# DIET TIPS, TRICKS AND PRODUCTS



## Darkstream (Feb 8, 2005)

*Diet Tips, Tricks And Products*

I am starting this thread in the hope that it will become a resource for all who are on
or need to maintain a diet for whatever reason. 

The idea is to list tips, tricks and products that you have found helpful through
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE in maintaining or creating a diet. Do not post things you
have not tried, but merely read of or heard about. The object here is to provide
positive help and support to members of the forum in a practical way, on a day to day
basis.

When I was forced into the position of dieting and major weight loss, I found it very
difficult at first. I had to completely reinvent my entire cuisine. Neccessitiy being the
mother of invention, I devised some useful dodges, acquired, and developed new
techniques and recipes. Overall, they have been successful to a degree I would
scarcely have imagined possible. Some I read about and applied, some I invented for
myself, only to find later that others had invented it before. Some, I believe are
original, or at least less well known.

In order to be effective, it will be necessary to state the kind of diet the tip, product, or
trick applies to. This is because while some tips etc. may have multiple applications,
it may not be useful for someone who is on a low carbohydrate or gluten intolerance
diet to learn how to incorporate increased amounts of complex carbohydrates and
whole  wheat products into their diet.

Additionaly, some USEFUL PRODUCTS may be generic in type, ie dry cure no fat
eye round (loin) bacon. So it is best to describe it like that, rather than say â€œSo and
Soâ€™sâ€? low fat bacon, when the nearest store to you that actually sells it is 4500 miles
away (as the crow flies), and you could not import it anyhow (well, at least legally),
even if you could order it.

On the other hand, some brand names are almost completely globalised by now, (and
apart from Coca Cola) I mean something like Hellmans mayonaise. So there is no
harm in specifying â€œHellmansâ€? 30% low fat mayonaise. BUT bear in mind it MAY
not be the same product in different regional markets. (That will be interesting ).

So there you go. Hope you like the idea and are going to contrtibute, or at least read
and inwardly digest.

A sample post , in the kind of format I think it would be helpful for evereyone to
adopt  follows.

And Iâ€™m not giving away all my tips and secrets in one go!


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## Darkstream (Feb 8, 2005)

DIET:

glucose and cholesterol control, and weight loss


TIP:

Almost all baking products can be modified by altering the extraction rate to 50%.
Simply use the same amount of flour as you usually would, but substitute HALF of
the white flour with wholemeal.

It gives a nutty flavour, but in these proportions is acceptable in MOST products. (But
do NOT think of making wholewheat croissants!!!)

TRICK:

When making sauces that require animal fats, and in particularly BUTTER, make
them with either full bodied or tastless olive oil in the smallest amount neccessary for
the sauce. THEN USE MR. SLIVER. A TINY sliver of butter, added to the sauce at
the end will enhance the flavour by a factor of 600%. It will count for virtually
nothing, because you have not made the sauce (as you SHOULD have done) with
butter alone.

PRODUCT:

Hellmans Myonaise 30 % fat. ABSOLUTELY neccesary for your breakfast BLT with
whole wheat bread. DO NOT EVEN THINK about BLT without it.

Have a nice day.


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## kitchenelf (Feb 8, 2005)

In keeping my blood sugar levels stable to prevent myself from getting hungry I ate the recommended 6 meals a day.  I know everyone knows this but few are really doing it.  A well-balanced snack including some sort of protein, complex carbs, no sugar, etc.  

Like a whole wheat wrap with grilled chicken and a little no fat cream cheese mixed with some low fat ceasar dressing for a spread.  Add some lettuce and eat the whole thing.  

a couple slices of turkey from the deli (roast), a piece of low fat Swiss, on a rye crisp

6 oz. of 2% cottage cheese with a small individual container of no fat flavored yogurt (I used Bryers).

The snacks need to be well-balanced - it's the key for not getting hungry.


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## Darkstream (Feb 12, 2005)

Well, I guess that one went down like a lead balloon.

