Everyday Tips, Tricks & Hacks For a Healthier You

Hey guys, I hope everyone had a great weekend & if you indulged a little too much, well I got ya covered.

Danielle Hamo is back for part 2 of her series. If you missed her last post, she discussed the highest fiber foods & how she likes to prepare, cook & eat each one, specifically. Just how we like it.

If you don’t know Danielle, here’s a little recap again: I initially met Danielle through my friend Neda of Healthy With Nedi & I wanted to follow her immediately. She is beautiful, smart, has a charismatic energy ( through Instagram ), is always looking to better herself &!!! she is a Registered Dietitian & Licensed Nutritionist.

Her tips on Instagram Stories are INSANE. & I feel like she has some really unique hacks when it comes to eating. So after following her for a while & consuming her content on my own, I decided to invite her on to the blog to do a 3 part series. Welcome to part 2.

This woman is a powerhouse when it comes to diet & nutrition & I couldn’t be more excited to have her back. I’ll let Danielle take it from here.

Hello again! So excited to be back sharing some tried & true tips & tricks that can make such a big difference in your day to day. As a dietitian, I always try to push for a healthy lifestyle instead of a crash diet. Embarking on a crash diet, like a juice cleanse, may result in quick weight-loss, but as soon as it is finished, you end up gaining all the weight back, & sometimes even more!

Below are some tips & tricks I use daily that will help you be healthier without a huge sacrifice on taste, & can easily be worked into your existing lifestyle. They may seem small but together they will add up to make a big difference. You may have heard some of these previously, but I hope reading them again will prompt you to put them into action!

EVERYDAY TIPS & TRICKS FOR A HEALTHIER YOU

♡ Sauces & dressings

Always ask for salad dressing & sauces on the side as they are a pit for calories. Most salad dressings will have over 100 calories for one tablespoon, while the veggies themselves are under 30 calories for a whole cup! What I do is ask for the dressing on the side & dip my fork FIRST in the dressing & then in the salad so you get a taste with each bite ( not the opposite because when you take a piece of lettuce into the dressing it absorbs far too much ).

♡ Eggs

Eggs are easy to make & easy to order no matter where you are, so I think they are a great source of protein. However, I recommend only having one yolk per day because eggs are a medium-fat protein & egg whites are a lean-protein ( I recommend concentrating on eating mostly lean proteins ). The problem is, eating egg whites on their own doesn’t taste very good. Instead, I mix one whole egg with an additional 2-3 egg whites, which boosts the protein content while keeping calories low & doesn’t sacrifice any of the taste of regular eggs. When eating out you may not be able to order this, so instead I order hard-boiled eggs. I then slice it into quarters & take out half the yolk, which reduces the calories, fat, & cholesterol but still tastes the same.

♡ Portion control

For women, the protein portion per meal is about 3 ounces, which is the size & thickness of your palm. In restaurants, 3-4 ounces will be about half of the protein that they usually serve. So whatever main dish you order, eat half of the protein ( chicken / fish / steak ). You can either take the other half home or share it with a friend. Alternatively, appetizers usually have 3-4 ounces of protein so you can get that as your main dish, like a tuna tartare with a side of vegetables.

♡ Don’t drink your calories

Drinking doesn’t fill us up the same way eating does! So I try to never consume liquid calories ( other than alcohol, of course ). This means I ditch all the sodas, juices, even green-juices ( because most have apple in it, which adds carbs ) & only drink water. If it’s too plain for you, try adding mint leaves & lime or lemon slices. You should aim to drink 3 liters of water per day, which is around 10-12 glasses.

Lauryn here guys: If you need help getting your water in you HAVE to get yourself a Hydro Flask. Trust me. You will drink so much more water because it keeps your water cold ( or hot ) for hours, you can get it in lots of fun colors, & the straw lid will have you reaching for it 24/7. If you need more reasons, scope this post for the full breakdown.

♡ Condiments

As far as condiments go, mustard is your friend & it packs a ton of flavor. 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard has only 10 calories, & that goes really far in terms of flavor. Mayonnaise has a ton of calories from fat ( 94 calories per tablespoon ) & ketchup has too much sugar ( 5g carbs per tablespoon ), so I try to avoid both. You can keep low-sugar ketchup at home or use pico de gallo instead. It’s a fresh salsa of tomatoes, cilantro, chili, & onions that adds flavor for very few calories. Just chop up the above mentioned things, squeeze some lime juice on top, maybe add a tad of garlic, & you have a fresh, low cal, flavorful salsa!

♡ Wear a clutch

When you go to a party where you know they will serve food in buffet style, wear a clutch! Once you arrive at the party, order a drink, like vodka, soda & lime. Now that both your hands are busy, with the clutch & the drink, it will be much harder to start snacking on unhealthy bits like cheese & crackers.

♡ Look up the menu

Nowadays almost all restaurants have their menu online. Before going out to a restaurant, take a few minutes to look up the menu & pre-choose what you will order for dinner. Then when you get to the restaurant make sure you order first so no one can sway you!

♡ Have a snack

Always have a snack between lunch & dinner. The reason skipping meals doesn’t work is because the hungrier you are, the more likely you are to make poor decisions with your diet. To combat this, I always recommend having a snack two hours prior to dinner, something with fiber & protein. A good example of a snack is 2 plain GG crackers ( fiber ) with 2 tablespoons of PBFit or any peanut butter powder ( protein ), or crudité ( celery, carrot sticks, jicama, cherry tomatoes, & radishes ) with 2 tablespoons of Root’s oil-free hummus. Now, when you arrive at dinner you can eat a smaller meal, since I always say dinner should be the smallest meal of the day.

♡ Brush your teeth

 After dinner I brush my teeth, floss, use a tongue scraper, mouthwash – the whole nine yards! That way I am less likely to snack after because I don’t want to mess up my perfectly cleaned teeth.

Lauryn again! You guys need to get some Wisps to keep in your bag. They’re small, fit in any purse, & not only are they great for the girl whose always G2G, they’re perfect for exactly what Danielle just said. That way if you’re out at a restaurant, you can jet to the restroom to brush your teeth right after dinner. 

♡ Carry GG crackers

By now you must have already heard that you should eat more fiber! But the easiest way to add lots of fiber to your diet, but not a lot of carbs is by eating GG crackers. One cracker has 20 calories & 4 grams of fiber & is SO filling you will naturally eat less food throughout the day. Use them instead of bread at breakfast or for a snack, & just make sure to always put a spread on them or you might choke! ( They are super dry but topping them with Greek cream cheese or avocado makes them much more palatable ).

If you haven’t checked out Danielle’s first post on easy ways to add more fiber to your diet, stalk it here. Stay tuned because part 3 of Danielle’s series will be up soon. In the meantime, be sure to follow Danielle on Instagram. She’s always sharing tons of value.

As always, share any of your tried & true health tips that I need to try below.

x, lauryn

+ for more on why we love GG crackers, check out this post.

++ scope my favorite water medleys to up your H2O intake.

SHOP THE POST