Cooking to Burn Fat

You don’t have to eat cardboard to burn fat, but changing the way you cook will definitely help. The key is to eliminate a few things and use much less of others. Also, the way you cook can make a difference – steaming as opposed to frying, for example.

If you’re not sure what to cook, see our article on the Top Fat Burning Foods.

Once you’ve picked a healthy and wholesome entrée, you need to cook it, right? Actually, no. Many vegetables and seafood are excellent raw – washed of course – with some fresh squeezed lime or lemon and a dash of ground pepper. Adding some olive oil and vinegar is great, too. Lettuce, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and mild onions all make great salads that you can eat tons of and not gain fat. These vegetables have very low calorie density so do not add substantial calories to your diet – perfect for your fat burner program.

Fish, shrimp and all manor of seafood can be safely eaten just by marinating it in lime juice – just make sure it sits for a good 4 hours for peeled shrimp and 7 hours for fish.

You can’t, nor should you try, to live on salads and seafood, however. Meat or dairy products are essential to get high quality proteins you need. Let’s look at the best way to do red meats.

First, look for a lean cut – fatty steak may be the best tasting and most tender, but you’re not going to burn fat chewing on a Porterhouse steak. Round or flank cuts are lower in fat and can be delicious if prepared right.

It’s tempting to use salty marinades to add flavor, but it won’t help soften the meat – plus, the salt dries out the meat giving you a dry and tough steak – yuck! Add salty seasonings in moderation and only after the cooking process to avoid drying out the meat.

To make meat tender, use a mix of olive oil and a small amount of pineapple juice. The oil lets you cook without burning and helps the pineapple juice break down the muscle fibers in the meat. Don’t let the steak sit in the pineapple juice more than 5 minutes or you’ll end up with a meat wad. Fry or – better yet – grill with no added oil or grease. Try to use fresh pineapples for the juice, since it flavors better, but canned pineapple will work too. Other citrus-based marinades can be effective, but it takes more time to soften the meat. Lemon and lime are popular.

Another great recipe for steaks comes from Mexico: Entomatados or in tomatoes. This dish can use the same marinated steaks, but you cook them in salsa. Using your handy blender, blend up a couple tomatoes with half a large onion, a half or whole jalapeño depending on how hot you like your food. Add some fresh chopped cilantro if you have it handy.

Instead of frying with liquid oil, use one of the spray type oils. Fry the steaks at high heat for about 4 minutes a side to seal in the juice and then add the salsa - cook for ten minutes more and let rest for another 5. Ready to eat.

Another favorite for Mexican food lovers is shredded chicken tostadas. These are very easy to fix and the chicken breast that forms the base can be used for all kinds of healthy dishes. Boil a skinned chicken breast for 25 minutes after poking some holes in it with a fork to insure even cooking. Once cooked, pull off small pieces in strips. These can now be used to add to salads, make sandwiches on whole wheat bread and – my favorite –tostadas.

Here’s a table of cooking ingredients to avoid, those to use sparingly and those to use freely:

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