No help here.


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## kitchenelf (Feb 13, 2005)

Maybe not - it might just take time before people find something that they feel might be a useful bit of information.


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## wasabi (Feb 14, 2005)

*I just had a diet Coke with lime. IMO,,,,,very good. Doesn't have that "diet" taste.

Calories 0

Total fat 0g

Sodium 40mg

Total carbs 0g

Protein 0g*


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## PA Baker (Feb 14, 2005)

We love the diet coke with lime, Wasabi.  DH always has trouble getting diet soda when we eat out.  He says it tastes different than diet in a can, but now he orders a diet with a slice of lime, and it does the trick!  You wouldn't believe, though, how often it comes out with a slice of lemon instead! :roll:


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## Darkstream (Feb 14, 2005)

the ONLY drink I have bought  (apart from TONIC WATER) is diet coke. 


Disgusting.

If fresh lime juice could wipe out the flavour of ASPARTAME I would be more tha grateful.

Still, it is a real pain to have to squeeze 1/2 lime into your can of cola , JUST to make it drinkable.

BUT it is PROBABLY better than nothing.


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## wasabi (Feb 14, 2005)

*Dark....They sell diet coke with lime. You don't have to add lime. Try a can, you might like it.*


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## htc (Feb 14, 2005)

I thought that the diet w/ lime tasted funny, like what a mixed drink tastes like ( I don't drink much), but it reminds me of that...


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## MJ (Feb 14, 2005)

wasabi said:
			
		

> *I just had a diet Coke with lime. IMO,,,,,very good. Doesn't have that "diet" taste.*


I'm with you Wasabi. I love diet Coke with lime.


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## htc (Feb 14, 2005)

my diet tip:

-I try to keep several hard boiled eggs in the fridge during the week, so I have them to add to my salad. Nice way to kick up my usually boring salad.


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## Darkstream (Feb 15, 2005)

*@ Wasabi*

Are you saying that there is a variety of diet Coca Cola with added fresh lime juice in the can?

REALLY?

Not a sniff of it in my location.

Does not surprise me though.

About NOT being able to get it.


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## Barbara L (Feb 15, 2005)

They usually test-market products like that.  Then if the people in a few areas like it, they open it up to the whole market.  

 Barbara


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## amber (Feb 16, 2005)

My tips:

For soda, I drink Polland Spring carbonated water, lemon flavored. There is also orange, lime, and non flavored versions.  No salt, sugar, fat, etc.  

When I buy canned chicken broth ( I dont make my own), I buy salt free.  I figure I can add my own amount of salt, but I dont use much salt anyway.

When a recipe calls for white sugar, say if your making a dessert, you can substitute brown sugar and part white sugar.  I have not tried sugar substitutes.  

When cooking with oil, I always use canolla, and sometimes olive oil.  

I avoid red meat, and opt for chicken or fish most of the time. If I buy hamburger, it is always 90-95 % lean.  

snacks for the family that I buy are pretzels, sunchips, make my own popcorn with just a dot of canolla to cook it and a bit of butter on top, nuts, trail mix, granola bars.  

I love almost every vegetable, but my family doesnt, so I make things like chili with veggies that everyone likes.  

I bake most things, or saute with a touch of canolla oil, rather than deep fat frying.  

I eat three meals a day, small portions, and eat slowly.

I eat before I go grocery shopping!

I avoid caffeine

Thats about all I can think of for now...hope that helps someone.

Oh yea, use egg whites as often as you can, rather than the yolks if your concerned about cholestoral, as I am.  I make egg white omelets with my favorite veggies and add Newmans brand salsa for lots of flavor.


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## Catseye (Feb 17, 2005)

This week I learned something interesting and -- to me, anyway -- very useful.  I pass it along for you to make use of, if you like.

