Food, fun and faux-frying: Just another Girls Night In
Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien is the first to tell you she isn't a nutritionist or a dietician. She holds no degrees in foodology and she doesn't pretend to be an expert. She is just a girl, like you and me.
"I am just hungry," she said. "But that doesn't make the information that I have to give any less important." And she's right.
About 900 women (and a few men) gathered in Crown Center last night to enjoy waist-friendly food and heart-friendly sisterhood at the 6th annual "Girls Night In" fundraiser for the University of Kansas Hospital's Change of Heart program. Hungry Girl was the main speaker for the event.
Lillien's big schtick is the idea of swaps. She takes normal foods and figures out ways to make them healthy. Take her "faux-frying" method, for example.
Craving onions rings or mozzarella sticks? Well, Lillien has your solution. Take Fiber One cereal and grind it in the blender. Roll your onion rings (or low-fat mozzarella sticks) in egg substitute, then in the Fiber One crumbs, then back in the egg sub and once again in the cereal. Bake. And enjoy. It's that simple. And filling.
At last night's dinner she told the 900 women gathered about her life living with a yoyo dieting mother and what spurred her into creating Hungry Girl. Then, she handed out a few tips for everyone. It was apparent there were many in the audience who had never heard her message, but by the night's end, her books were selling like full-fat hot cakes!
Tips from Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien:
1. Avoid Trigger Foods
For Lillien this means potato chips. She knows she can't stop eating them, so she stopped buying them.
"I cannot be trusted around crunchy salted snacks," she said. "If they are in my house, I eat the entire bag. So what do I do? I don't keep the chips in my house."
2. Set Attainable Goals.
"You need to set yourself up for success," Lillien said. "Who likes to fail? Anybody? You want to set goals that are totally achievable."
This includes setting goals involving losing weigh too quickly or not wanting to do the work needed to reach your goals.
"You've got to do the work," she said.
3. Don't Make Excuses.
It's about planning ahead and holding yourself accountable. When you know you're going out to dinner, Lillien suggests looking at the restaurant's menu online before you get there. That way you can make an informed decision.
Lillien also cautioned about punishing yourself for bad decisions.
"You're only as guilty as the last meal you ate," Lillien said before explaining that one bad meal shouldn't throw you off your plan. Just fix it next time.
4. Move. Yes, Move!
Lillien suggests finding enjoyable activities in your area, such as hiking with friends becase small changes can make big differences.
5. Write it Down.
"This is not an excuse to buy a cute little journal," Lillien said. It's about not lying to yourself. She stressed the importance of writing down everything saying it can be a shock to see just how much you eat in a day. Little bites here and there add up, she said. By writing everything down you are more aware of what you are doing.
6. Avoid Fad Diets.
Lillien said fad diets are not helpful for the long haul because they don't teach good habits. Weight Watchers, however, is not a fad diet, according to Lillien and does teach good habits.
7. Don't Beat Yourself Up.
"Don't feel bad about bad choices. Just change," Lillien said. This message, in fact, we repeated several time throughout her speech.
Lillien talked about living by the 80/20 rule because it allows you to enjoy life without beating yourself up.
"Food should be celebrated and enjoyed - 20 percent of the time," she said. She used the example of her stay in Kansas City. Since it was her first, she of course went for barbecue within an hour of her flight landing. She ate ribs, cheesey bread and carrot cake (which she said should be illegal, it was so good) at Jack Stack. And didn't feel guilty about it. Though she went back to her hotel and hopped right on the treadmill in snow boots because she'd forgotten sneakers.
Lillien also passed on a few small tricks to the audience.
"I'm a total volume eater," she said while explaining a tip for oatmeal.
One cup servings made her "sad" so she figured out that doubling the liquid requested and cooking the oats for twice as long will yield twice as much - for the same calories. She uses a mix of water and almond milk in her oatmeal.
What about breakfasts on the go? Put egg substitute and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese in a mug, pop it int he microwave and voila! A very protein-full breakfast.
Finally, Lillien introduced "Ate" of her favorite food staples.
1. House Foods Tofu Shirataki Noodle Substitute
"A gluten-free, all-natural swap that's great in pasta recipes, soups and stir-frys."
2. Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Cheese Wedges
"Super-creamy, delicious, and low in fat. Use it as a cream cheese swap in recipes, to make cheese sauces, in sandwiches, etc."
3. Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
"Great in cereal (hot or cold), smoothies, lattes, recipes, etc."
4. Canned Pure Pumpkin
"With 40 calories per half cup, it's low in fat and high in fiber. Use it in ways you never though possible! ... Don't confuse it with pumpkin pie filling."
5. Vitalicious VitaTops
"The BEST chocolate-craving killer EVER."
6. Fat-Free Greek Yogurt
"Super-creamy and packed with protein, a 6-oz. container has just 90 calories. Great in recipes and as a snack."
7. Fiber One Original Bran Cereal
"Secret weapon for 'faux-frying' ANYTHING."
8. Butternut Squash
"America's best kept secret. Why? It's a GREAT potato swap with half the calories of potatoes."
Natalie Notes: I have tried everything on her list but the VitaTops. The noodles were ok, but I couldn't get past their smell or the fact that they were floating in weird liquid (sure you drain it, but they are slimy). I prefer to just use spaghetti squash. I love Laughing Cow so much it makes me sick. Sad face. I am a HUGE Almond Breeze fan. And we know my love of pureed pumpkin. VitaTops are available at Target so I'll check them out soon. I think they are muffin tops loaded with fiber. I can't handle the thick texture of Greek yogurt straight - it sets my gag reflex off, but I plan to try it in baking soon. Fiber One is expensive, but it works well for faux-frying, it's true. And butternut squash is super tasty. I don't use it as a swap though, I enjoy it for the flavors it means to bring to my dishes.
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