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Healthier Meals That Taste Good

Now that we’re starting a new year, most of us are creating resolutions that we want to accomplish. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, tone up, or simply become healthier, the key to sticking to these resolutions is to set achievable goals that don’t require drastic changes in your daily life. To help you drop a few pounds while boosting your stamina and vitality, here are healthier meals that taste good and make you look great.

Healthier Meals That Taste Good

From delectable salads and hearty soups to protein-packed sandwiches, these easy-to-make healthier meals not only satisfy your cravings for delicious (and nutritious) food, but also help you reach your diet goals.

Healthier Meals That Taste Good

In combination with well-balanced meals, incorporating Progresso™ Light Soups into your daily diet is a fabulous way to satiate your desire for filling, hearty foods that not only warm your belly, but can help flatten your tummy. Since these soups are lower in sodium (compared with most pre-made soups), they can help minimize bloating and inflammation. “Too much sodium in your system causes your body to retain (hold onto) water.” [Source: American Heart Association]

In addition, Progresso™ Light soups are available in a variety of 40 flavors (such as Light Creamy Potato with Bacon & Cheese, Light Creamy Chicken Alfredo with Pasta, and Savory Beef Barley Vegetable) and contain less than 100 calories per serving.

Healthier Meals That Taste Good

When the weather outside is chilly, you naturally crave hot foods to warm you up. The challenge is that many hot foods tend to be laden with fat or high in sodium. What makes Progresso Light soup a better-for-you food option is that it helps you stay on track with your diet goals, while enabling you to feel like you’re indulging in a tasty meal.

You can even add flavor-boosting spices (such as fresh herbs like rosemary, oregano, or thyme, or even a dash of black pepper) while heating up the soup on the stove. By customizing these soups to your taste, you satisfy your cravings for flavorful foods, without suffering the consequences of consuming unhealthy foods.

Healthier Meals That Taste Good

When preparing healthier meals that help you get lean, it’s important to focus on getting ample protein in your diet. Since protein is the building block for muscles (which help you look toned and fit), it’s essential to increase your intake of lean protein (like grilled chicken, tofu, and fish). “High-protein foods take more work to digest, metabolize, and use, which means you burn more calories processing them. They also take longer to leave your stomach, so you feel full sooner and for a longer amount of time.” [Source: Women’s Health Magazine]

“Research suggests that consuming canned tuna may provide a wide range of health benefits, from improving blood vessel function to boosting weight loss. Besides containing high-quality protein, selenium and potassium, canned tuna also possesses omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins.” [Source: Live Strong]

For these reasons, a tuna sandwich on a toasted wholewheat pita bread is a great way to go. Simply pop the wholewheat pita bread in a toaster and scoop a hefty serving of canned tuna into the pita. For extra flavor, mix in yellow mustard with the tuna, prior to serving.

Healthier Meals That Taste Good

When most people think about diets, they often envision bland, boring salads. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

A caprese salad containing slices of fresh tomatoes, basil leaves, mozzarella cheese, a drizzling of reduced balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and a sprinkling of black pepper is actually a delicious way to get vital nutrients into your body (helping to minimize unhealthy cravings).

Antioxidant-rich tomatoes help prevent diseases and illnesses, while making your skin glow and helping to reverse the signs of aging. “One medium tomato provides you with more than a quarter of your vitamin C for a day, and it’s also rich in vitamin E and beta-carotene.” [Source: Men’s Fitness]

While you might think of cheese as a diet taboo, in small doses, it won’t ruin your diet. “Because it is made from milk, mozzarella cheese is a dairy product that provides important nutrients in a healthy diet. One ounce of mozzarella contains niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, biotin and vitamin B6. Because these are water-soluble vitamins, the body does not store them, so eating mozzarella cheese satisfies an immediate nutritional need.” [Source: LiveStrong.com]

“Olive oil is one of the healthiest types of fat around. The monounsaturated fat in olive oil has been shown to control LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. This can potentially lower your risk of heart disease.” [Source: Natural News]

When cooking healthier meals, focus on adding flavorful elements (such as olive oil and tasty spices), while maintaining a well-balanced, nutritious array of options, including proteins, veggies, and fiber-rich foods.

[Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Progresso through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about Progresso™, all opinions are my own.]

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