As you know, the body uses the food we eat as fuel.  But it has preferences in which food type it burns first, so food types are always burned in the same order:

1.  Alcohol
2.  Carbs
3.  Protein
4.  Dietary Fat
5.  Stored Fat

In other words, stored fat will not be burned off until the first four groups are burned.  

This tells me several things.  First, no matter what plan you follow, alcohol is bad-bad-BAD.   What I especially didn't know is that the body burns protein before it burns fat.  So low-carb doesn't mean lotsa protein.    

I don't mean to convey disrespect for anyone's preference as to diet plan; to each his own, and what works for you is good.   But knowing this about the burn preferences, I honestly can't see how a low-fat regimen can work as well as a low-carb one.  It would seem that if you eat carbs to avoid fat, you're delaying the burning of stored fat until those carbs are burned, yes?  

Which kinda means that frankenfoods like Snackwells are also bad.  

Anyway, that's the skinny, ha-ha.


Cats


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## Barbara L (Feb 17, 2005)

Thanks Cats.  That is very interesting to know.

 Barbara


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## Darkstream (Feb 18, 2005)

Where did you get this from Cats?


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## Catseye (Feb 19, 2005)

From a posting in another food forum, DS.  If I get time in the next coupla days, I'll see if I can find out more about where that poster got the information.


Cats


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## buckytom (Feb 19, 2005)

that's exactly the reason why you get a beer belly. beer is loaded with carbs and alcohol, so it burns the alcohol while turning the carbs into stored fat.


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## Darkstream (Feb 21, 2005)

As some of you know, I cannot stand the taste of aspartame in diet drinks. And I cannot drink fruit juice in the quantities that I used to. So here is what I do:

TRICK:

Half fill a glass with fruit juice. Then top up with a diet tonic (Schweppes). This makes a light, semi sparkling and refreshing drink, and the aspartame is masked by the tonic.

Useful Product:

Whole eye bacon. This is just back bacon that is completely trimmed of all fat  to leave just the loin. It can then be grilled, fried lightly in olive oil, or used in cooking. Probably contains less than 8% animal fat.

Hope this is helpful.


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## kitchenelf (Feb 21, 2005)

Darkstream - good tip on the fruit juice.


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## Darkstream (Feb 22, 2005)

OOOOPPSS!!!

I meant, the aspartame in the TONIC is masked by the fruit juice, so it just tastes like fruit juice and tonic. I have found it successul with grapefruit juice or orange juice. 

Following Wasabi's comments, I think I will have a try at a diet Coke Cuba Libre.


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## KathyD (Apr 11, 2005)

My tips for reducing calories without feeling too deprived...

Pop (soda as some call it LOL) was something I had a hard time giving up completely and some diet pop is just plain awful. Coke came out with a product, C2 and it has way less calories than the regular Coke and tastes nearly the same. 

Crystal-Lite has several flavors and with little or no calories. 

I like ice water with a few drops of lime or other juice

Use less of any fat for cooking or baking and the results are pretty much the same. This may not hold true to all recipes, but you have to experiment. 

Rice cakes are a good low-calorie snack

Reduced-fat Pringles are satisfying, yet don't have a lot of calories

Sugar-free preserves (especially blackberry or raspberry) tastes great on an English muffin or bagel. 

Sugar-free Jello with lite Cool Whip tastes great, but has few calories

I've found the best way I can stay on a diet is to eat the foods I generally like, but in a reduced-calorie way and limit my portions and increase vegetables and fruit and decrease fats.  This may not work for everyone, but it has for me. 

~Kathy


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## PolishedTopaz (Apr 13, 2005)

Darkstream said:
			
		

> As some of you know, I cannot stand the taste of aspartame in diet drinks. And I cannot drink fruit juice in the quantities that I used to. So here is what I do:
> 
> TRICK:
> 
> ...


 

I used to give that to my daughter, only with seltzer and fruit juice. I called it fuzzy fruit due to the carbonation from the seltzer. She still [6 yrs old] is not allowed to have soda, too much crap in it. When soda is an option she gets seltzer instead.


