I love skinnytaste dot com .... lots of great ideas. Love the taco dip, shrimp kabobs, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My entire family is technically medically obese (except for my dad and me). Two brothers and their wives and a sister have lost 50 pounds each on average in the past year. Several of them are fairly panic-stricken that they'll start gaining back the weight. There's no way in hell I want my house or get-together to be a trigger for them grabbing a brownie. Or ten. So, call me boring, fine, but on Friday, I'll have only low fat, low carb food. To those posters with ideas: thanks!

They're going to gain it back. You can't go low carb, or low fat forever. It's impossible to sustain. I know you want to support them, but no one can live in a low carb/low fat microcosm for the rest of their life. Carbs aren't the enemy, and neither is fat - but quality of carbs and fats are where its at. Every person I know who's done those stupid fad diets has lost weight... and gained it back (and then some). It's a terrible cycle, and the yo-yo-ing is often less healthy than just stabilizing in being overweight (look at Tom Hanks, who now has type 2 diabetes from the yo-yo-ing he did for his move roles)

I've lost over 50 lbs, through exercise and moderation, with no restriction. It's slower, but that's sustainable for the long term. It's so much more liveable.

The evidence does not suggest that yo-yoing is more unhealthy than just being overweight, nor is there any evidence that Tom Hanks' type 2 diabetes developed as a result of the yo-yoing he did for his movies.

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/171/5/550
"After adjustment for overall weight status, weight cycling was no longer associated with higher rates of diabetes."

Weight cycling impairs systemic glucose tolerance and has been associated with worsened metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes.

http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/62/9/3180.abstract

deviled eggs - and replace most of the mayo with a light sour cream. (if you're like me and don't like mayo.)

How about a salad that has black and white beans (rinsed, drained), diced tomatoes, cooked corn and diced avocados? You can eat it with baked tortilla chips.

Hummus and carrots and other veggies?

i puree cottage cheese with horshradish and dill or chives, a bit of lemon and salt, serve with veggies. You could also do a garlicky tzaziki.

-mixed grilled vegetable platter with chimichurri sauce
-kabobs of all kinds - fruit (if you want to do a dessert kind, you can dip strawberries in melted dark chocolate and work them in for a pretty healthy way to moderate intake), veggies (I love doing tomato, basil, and mozz skewers drizzled with balsamic reduction sprinkled with salt), grilled meat/seafood
-gazpacho
-"buffalo" cauliflower ( http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/01/spicy-buffalo-cauliflower-bites.html )
-zucchini pizza (top grilled zuke rounds with a roasted tomato and fresh mozz)
-bowl of fresh cherries


...this isn't that difficult, but I hope that helps.

Hummus with a selection of veggies instead of chips (carrots, celery, pea pods, cucumber, pepper strips....). Can do multiple varieties. Can also do salsa.

Toothpicks with plum tomato, basil, and mozzarella, and maybe a kalamata olive. Just do a 2:1 or better with the tomato:cheese ratio

Cucumber slice topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon (possibly add onion and capers). Just don't make these too far ahead, as the cucumber gets limp quickly.

Chicken satay.

Use endive or romaine hearts as cups for dips or salads (shrimp salad, chicken salad, crab salad, tuna salad). For the salads, use a vinaigrette instead of a creamy dressing and add chopped veggies.

Bowl of grapes. Doesn't sound fancy, but a great snack during hot weather. Mix different colors for a more interesting presentation. I like clipping them into single serve bunches (5-7 grapes?) to make it easier to grab a few without leaving sad looking stems behind.

Yogurt dips or marinades, hummus w/pita or other lowfat chips, how about kabobs with chicken or salmon and lots of colorful veggies - I do red/green/yellow mini peppers and the purple onions and mushrooms, it looks and tastes great. Last year I made dips with fat-free sour cream and yogurt and the Pampered Chef dill mix and people devoured it, and didn't believe me when I said it was fat free. I also made a potato salad with mostly greek yogurt and people gobbled that up, including my DH who is skinny and wouldn't normally be caught dead eating yogurt of any type. I never told him, and will take it to the grave OP there's lots of possibililities-