There have been so many fad diets that have come and gone throughout the years all that it's almost impossible to imagine one actually working for the majority of people trying to lose weight safely. They all promise you'll lose X amount of weight in X amount of time if you spend X amount of dollars. What people never seem to realize is that the reason they don't work is because you cannot cheat your way to good health.
Proper nutrition is necessary in order to lead a healthy lifestyle. It's not just about losing weight safely, because even if you do lose 50 pounds, you're bound to gain it back if you aren't making healthy decisions about your food choices on a daily basis. This doesn't mean you have to always choose the bean sprout salad whenever you sit down at the dinner table, but knowing what will help you lose weight safely and keep it off for good will allow you to at least have more options.
When you want to lose weight safely, the following four food strategies have been known to help people achieve their goals.
Weight Loss Food Strategy #1.: Fruits And Vegetables
Remember when everyone was trying to lose weight safely by eating as much greasy bacon and red meat as they wanted, as long as they were cutting out carbohydrates? It did nothing but cause health problems for everyone, and we are still a fat nation. First rule of nutrition: Never let anyone convince you that an apple is bad for your body. Man evolved on the fruits and vegetables grown naturally from the earth. Why would they all of a sudden be unhealthy?
Fruits and vegetables contain lots of insoluble and soluble fiber, and both can help you lose weight safely. Insoluble fiber provides volume to food without adding a lot of calories. Soluble fiber helps stabilize your blood sugar levels, which in turn can better control hunger and cravings. Also, any food that is rich with water, like fruits and vegetables, will keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Weight Loss Food Strategy #2: Protein
Protein can slightly rev your metabolism after ingestion (more so than carbohydrates and fat). Protein is stored in your muscles, and muscle burns calories at rest. It's like an idling car engine, burning up fuel in the form of calories, so make sure you eat protein at every meal.
Similar to fiber, there are two kinds of protein...lean and soy. Good sources lean protein include chicken breast, canned light tuna, salmon, shrimp, tilapia, turkey breast, and lean red meat. I get my daily soy protein in a meal replacement shake. The program I chose to help me lose 70 pounds 15 years ago is the same one I use today to maintain my weight. Since each shake consists of 180 calories and provides all the nutrition in a 2,000 calorie meal, it's easy to imagine how this is a great food to lose weight safely.
Weight Loss Food Strategy #3: Foods That Make You Work
People eat less of the very same foods when they have to put a little work into eating them. For example, shelled peanuts take much longer to eat than grabbing handfuls of planters honey roasted peanuts because you have to shuck each one by hand. Eating an orange takes longer to eat than devouring a box of snack crackers because you have to peel the orange. The longer it takes for you to eat, the less of it you will eat. Usually any kind of food you have to shuck or peel is all-natural and healthier for you anyway.
Weight Loss Food Strategy #4: Lots of Liquids
Drinking plenty of water is the usually the number one ingredient to lose weight safely. This is overlooked because people are usually only thinking about food. A lot of times you may think you are starving, but once you drink a glass of water you really don't feel as hungry as you thought. Keeping yourself well-hydrated is a must. I recommend keeping a water bottle with you at all times.
Sipping a hot, low-cal beverage is a great way to stave off extra calories when you're looking to eat out of pure boredom. And because it's hot, you'll have to slowly sip over an extended period of time. My hot beverage of choice is raspberry flavored green tea. Not only does it speed up metabolism, but it also keeps me alert and focused.
Making healthy food choices will always accelerate your efforts to lose weight safely. The next time you need to stock your refrigerator and cupboards with food, do yourself a favor and take along this food guide to follow. Try to do your shopping right after you have had a meal so you are not tempted to fill your cart with trigger foods that will throw your weight loss efforts off track. Once you practice these daily disciplines enough, they will become so routine you won't have to think twice about making healthy food choices.
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