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With the fattening holiday season just over, I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how to shed those extra pounds.
Well, your personal kitchen assistant, a.k.a. Instant Pot, is the best way to help you lose weight and stay slimmer. Besides being healthier, the food also retains most nutrients and flavor – so is more flavorful. You could even experience the happiness of seeing your kids eat their veggies without a moan!
So, let’s get started on how you can use the Instant Pot to help you lose weight.
How the Instant Pot Helps
The instant pot saves you time, energy, and nutrients. Even the medium to tough cuts of beef can be ready to eat in hardly any time. For example, check out this Instant Pot London Broil recipe from Corrie Cooks. Made from the top round cut, the cooking time is just 20 minutes. That’s less than the time it’ll take to get that unhealthy TV dinner delivered home. Also, compare that with the traditional stove time of more than an hour, and you can understand just how convenient the Instant Pot is. Besides, the best part is that there’ll be just one dish to wash up.
The biggest misconception most folks have about healthy eating is that it’s bland. That’s not true – even kids find Instant Pot meals tastier. Of course, they do love cholesterol-soaked, fried foods. But they also enjoy one-pot meals full of nutritional goodness. Just make sure you don’t stress the fact that it’s healthy. It might ruin the fun!
Instant Pot meals use less oil, no sugar, and can be whipped up in a flash. There’s also a ton of recipes out there to add variety to your mealtimes. While a lot of them are unhealthy too, here are a few tips you should follow to help you with your weight loss, along with a couple of popular Instant Pot recipes.
3 Instant Pot Tips to Lose That Flab
Use Unpolished Whole Grains
Unpolished whole grains retain all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are lost when polished. They also contain a good amount of fiber, which keep your gut bacteria healthy, and aid digestion as well as bowel movements. Also, they are digested slowly, giving you that ‘full’ feeling for longer – so you can avoid snacking between meals. A good way to understand this is to consider the difference between brown rice and its polished version, white rice. White rice gives you that ‘sugar high’ making you drowsy after a meal, and it can lead to diabetes. Brown rice, on the other hand, helps you control diabetes. Here’s an Instant Pot breakfast recipe, Berry Quinoa.
Ingredients
To Cook
- 2¼ cups water
- 1½ cups quinoa (uncooked)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- A pinch of salt
To Garnish
- Fresh berries
- 1 cup milk
- Sliced almonds
Instructions
- Pour the water into the Instant Pot after turning it on
- Put the rest of the ingredients into the pot to cook
- Adjust the settings to Manual and High Pressure for 2 minutes. Release the pressure quickly with the steam vent
· Serve after garnishing with milk, berries, and almonds
Use More Vegetable Proteins and Veggies
While meat is good in moderation, vegetable proteins have more nutrients and fiber. Even better, they contain fewer calories, a blessing when you’re looking to skim off those extra pounds. The downside though, is that vegetable proteins often take a long time to cook. Well, not anymore. What takes a few hours to cook in an open pot takes less than an hour in an Instant Pot. You could also add a rainbow of vegetables. Your kids won’t even notice they’re there.
Do try this spicy and delicious Instant Pot Indian curry recipe with red kidney beans.
Ingredients
- 1 cup red kidney beans, soaked for 4 hours
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp oil
- 5 finely chopped garlic cloves
- 1 inch finely chopped ginger
- 1 green chili chopped into big chunks
- 1 tomato cut into small-medium sized pieces
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Add oil to the Instant Pot’s inner chamber, and press Saute
- When hot, add the cumin seeds and let them sputter
- Add garlic, ginger, and green chili. Heat for about 45 seconds
- Put in the onions and sauté for 5 minutes
- Add the tomatoes, salt, and spice powders
- Continue sautéing for 3 more minutes
- Put in the water and the drained, soaked beans
- Hit the Cancel button, close the lid and then select Manual, as well as High Pressure
- After 30 minutes, stop cooking and let the pressure escape naturally
- Mix, garnish with cilantro, and butter. Serve hot
Make Meal Prep a Way Of Life
Bad decisions are often made under pressure. The same goes for food choices. When you’re short of time, stressed, or just not feeling up to it, you’re likely to order something fast and unwholesome. A good way of avoiding this is to meal prep in advance. That could mean storing uncooked ingredients in containers, making a large meal and dividing it into portions to be refrigerated, or making a series of complete, one-pot meals and refrigerating them. That way, when the going gets tough, you’ve got an instant, healthy meal going. If you’re freezing a meal, do remember to store the meals in round containers so they fit into the Instant Pot for reheating. Also, freeze/refrigerate as soon as the food is cool.
Remember, losing weight starts with healthy eating. And with your Instant Pot, it’s not going to be boring or tedious anymore. This is especially true if you’ve just had a baby, and want to get back in shape again. Do you have an Instant Pot weight loss tip or recipe you’d like to share?! Hit that comment button below!
