Be sure to get in your fruits and vegetables when following a German food diet.
Eating like a German requires a sturdy diet of meat and potatoes, and few fruits and vegetables. Often these dishes are baked in lard, adding to the case against eating German cuisine in an effort to lose weight. However, if you just can't stay away from German foods, there are ways to adapt the selections to make them part of a sound diet plan.
Breakfast
Start your day with heft by eating hard-boiled eggs, lean deli meats, low-fat cheeses, coffee and tea. Germans make breakfast the heaviest meal of the day, and this is nutritionally sound as it will allow you to burn calories throughout the day and avoid consuming too many calories at night, the worst time to ingest a large amount of food. If you have a cholesterol problem, avoid the yolk part of your hard-boiled eggs. A sample breakfast could include: two hard boiled eggs, two slices of lean ham and two sticks of string cheese. Top off with your choice of coffee or tea and add a glass of ice water. This meal averages out to approximately 400 calories. While the German diet is low in fruits and vegetables, it is recommended you incorporate them into your diet, using juice if necessary. Pure orange juice (not orange "drink") and other fruit and vegetable juices are commendable choices.
Potatoes
Potatoes are a staple of a German diet, and if you use olive oil or fat free spray butter instead of lard or butter, you can shave off hundreds of calories. Try skinning potatoes, boiling them until they are soft and mashing them for a nice meal of mashed potatoes. This may be topped off with turkey sausage that can be found at your grocer, a healthier alternative to the sausage links often associated with the German diet. The best part about homemade mashed potatoes is that you can use leftovers for the next meal by forming the potatoes into patties and pan frying them in olive oil. Another good recipe is peeling and dicing potatoes, flavoring them with salt, pepper and other seasoning and frying them in olive oil. Make batches of potatoes over the weekend and use them throughout the week. However, don't go overboard; you shouldn't consume more than one serving of potatoes per meal. In addition, since potatoes are starchy, you need not consume breads and other carbohydrates if you are already eating potatoes.
Goulash
For dinner, consider a meal of goulash. By adapting a classic German recipe to modern-day dietary standards, you can find a happy medium between eating German-style food and still losing weight. Start by purchasing a bag of elbow macaroni, a large can of tomato juice and one pound of lean ground beef or turkey. While boiling the bag of elbow macaroni in two quarts of boiling water, brown the meat or poultry with onions and season with salt and pepper. Once completely browned, drain the meat or poultry. Meanwhile, drain the elbow macaroni, return to pan and add in the browned meat or poultry and a 48-ounce can of tomato juice Heat until boiling, stirring occasionally, then simmer for 20 minutes. Not only is this recipe quick, simple and inexpensive, if you make enough on the weekend it takes the guesswork out of preparing dinner throughout the week. Be sure to make a side of green beans or spinach in order to get in some vegetables, and finish with a dessert of fruit.
Tags: elbow macaroni, fruits vegetables, German diet, meat poultry, frying them