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## digigirl (Apr 13, 2005)

I've been fighting my weight since I was about 12.  I've done Weight Watchers, liquid diets, Atkins, you name it.  Consequently, I really know what I SHOULD be eating, but I go through phases where I don't, I gain some weight back.  I get sick of it, then I start being good again and lose it again.  Then the cycle repeats. lol.  Ugh.   For me, dieting success is much more about my mindset than what I physically do (although low-carb didn't work for me AT ALL).

Anyway, the most and easiest success I've ever had employed the following components:

Remember - slow and steady wins the race.  A strict diet may help you lose 10 pounds quickly, but statistics show you will almost certainly gain it right back, and usually some more on top.  Look to the long term, make smart changes you can live with and lose slowly and permanently.

Don't go on a "Diet."  Choose something small that you can change for the better - permanently - and do that for a while before you choose another.  For instance, decide to reduce your intake of sugary sodas (my major downfall).  Don't cut it completely out, but reduce it down as much as you can without feeling deprived.  Do this until it becomes habit to order water instead of soda at the restaurant, or whatever.  Once that one is in place, choose another change to make a habit (i.e., eat more vegetables daily).

Exercise, exercise, exercise!  I can't stress this enough.  Your body was designed to move EVERY DAY.  This speeds up your metabolism, and there is a whole host of reasons why it is good for you, even besides weight control.  Exercising regularly makes a HUGE difference in how difficult it is to lose or maintain.  If you don't have time to do a full-on workout, find other ways - add a walk after dinner, take the stairs instead of the elevator, do some situps while you're watching TV, go ride a bike.  Remember, even 15 minutes a day is better than the nothing you're doing now, so when you feel tired and don't want to do your workout, tell yourself you only have to do your 15 minutes.  If you are still tired after the 15, you can quit.  Most times, this gets you to at least get started and you'll find yourself doing your whole workout instead.  And if not, it's still true - 15 minutes is better than nothing. 

Find something low-cal that you like and can snack on and make sure you have it around the house for those "snack attacks."  It's all fine and good to say "I'm not snacking anymore" when you're full, but when the attack hits, you will eat whatever is there, so make sure it's something acceptable.  For me, it is no butter or light butter microwave popcorn.  Find whatever works for you.


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## purrfectlydevine (Apr 15, 2005)

You can use applesauce to replace oil in many cake recipes.  I think it would work in muffins and quick breads also.  I use egg beaters instead of eggs.  You can substitute Splenda for some of the sugar in cookie recipes.  (Haven't tried anything but cookies yet.)  I've used applesauce to replace fat in oatmeal cookies and they turned out cakey instead of crisp.  They weren't bad, just different, but my husband didn't mind that change because he liked the softer cookie.

Eating more veggies helps fill you up.  If your family is anti-veggie, perhaps you can sneak some into you cooking if you run it through the blender.  My husband has eaten more zucchini in homemade veggie soup than he'll ever know. 

If you like recipes that call for meat like sausage, look for turkey sausage.  Around here it is pretty easy to get and my husband prefers it because it is less greasy.  Buy the leaner ground beef.  It may cost more when you buy it, but after it is cooked and drained you have more meat than you do with fattier ground beef.

I still weigh more than I want to, but, by eating foods lower in fat, my cholesterol and triglcerides and in great shape


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## Swifty (Jul 25, 2005)

I think the most common mistakes that alot of people make when it comes to dieting is crash dieting and deprivation. Eating barely anything makes your body think that there is a starvation and will change as much energy it gets into fat so that you can "survive" this starvation. People often try to cut out too many things too. Then when the urge becomes too powerful, they'll end up inhaling 2 pints of ice cream!
The best advice I can give you are these:

Get your daily calcium intake up to speed,
-Eat slower(I used to time myself to eat 30 minutes)
-If you are eating 3 square meals, try to divide all of that into 5 meals and eat every 3-4 hours. The mroe often you eat, the less often you'll get the urge to graze,
-Never skip breakfast. I don't care how busy you are. Get something in you within 30 minutes of geting up.
-Don't fall for the low-carb, no fat fads and products. They are not your oasis for treats.
-Finally, get exercising!


