2 egg whites (or ¼ cup egg substitute)
¼ cup of skim milk
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of sweetener (like Splenda)
1 ripe banana
4 slices light whole-wheat bread
4 tablespoons of reduced-calorie maple syrup (it’s optional)

Preparation
Use blender to mix together the egg whites, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, sweetener, and banana for about 1 minute, until smooth. Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl.

Cooking
Lightly coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place it over medium heat. Dip the bread slices into the mixture and place them into the skillet. Cook until each side becomes golden brown (about 1 to 2 minutes per side).

Serving
You can top the toasts with 2 tablespoons of reduced-calorie maple syrup if you like and serve immediately.

It all takes about 15 minutes. I wish you bon appetite!

The lower carb alternatives you gonna use should have identical taste as the original high carb foods. You will be very nicely surprised to find out that many of them actually taste better than the original high carb dishes.

Sandwich

You can substitute Chinese and Napa cabbage for bread. This way you eliminate 29 grams of carbs per sandwich.

Use one leaf of the cabbage and roll it up with your favorite filling and if you like you can dip it in low-fat mayo. Delicious.

Pizza

You can substitute Portobello mushroom for pizza crust. This way you eliminate 20 grams of carbs per pizza slice.

Cut the mushroom gills out and place the mushroom on an oiled cookie sheet and bake until it dries out a little. Add you favorite pizza topping (my favorite is tomato sauce, ham and sweet corn). Mmm, I got hungry

Pancakes

You can substitute Oatmeal and cottage cheese for pancake mix. This way you eliminate 45 grams of carbs per pancake.

Mix 2 eggs, ¼ cup of the cottage cheese and ½ cup of the oatmeal. Add vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon
(you know the benefits of cinnamon). Make the mixture smooth and cook it like you do with the regular pancakes. I am going to try this immediately.

Then I thought… What if you could have your favorite fruit drink or smoothie ready in about 1 to 3 minutes? I’d be great!

This is possible if you use WonderSlim Protein Smoothies and Fruit Diet Drinks and it gets even better for you to know that those protein diet drinks are actually WonderSlim Diet meal replacements.

WonderSlim Diet Smoothies are high in protein, low in fat, and full of essential vitamins and minerals. You can enjoy their rich and creamy taste all year long, anywhere you like. As they are well balanced and nutritious you can take them instead of your regular meals or just as a quick and healthy snack.

These protein diet smoothies are the perfect solution for any busy dieter on the go who doesn’t want to sacrifice taste or nutrition and yet gets everything they need to lose weight healthy way or maintain your lost weight.
They are the ideal supplement to your WonderSlim Diet plan.

Preparation is easy – poor the contents of one packet (100 calories) into a glass, shaker cup or blender. Add 8 ounces of cold water and stir or shake vigorously until dissolved…

…Or you can use both the Berry and Strawberry Smoothies to make a frozen pudding pops like Liz (one of the many happy users of these wonderfully flavored protein diet smoothies):
She combines fresh or frozen fruits, adds plain yogurt and blends. Delicious and nutritious these could be great frozen snacks for the hot summer days.

1. Is cinnamon bad for the liver and the kidneys?

Coumarin is a chemical compound contained in Cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum – aka Chinese Cinnamon) and is known to cause liver and kidney damage in high concentrations. True Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum – aka Ceylon Cinnamon) has negligible amounts of Coumarin, so no worries here folks as long as you use the True Cinnamon.

Coumarin toxicity is 275 mg/kg, which is relatively low compared to related chemical compounds. We humans are able to largely metabolize Coumarin to a compound that is of lower toxicity.

Also pay attention to the key phrase here “high concentrations” – half teaspoon a day is not high concentration. So if you’ve been using a half teaspoon of Cassia to prepare the drink, instead of the Ceylon Cinnamon, you don’t have to be worried, just try to find true cinnamon.

2. How long should I take it?

Important notice: You should not over use the honey and cinnamon drink, meaning you can’t use it forever.
If you reach your weight goal within a couple of weeks or a month – that’s fantastic. If you need more time, just use it for about 2 to 4 months tops.

3. Should the honey be added after half an hour (when the water cools)?

I know that in my original post I wrote to make a paste from the honey and the cinnamon powder and then to poor the hot water in the cup. However, I should agree with that the honey is better to be added after the water and cinnamon mix cools (in about half an hour).

However, if your goal is to lose a few pounds fast and easy, I think you’d be interested to check out the Protein Shake Diet - no fats or significantly reduced amounts of fats plus approximately 100 calories per serving…see more details

It’s not necessary to shop with a list in your hands, but it’s good to know a little more about low fat foods so that you can make healthier and more informative food choices when shopping for a healthy dinner.

You should know that it’s not healthy to lower your fat consumption to ground zero, as well as it’s not healthy to overeat with low or fat free foods, because they still contain calories from carbohydrates and proteins. The best advice is to pay closer attention to food labels.

