Fresh fruits and vegetables - tburak
Eat more and weigh less. Choosing the right foods is key to losing weight. Feel full without packing on the calories with these easy-to-follow diet tips.
Losing weight doesn't have to be hard or horrible. It's possible to eat well and still lose weight on a sensible weight loss program, simply by choosing the best foods for weight loss. Here are some of the best ways to put food to work to lose weight.
Best Foods For Weight Loss
- Low calorie foods. It makes sense to fill up on simple, unrefined foods low in calories that will make a person feel full without adding unwanted calories. According to The Encyclopedia of Foods and Their Healing Power (Editorial Safeliz) , foods like swiss chard, seaweed, sweet potato, broccoli, zucchini, cherries and cabbage are all good choices because they contain high amounts of fibre which lead to a feeling of fullness are health supporting and add few calories. Fresh fruits and vegetables like these are recommended for weight loss. Dry seaweed makes a low calorie mineral- rich, crunchy and satisfying snack. Dulse and wakame are popular with some people.
- Foods that take a long time to eat. Foods like fresh cherries with pits, pomegranates, pomello and grapefruit (when peeled instead of cut) take a lot of time to eat, but only add a few calories. These foods are high in fibre and water content, so that the stomach feels full and satisfied when they’re eaten.
- Natural foods. According to Hans Diehl and Aileen Ludington in Health Power: Health by Choice, Not by Chance (Review and Herald Publishing, 2005), overweight people typically eat mostly refined foods like white breads, white rice, juices, candies, ice cream and the like. Simple changing to a diet of foods that are closer to nature can mean a significant reduction in the number of calories consumed. An apple has only around 80 calories and a piece of apple pie has around six times as many calories. Skip the pie and choose the apple. In fact, go ahead and eat two!
Weight Loss Tips and Tricks
- Dress up your fruits and vegetables. Make eating more fibre-rich fruits and vegetables easy by adding low calorie dressings. Try dipping apple slices in fresh lemon juice mixed with a sprinkle (or a drop or two) of stevia and a dash of cinnamon. Try salad with a simple dressing of lemon juice and Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce). Make a low-fat veggie dip from tofu or hummus. Fresh fruits and vegetables are fibre-rich and filling.
- Drink water. A cold glass of water between meals will tighten the stomach and help to curb the desire for more food. Drinking plenty of water (six to eight glasses a day) will often satisfy food cravings and ensure that the body is adequately hydrated. Filling up on water instead of juices, pops and diet drinks reduces calorie intake, helps clean the body internally and helps to avoid stockpiling the body with potentially harmful artificial sweeteners used in diet drinks.
- Choose complex carbohydrates. High protein diets can be dangerous and the body needs complex carbohydrates. According to Dr. Ernst Schneider in Healthy by Nature (Editorial Safeliz, 2002), a person should aim for a balance of calories consisting of at least 60% carbohydrates.
- Reduce fat intake. Naturopath Carolee Bateson-Koch recommends reducing fat intake to below 20% and says, “Systematically cut fat down to this level, eliminating the sources of refined oils and adding in unrefined oils.” (Allergies: Disease in Disguise; Alive Books, 2002).
Losing weight doesn't have to leave a person feeling famished. Carefully choosing the best foods for weight loss can help a person shed fat while satisfying hunger.
Copyright Tammie Burak. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Tammie Burak - A former elementary school teacher, Tammie Burak traded in her daily commute for a classroom at home where she now homeschools her own ...
