing 855 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere. Just by cutting consumption in half, according to the book Go Green, Get Lean, the average Joe could cut 7,500 calories a month. That’s about two pounds per month.
5. While eating – do not watch TV or talk on the phone — focus on every mouthful.
Ever finished a meal, looked down at your empty plate and barely remembered having eaten? What a waste of calories – and enjoyment. Mindful eating is the key to weight loss. You maximize pleasure (so eating less doesn’t feel like deprivation).
It’s simple: do not multi-task. Concentrate on every mouthful. Smell each bite before chowing down (your sense of smell is hundreds of times more sensitive than your taste buds.) Chew each bite 25 times (start counting) before swallowing. Invite a friend to join you. Open a bottle of organic wine, pour a small glass (see tip on small plates), and discuss the food, your lovelife, the environment (anything but the economy).
Feeling thinner, greener and richer already, aren’t you?
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