Here is a small list of the most popular low fat foods arranged in groups:

Meat and Fish

1. Lean ham
2. Lower-fat hot dogs
3. Low-fat cold cuts - 95 to 97% fat-free lunch meats
4. Chicken or turkey - white meat
5. Water-packed tuna
6. Beef - round, loin, fat-trimmed and extra lean ground beef
7. Fish and shellfish - unbreaded fresh, frozen and canned in water
8. Turkey sausage – well drained
9. Vegetarian sausage - made with tofu

Dairy Products

1. Milk - skim, reduced-fat (2%) and low-fat (1%)
2. Yogurt - low fat and fat-free frozen, plain low-fat yogurt
3. Imitation whipped cream - made with skim milk
4. Cream cheese - light and fat-free
5. Cheese - reduced-calorie, low-calorie processed and fat-free
6. Cottage cheese - low-fat (1%), reduced-fat (2%)
7. Mozzarella cheese - made with part-skim milk
8. Ricotta cheese - made with part-skim milk
9. Dry milk powder - made with low-fat (1%), reduced-fat (2%) or non-fat milk

Cereals, Grains, and Pastas

19. Bran flakes, crispy rice, cornflakes
20. Cooked grits or oatmeal - here’s a low calorie recipe for a delicious oatmeal cake
21. Rice or noodles - spaghetti, macaroni
22. Pasta with vegetables (primavera)
23. Pasta with red sauce (marinara)
24. Reduced-fat granola

Baked Foods

25. Hard French rolls
26. English muffins, bagels, reduced-fat or fat-free muffins or scones
27. Low-fat or saltine crackers - lower in sodium
28. Cake - white, gingerbread
29. Cookies - reduced-fat or fat-free (graham crackers, ginger snaps, fig bars)

Check these low fat and low calories cookies and crackers

Snacks and Sweets

30. Fruits – apples, bananas, oranges, peaches, grape fruit, lemons, pears
31. Vegetables – broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes
32. Popcorn - air-popped and light microwave
33. Puddings - made with skim milk

All newbies to Medifast know it’s difficult to lose weight, but Medifast makes it easer for you with the 5 and 1 Meal Plan. And once you reach your weight loss goal, you will need a little help to stay there permanently. That is why Medifast prepared the new Momentum weight maintenance package to make that easier for you, too.

With this unique maintenance package you will say Goodbye to the yo-yo effect.

Medifast Momentum program is designed to energize both you and your new way of eating, with its special formulas it helps you maintain your new figure, healthier and significantly reduced weight. The frustrating ups and downs will be gone for good.

Momentum is a part of the Transition and Maintenance phases of your Medifast Diet. It can help you achieve entirely new way of life and discover the happiness of getting fit again.

There is no better way to start your maintenance phase but with the 28 day supply of great tasting Momentum Meals and Flavor Infusers:

21 Momentum Banana Creme Shakes

21 Momentum Cappuccino

21 Momentum Chai Latte

21 Momentum Flavor Infusers (1 box with flavor chosen by Medifast for you)

They are metabolism booster due to the unique contents.

What is so unique about Momentum products?

Each Momentum product contains 100 mg of Caffeine and 90 mg of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the most potent antioxidant found in green tea. This combination has been clinically proven to have the maximum effect on inducing thermogenesis.

This means that you do not pay for the patches (they are totally free) but you must pay as little as a couple of bucks for shipping. You will probably use the weight loss patches for one week (usually that’s how long free trials last); you will see the promising results (curbed appetite, more energy, etc.) and will return for reorder of a full pack (usually for one to six months).

At least that’s the way it works for most of our customers who have tried the one week free trial of Hoodia Weight Loss Patch. If you wanna give it a try, you can do it immediately at Hoodia Diet Patch official website.

First of all let’s remind us the number of calories contained in fats, proteins and carbohydrates:

1 gram of fat = 9 kilocalories ~ 37 kilojoules

1 gram of protein = 4 kilocalories ~ 16 kilojoules

1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 kilocalories ~ 16 kilojoules

And some more calorie values:

1 gram of alcohol = 7 kilocalories

1 gram of dietary fiber = 3 kilocalories

Having all these values in mind you can easily calculate the number of calories in food you eat every day. And how much calories you need a day is another question:

How to estimate your daily caloric needs

You can estimate your daily caloric intake with the Harris-Benedict formula. It helps you calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR), i.e. the optimum amount of energy your body needs to function.

Let’s calculate your BMR

To do that you need to use your current weight, height and age in step ONE. It’s easy:

Harris-Benedict formula for Women:

655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Harris-Benedict formula for Men:

66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

Take your daily activities into account in step TWO:

• Add 20% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are sedentary: (0.2*BMR) + BMR

Means you spend all day sitting in a chair: for example working with a computer in a bank, home, office, etc.