I lost 20 pounds of fat and I'm only a teen so I think you can do it too!


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## Paint (Jul 26, 2005)

Well, I have never been overweight - in fact I'm on the skinny side at 112 lbs and 5' 6" tall. However, I do like to watch my diet as there is heart-disease in my family, and occasionally (like at Christmas), my weight can creep up a bit and then I diet to get it down again before it gets out of control. Here are my tips....

1. Use the best, leanest meat you can get for any recipe, and steer clear of high-fat, high-calorie foods like sausages (unless it's a special treat). 

2. Bulk out recipes with lots of veggies - for instance, in my ragu bolognaise, I will use only around 1/2lb of 97% lean ground beef, and bulk the sauce out with chopped celery, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, eggplant, squash, carrots etc., This easily feeds a family of 4.

3. No food is banned - if you ban yourself from eating a certain type of food then you just crave it even more. I LOVE eggs benedict - but limit myself to only having it when we eat out for breakfast, about once every 3 months, so I don't need to feel guilty about eating it. Same goes with my favourite supper - gourmet cheeses with crackers, Branston pickle, pickled onions and crisps (potato chips). I only generally eat this as a Christmas Eve treat, or as a cheese course after a dinner party. I love chocolate, but when I'm dieting I save it as a Saturday night treat.

4. Trick your body by NOT dieting at weekends: as someone else said, your metabolism slows down in response to dieting - but it takes a few days for your body to realise that less food is coming in and respond, so if you eat 'normally' every few days, you can trick your metabolism into staying normal. It also helps you stay on track if you have the promise of some treats at the weekends!

5. My favourite 'diet' foods are just a whole big bunch of stir-fried veggies, with a little sauce for flavour - served on their own (no rice or pasta). I also love the lean-cuisine frozen meals for lunch when I'm at college.

6. As a nurse, I don't believe in any of the fad diets that are going around - your body needs certain amounts of fats and carbohydrates to function properly, and if you pour too much protein into your system you are at increased risk of osteoporosis (protein is high in phosphates, which is absorbed by bone more readily than calcium and can actually cause calcium to be leached from the bone. Soda contains a high level of phosphate too - so people who drink lots of soda are also at great risk of osteoporosis in later life). If you follow a low-carb, high fat diet, then you are at great risk for developing heart disease, atherosclerosis, PAD and high blood pressure. Fad diets effectively 'ban' you from eating certain foods and increase cravings for that food - so they are harder to follow. Counting calories is the thing to do - eat a wide variety of foods, increase fruits, veggies and fibre and lower your saturated fat intake (including trans fats and cholesterol), and you will lose weight and be much healthier for it.

7. Always enjoy yourself when you go out to eat (as long as you don't eat out more than once a week). I have been in the situation myself when I've scoured the menu for the least fattening item, and ended up eating something that I have not enjoyed or wanted, just for the sake of 'dieting'. It just makes you miserable and you start to resent the diet - the diet becomes a negative experience instead of a positive way of improving your health. Don't be a prisoner of your diet - for many people dieting is a long-term or even life-time change that MUST be a positive experience in order to work. Food is a basic pleasure that everyone deserves, and you will NOT 'ruin' your diet if you gorge on double chocolate gateaux once in a while. Dieting is a cumulative thing - it's what you have eaten over a period of weeks, not hours, that will make you lose weight.

8. Beware of salads....most salad dressings are really high in calories, and some salads can contain more calories than a Big Mac & fries! Choose fat-free, low calorie salad dressings, and go easy on them.

9. Take your favourite recipes and think about how you can make them healthier - low fat margerine instead of butter, low-fat sour cream instead of full-fat, less salt, more veggies, more herbs, leaner meats, low-fat cheeses - it's easy to make just about any recipe healthier.

