The freezer has been such a great tool while I have been losing weight. It makes it possible to take advantage of sales. When I bring home food, I portion and freeze it in single-serving sizes.
Recently, I went to the store to buy some ground pork. The pork in the meat case contained far too much fat.
I shared my concern with the butcher, who said, “There is a sale on sirloin pork, and it is very lean. If you would like, I will grind that up for you.”
I bought 10 pounds, and saved $1.60 per pound.
I also bought 10 pounds of the lean sirloin steaks. I took them home and cut them into 4-ounce portions and froze them. The total savings was $32.
I will often buy a couple of rotisserie chickens and eat one during the week. I pull the meat off the second one and freeze it in 3-ounce portions.
In my freezer I have several small boxes with labels in which I store my meat, making it is easy to retrieve.
The labels read “Turkey/Pork,” “Beef,” “Fish” and “Chicken.” I also keep a box of frozen fruit, which I use to make low-fat blender shakes.
Twice during the week I will take the packages of meat out of the freezer and put them into the fridge to thaw. In two days, the meat is thawed and ready to use.
I will often make extra entrées. Sometimes I like to make a batch of chili and freeze it in serving-size containers.
Corn on the cob is easy to freeze, too. Pick up extra ears, take them home and blanch them, cool them in ice water and then cut the kernels off the cob and freeze.
I often roast tomatoes, onion and garlic and then put the mixture into the blender. I then cook them down, let the mixture cool and then put it into bags to freeze.
Other items I freeze include cooked rice in ½ cup portions, whole-wheat pasta in ½ cup portions and cooked multi-grain cereal.
I also buy day-old bread on sale, portion it and freeze it. I put three slices of bread in one sandwich bag and freeze it. I take one bag out, and when I have only one slice left, I take another bag out. I like to toast my whole wheat bread, so you can never tell that it was one day old.
The only thing that I do not like to freeze is whole or cut up vegetables and fruits.
My experience is that because they have so much moisture in them, when they are frozen, the water expands and breaks down the cell walls. That means when they’re thawed they tend to be a little mushy. If you don’t mind mushy fruits and vegetables, go ahead and freeze them.
View Dian’s weight loss journey on a new video by BYU
Dian is writing a new book that will be released in March. The title is Tipping the Scales in Your Favor, Small Steps that Make a Big Difference to Your Health, Your Weight and Your Happiness. You can preorder it by going to https://dianthomas.com/weight-loss.htm Dian will also give you private access to a special area on her website for only those who have purchased the book. There are more than 40 articles there waiting for you to get started. Act today, so you can take advantage of her creative ideas that took her from 326 to 200 pounds. Dian shares her step-by-step plan that took her to a “new life.” One lady who wanted to start on Dian’s program today said that she was going to read one article every day.