• Add 30% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are lightly active: (0.3*BMR) + BMR

For example if you exercise 2-3 times a week.

• Add 40% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are moderately active: (0.4*BMR) + BMR

For example if you exercise 4-5 times a week.

• Add 50% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are very active: (0.5*BMR) + BMR

If you exercise every day of the week or for prolonged periods of time. For example if you are a fitness trainer.

• Add 60% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are extra active: (0.6*BMR) + BMR

If you are a professional athlete or if you work hard labor job.

How knowing your BMR will help you lose weight?

Knowing your BMR means you are aware of how much calories you need a day to keep your current weight. However, if you want to lose weight you need to cut your daily caloric intake (eat fewer calories) or burn the extra calories (through some activities). As a result you should keep your daily calorie intake lower than your BMR. How much lower? That’s the question: But before that you need to know:

Some more nutrition facts from Wikipedia:

Because human adipose (fat) tissue contains about 87% lipids, one kilogram of it stores the caloric energy of roughly 870 grams of pure fat, or 7800 kcal. In principle one has to create a 7800 kcal deficit or surplus between energy intake and use to lose or gain 1 kg of body fat, respectively, or 3500 kcal per pound. However, if one eats 7800 kcal more than the body needs, one won’t necessarily gain 1 kg of fat, since muscle and other tissues may be built. In the same way, if one eats 7800 kcal less than their maintenance level, they may not lose 1 kg of fat, since muscle and sugars may be metabolized to generate energy.

In short and still roughly speaking - in order to lose 1 pound a week you need to eat 500 calories less a day or burn those calories through exercising or other activities. For optimal results you should combine the two methods - eat 250 calories less and burn the rest 250 exercising.

Gradual weight loss is the healthiest way to achieve your desired weight

More than 2 pounds a week is not very healthy and the lost weight is not permanent. 1 to 2 pounds a week is natural weight loss - good for you and your body. You will be loosing weight with a smile on your face and won’t even notice you are dieting, because you will be dieting naturally.

Small calorie (aka gram calorie) is the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 g (gram) of water by 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit).
1 cal equals to 4.184 joules (cal is the symbol for gram calorie)

Large calorie (aka kilogram calorie) is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg (kilogram) of water with 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit).
1 kcal equals to 4.184 kilojoules = 4184 joules = 1000 cals (kcal is the symbol for kilogram calorie)

Although not a SI unit kilocalories are still the most common measurements for food energy. Hence the most common misconception that occurs when we talk about calories in food - despite we read calories or cals on food packages, the labeling actually refers to kilocalories when we talk about food.

For example: If a pack of crackers has 400 calories (or cals), it turns out that the calories (or cals) marked on the crackers package are actually kilocalories (or kcals), so it would be correct if written 400 kilocalories (or 400 kcals), but usually it’s not.

Often the word “calorie” (referring to kilocalorie) is capitalized (Calorie) in order to be distinguished from the small (gram) calorie, but this is not effective outside the specific context, so it’s practically useless.

The name “calorie” (referring to kilocalorie) is often used in medical sciences and non-scientific contexts. Whereas, the name “calorie” (referring strictly to the gram calorie) is used in scientific contexts such as chemistry and physics. Here’s why it is needed to be inferred from the context whether the gram calorie or the kilogram calorie is intended.

When we talk about exercises the same rule as in non-scientific context applies.

For example: If you normally burn 100 Calories (or cals) on the treadmill technically that refers to 100 kilocalories (or kcals).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie

The research was conducted by a team of scientists from Purdue University in USA and was published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.

In the experiment were used two groups of rats - each fed with yoghurt. The first group was fed with artificial sweetened yoghurt and the second one with crystal sugar sweetened yoghurt. After that each group was given food - plenty of it. The results were amazing:

The group of rats fed with yoghurt sweetened with artificial sweetener gained more weight and put on more fat compared to the other group.

Imagine if you drink your favorite morning coffee sweetened with saccharin and then eat up a lot of the chocolates and sweets from the local vending machine. Eventually you gain weight, whereas your closest coworker drinks her coffee with sugar and stays the same weight. Sound terrible, but it could be true…

It is all explained by the theory for sweet expectations:

Normally the sweet taste in the mouth primes the metabolism for the arrival of more high caloric or sweet meal. When that meal does not arrive, according to the theory, the body might get confused and have problems to regulate its appetite when other food is present around.

If this theory is true the low-calorie artificial sweeteners could have a similar effect.

My opinion

Do not forget that artificial sweeteners have helped so many people to lose weight when eating foods sweetened with them. This is still a very solid fact and one single (although very interesting) study conducted using rats does not prove for sure anything and cannot overrule the many health benefits of using artificial sweeteners all at once.

I will try this theory myself and see if I feel the same way. Currently I am a sugar lover and I will be happy if all this turns out to be true, so I wouldn’t need to switch to sweeteners in order to lose weight.

Source: BBC News (February 2008)