Have you heard that heat suppresses appetite (diet tip!)? After deciding that this is the best time of year to diet (for other reasons, which I will explain momentarily), I remembered having heard this myself and wondered if it is true. According to the US Army Medical Department, it is true.
And here is another diet tip for you from that same source: It’s better to exercise “in the elements” (or at higher altitudes) as opposed to the nice, climate controlled environment I enjoy, because you burn more energy. Ugh. I really did not want to know that. I guess it means I will just have to exercise for longer then, because I just don’t do the extreme temps!
Back to my original thought of dieting this time of year, though… being the foodie that I am, I started pondering the fact that people make that dreaded New Year’s resolution to lose weight in the middle of a string of what I’ll call “eating holidays,” you know what I mean?
And people determine to begin dieting in January, with very good intentions, mind you. But most people wanting to lose weight, I would say, really enjoy eating. And what happens in February? Valentine’s Day. And how do we celebrate Valentine’s Day, a lot of us? Chocolates and dining out! Then Easter falls either in March or April where we are tempted in all the stores with the Easter candies and sweets. Mother’s Day in May, Father’s Day in June. You get it.
So we finish the 4th of July cookouts and then we get a big breather… no holidays again until Thanksgiving in November. Hopefully your birthday and/or anniversary doesn’t fall between July and November, because if it does, I’m not sure what to tell you! ;) Mine does happen to fall in October, but still, that gives me a good three months from now until then. So for me at least, and maybe, hopefully for many of you, it is the perfect time to go for it.
So I guess it might seem kind of cruel for me to serve a recipe this Saturday evening, while talking about dieting, that is not at all a diet-friendly recipe. But that is why I included the smaller serving of the mousse. You see, it’s the “diet size” serving! If I’m going to cut back on foods I enjoy eating, I will not deprive myself totally and completely, which would be another diet tip I have heard before but have no clue from what source. I am sure you could find it from a variety of sources.
I did much better about eating healthy in college and before I got pregnant. The Chef and I are stress eaters, however, so when things in life aren’t going as planned, we’re going through some rough spots, or just having one of those days…. we tend to gravitate like an industrial-sized magnet is pulling us towards those foods that are weaknesses for us. For me, it would be chocolate-peanut butter anything. So I will be buying much less of those kinds of foods in the coming months! But I have always allowed myself to have once a week some of those foods I’m limiting in my diet for health reasons (because this really is my ultimate goal in dieting; the weight loss makes it even better).
So when we made today’s recipe, Easy Lemon Mousse, I made the diet size serving for fun. Some desserts are too rich for me. I don’t usually care for really rich sweet foods. Some do, I know, but it’s not me. So this diet size serving would be the right size for me for something like that. This mousse, though, I did not think was too rich. It was light tasting to me. We really liked it and hope you do also.
(Note: You will notice from the pictures that we used a different garnish, lemon shavings.)
Enjoy.
PS Anyone else dieting right now “with me”? Do you have any great tips? Here is one more tip to try: I also have read that sometimes the hunger feeling can really be signaling that you’re thirsty, so try drinking some water before going for the snack.
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More great ideas:Â Tip Me Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesday, Foodie Friday, Tatertots and Jello
About the Author
Adopted at age 2, grew up in the Charlotte, NC area. Obtained Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University. Loves being a Mom of two and taste-testing Chef John's culinary creations and sharing them with readers.
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