10. Set a goal weight of, say, 10lbs below your current weight (depending on how overweight you are, if you don't have much to lose, then 5lbs is a good goal, if you have a lot of weight to lose, then 15lbs maximum - I know this seems like too little, but I'll tell you why in a minute).  The reason for this is that this is an easy goal to reach - you should lose 10lbs in 3 or 4 weeks, so you reach your goal quickly and it gives you confidence....you then SWEAR that you will NEVER go above this weight again in your life.  Have a little break from dieting - but continue to eat healthily and maintain your new weight.  If you find yourself creeping above it (even just 1lb), then start dieting again.  When you are ready to continue, give yourself another goal of 5 or 10lbs and diet again.  When you reach this weight SWEAR that you will NEVER go above this weight again in your life....and so on, until you reach a reasonable weight.   When we first moved here to the USA, 6 years ago, we ate out a lot and my weight rocketed up to 136lbs.  I had to diet for the first time in my life!  I now have my 'lifetime limit' set to 112lbs and I weigh myself every week - if I find I'm just 1lb over this limit then I diet for a couple of days to maintain my weight.  With this method, I know that I will maintain control because I have promised myself not to go over that weight, and 1lb is easier to get rid of than 24lbs...

Best wishes, 
Paint.


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## Bee (Jul 27, 2005)

Here are a couple of recipes/techniques that might be of interest:

_Curry Sauce_

So often low fat and fat free curry sauces are thin and disappointing - it's a texture thing! This one works nicely...

Basic recipe:
One large onion sliced
1/4 pint fat free stock
Curry powder (or your own spice mix) to taste
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Chopped leaf coriander (cilantro)

Put the sliced onion and curry powder in a large non-stick pan (a wok is ideal), add the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently, stirring frequently until the onion is soft and slightly brown and it and the spices are 'frying' in a syrupy glaze. Add the tomatoes and the coriander and simmer for about five mins. Blitz with a stick blender or put in a food porcessor or jug blender until smooth.

This is the basic sauce - to this you can add veggies, chicken, seafood... whatever you like. I like to play around with different spices to make my own 'curry powder' and often add a chilli pepper along with the onion at the beginning.


_Salad Dressing

_Even I like this (a died-in-the-wool mayo lover!)

You need:
1/4 pint Fat-free yoghurt
1 tsp Mustard (I like Dijon)
Pinch of sweetener of choice
A splash of cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

Put everything in a bowl and whisk together with a fork. If you are having fish it's nice with some fresh chopped dill mixed in. With chicken I like to add lemon zest and finely chopped parsley. I bet horseradish would be nice with some thinly sliced rare roast beef too....


_Instant Ice Cream

_This makes an instant soft ice cream which does not keep and will not freeze successfully - it is, however, rather fabulous. For this you need to open freeze some prepared fresh fruit. I most often use one of the following:

Chunks of banana
Cubed mango
Raspberries
Peeled, stoned, nectarines or peaches

Put a handful or two of frozen fruit into the goblet of a food processor. Add a pinch of sweetener of choice if you wish then add three or four large tablespoons of fat-free buttermilk and blitz until smooth. Eat immediately with a large spoon. Utterly delicious.

(it makes a great low calorie, fat free banana split with some fruit and skimmed milk foam btw)


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## TheLemonSong (Aug 8, 2005)

Let's be clear: There are no diet "tricks" or miracle-products.

Diet is different from "a diet" or "dieting".  "Dieting" = longterm failure.  If you want to successfully get in shape, you must change your lifestyle to one that is healthy and LIVE it.  

I highly suggest checking out www.johnstonefitness.com (no one is making any money off of that site, and I post on their forums as well..this isn't like spam or anything) if you're interested in how to get in to better health.  There is a wealth of information out there, but I found personallyt hat the forums there were among the most friendly and helpful on the internet.

Consistency is key.


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