How about the surprise of a healthy and delicious dinner at home? No doubt, it’s going to be a sober Valentine’s Day’s treat. And if you are cooking some lip-smacking foods yourself, that’s probably what best you can do for your life-partner, kids and the whole family. Perfect, celebrate the day with the interest of self-cooked food.

Though such occasions are perfect for breaking rules and restrictions, yet you need not overlook your resolution of eating healthy; design a menu full of low-fat foods that encourage herbal weight loss. Here are some recipes to some simple-yet-healthy foods:

Chocolate as a romantic and healthy food!

Chocolate is always a gift that perks up our mood and if taken in limited quantity, is good for health also.  Chocolates are rich in compound like Flavonoids that prevent heart diseases. So, there is nothing wrong if most of the items on Valentine’s Day are chocolate-rich.

Soft chocolate cherry cookies

If you want to prepare a dark-chocolate fix that is very low in fats, this is the ideal recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, dash of salt, 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2/3 cup sugar, 3 tbsp unsalted butter (melted), 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup fat-free Greek yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped.

Recipe:

Set oven to 350 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine flours, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, combine sugars, melted butter, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Stir in cocoa powder.

Slowly add flour and stir. The dough will be quite stiff but still manageable. Stir in chopped dried cherries. Drop by scant tablespoonful on to prepared cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a spoon. Bake for 10 minutes and it makes 22-24 cookies.

Reduced fat chocolate pudding

This chocolate dessert best compliments Valentine’s Day.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use miniature ones), 2 cups non-fat milk, 2 tbsp brewed espresso and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Recipe:

Thrash sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and chocolate chips in a small saucepan. Add milk and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and stir until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in espresso and vanilla. Pour into four 4-ounce ramekins. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Fat-free Valentine Meringue Cookies

After chocolates, it’s cream time. This one is a low-calorie and fat-free food.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, 3/4 cup superfine sugar, red food coloring and red sprinkles.

Recipe:

Set oven to 225 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking tray with parchment paper. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating egg whites until the soft peak stage.

Steadily add sugar, a tablespoon or two at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix until all the sugar has been added and the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Add a few drops of red food coloring and stir to make the egg whites pink.

Special food items for Valentine’s Day should be different from usual ones. So that they compliment this special occasion and bring some change.

How do we calculate BMI?

As said earlier, it takes into account your height and weight. So formula for BMI calculation is expressed as: (weight / [height (in inches)]²) x 703. Remember to have your weight in pounds & height in inches for this BMI calculation.

Let’s say you are 5 foot 5 inches tall and weigh 150 pounds.
Convert your height into inches. 5 foot 5 inches= 65 inches.

Calculate the square of your height, (65X65) = 4225.

Divide 150 by 4225.

Multiply result by 703.

You get 24.96 as your BMI.

What does this number express?

To interpret the meaning of this number you need a BMI chart. For adult men and women, the BMI is categorized as follows:

This chart implies that if your BMI is less than or equal to 18.5 you fall into the category of underweight people. And if you BMI is 30 or goes beyond 30; you fall into the danger zone & need to lose fats soon.

There are a lot of weight loss products & diets available in the market out of which herbal products can be termed as the best ones. Herbal Products help you lose weight gradually, safely and effectively.

The simplest thing to understand about losing weight is in understanding calories. Calories are present in everything you eat or drink. Calories are also required by the body to carry on its day to day activities and functions. Calories give your body energy. So, basically if you do not provide enough calories to your body it will break down the fat reserves stored in the body (for purposes such as this exactly) and use to obtain energy. Therefore, to lose weight (lose the fat reserves or simply known as fat deposits in your body) you have to give your body less calories through food than it actually requires. In this situation body will start breaking down the fat reserves. This can be done by two methods, first obviously is eating fewer calories and second is by burning down more calories than you usually do.

This is where the diet plan kicks in, helping you eat less calories. Now, most diets for weight loss fail because they ask you to cut down calories by either starving yourself or by eating only one food group at a time. Both of these plans not only compromise on nutrition for your body but also give you immense food craving, which you being a human being will give in to at some point or other. Lack of proper nutrition will start affecting your health and slowly over a period of time your body will not be able to perform its proper functions and daily activities and hence this is where the food craving will kick in. By this time in any case you will be too weak to be burning any extra calories. So, when you finally give up this weight loosing diet you will indulge by feeding yourself more than your require (food cravings!!!) and end up gaining weight rather than losing it. Yes, it has happened a lot of times to you already. So, any diet plan that makes you sacrifice will in the long term be also responsible for your fall.

An ideal diet to loose weight is one which provides your body its total nutrition and helps you in eating fewer calories by managing all food groups at a time. It would also help if you keep yourself active and burn a few extra calories by exercising. Total nutrition is the keyword when you are choosing a diet plan for long term benefits. So, carefully choose a diet plan and evaluate how much nutrition it is providing you. An important thing would also be to remember not to expect miracles. Miracle diet plans work only to fail later and finally you not only end up where you started but with more weight than earlier. So, slow and steady is the mantra for loosing weight. Keep your energy up by feeding your body all that it requires and cut down on foods that it does not need. Some diets for weight loss also allow for days off in the week where you can give in to some groups of food (mostly junk) to satisfy your mind as well.

Choose a diet for weight loss carefully and stick to the plan. Benefits will show themselves slowly but will be there for a long time and also permanently if you are able to change your lifestyle to suit your diet plan. Being fit does not only look good but it is a healthier way of living. So stay healthy and work towards getting fitter.