Tips, Tricks, and Tidbits: Part 1

Over the course of the past year I have tried different things to help me with my weight loss journey.  In this post I'm going to tell you about a few that have helped me get to a healthier lifestyle. 

First up my food scale, which I bought as soon as possible.  I use this little baby for EVERYTHING.  I purchased it at Walmart and paid about 20 bucks for it.  It weighs food up to 11 pounds.  It also weighs in grams and ounces.  The best feature is that it uses 2 AAA batteries, instead of those pesky button batteries.  Living in this small town of Fort Stockton, sometimes it's kinda hard to find those button batteries.  But regardless of what kind of scale you get.  Get one.  A digital one is best.  It will help you keep track of what you are eating and how much you are eating.  You may not like the idea of keeping track of your food intake, but I promise you whether you do it or not, your body is very much paying attention to what you put in your mouth.  So you might as well too. 

Second up, green tea.  After those first 3 months of losing only 3 freaking pounds I was getting pretty upset.  When I went for my monthly check up I talked to my doctor about my frustrations.  And he said to keep going and give myself another chance.  If in the following month I didn't lose any weight he would prescribe weight loss pills.  I don't like taking pills.  I usually forget to take them.  He also told me to drink green tea.  Among all the benefits of green tea, it's been known to help with weight loss.  I started drinking it twice a day.  And not the bottled stuff either.  I get my mug, fill it with hot water, and steep a tea bag for a few minutes.  Or for a long time if I forget to take it out.  Don't do that though, the tea gets bitter.  You can drink it hot, or let it cool to room temperature.  I don't add anything to it.  No sugar, no stivia, no agave nectar, no honey....nothing.  You can add them, I just don't.  You can also add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  To this day I still drink two cups.  One after I get home from the gym.  And the other one around 5pm.  I don't think it matters when you drink it, just drink it.  Another thing, several people have told me that they don't like green tea.  You don't have to get plain green tea.  There are tons of different flavors available.  My all time favorite is Stash Chai Green Tea.  I love love love chai tea and finding it as a hybrid with green tea made me oh so very happy.  I bought that kind at HEB, in Odessa, Tx.  As far as the other flavors you can pretty much find them at any grocery store.  Steep a bag in your favorite mug and chug away.

The last thing I want to share is about keeping spinach fresh.  The best way to keep it from going bad is just eat it.  But you're not going to eat the ENTIRE bag at once so here some stuff I learned.  Don't open the bag until you are ready to use it.  When I get ready to eat some spinach it take it out of the packaging and put it in a gallon ziplock bag.  In the past I tried to get all the air out by squeezing the bag and then closing it.  That didn't do it.  So I tried wrapping it in paper towels to keep the moisture to a minimum, and that did help, but it still got wilted.  I read somewhere, and for the life of me I can't remember where, to blow into the bag before you seal it and that will keep the moisture down and keep it from getting wilted.  I started doing that and it really does work.  I don't remember why, something about the carbon dioxide.  Now I open the ziplock bag take out whatever I am going to eat, take a breath, blow into the bag, and seal it as fast as I can.  Spinach will keep fresh longer than most other greens.  I tried adding kale to my salads but it goes bad very quickly.  So far nothing I have tried works with kale.  And then kale smells so bad after a couple of days that it really turned me off of it.


Well that's it for now.  I hope that some of this has been helpful.  And stay tuned I'll be posting other tips, tricks, and tidbits in the near future.