My friend Jennifer’s fabulous homemade salsa

What is up with the salsa cravings??

Since I started losing weight I can’t seem to get enough of it. I’ve been wondering why, and I think I may have found the answer.

Last week I bumped into my friend Kelly at a graduation party. She’s lost 100 pounds in the last year. I asked her how. The short answer was that every time she wanted a sugary treat, she ate a pickle instead. By eating a low calorie food instead of a high calorie food she resisted temptation and cut calories.

But she thinks there is more to it. She talks about it in her blog. It intrigued me, and I did a little digging around, too. According to some sites, vinegar can be used to help balance insulin levels resulting in less sugar cravings.

I think I have my answer. Kelly reached for pickles, which have vinegar. I reached for salsa, which has vinegar. My body knew intuitively that salsa would curb that craving for something sweet and make me feel better.

So that’s my tip for today–when you want something you don’t need, grab a pickle or eat salsa! And here’s a bonus tip. Unfortunately most of us want to pair chips with salsa, and most of us don’t need to eat a lot of chips. This week I solved the problem by scrambling eggs and smothering them in salsa. Yum! Got my salsa fix AND ate a healthy, low calorie, high protein breakfast that kept me full all morning.

(Of course sometimes you gotta just enjoy the chips, at least I do. The solution there is to decide on a reasonable portion, count them out onto your plate, then PUT THE BAG AWAY. And remember to take these kinds of ideas in BALANCE. Overdosing on pickles and salsa at the expense of other healthy choices won’t solve anything, and will likely cause problems with too much sodium!)

Tweetables:

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