1. Lose It and Use It
After going through all the hassle and discipline to lose weight and get into shape, the goal should be to maintain that weight. Part of that process includes sticking to the healthy practices you started while dieting. A healthy diet includes the right kinds of grains in the proper amounts. Begin with a list of all your favorite carbohydrates that are made of grains. You will want to include foods that you enjoy or else you will feel like you are still being deprived. Healthy people eat real food and learn the key to maintaining their optimum weight. The sometimes elusive key to a healthy weight is balance.
2. Keep Counting Calories
By now, you probably have a good idea of the calorie and fat content of most foods if you lost weight on a sensible diet with regular food. If you don't know these values, get yourself a calorie and fat counter. Most prepared foods have the contents, which include serving size on the packaging. Most women and men need to eat between six and nine servings of grain per day. A single serving of bread is usually one slice. A cereal serving is one cup and one serving of cooked pasta or rice is about one-half cup. Use a measuring cup until you are comfortable with recognizing serving sizes.
3. Plain Grains
It's usually not the bread or pasta that add fat and calories, but what you put on it. While a piece of whole grain bread may only contain 100 calories and 3 grams of fat, the butter, cheese and mayonnaise you slather it with could add up to 500 more calories and 10 grams of fat. Whole grains provide the fiber you need to aid in digestions, as well as nutrients that keep the body in peak condition. Processing will rob the grains of many of those benefits, so stick with whole grains that are as fresh as you can get.
4. Part of a Big Movement
Whole grains keep your digestive system regular and aid in burning calories, in addition to providing energy. They also will fill you up faster, keeping you from over-eating. Some of the best foods to eat to keep your bowel movements regular and clean up your system are brown rice, oatmeal, popcorn, cracked wheat, whole rye and whole wheat. You will want to choose prepared grains that show one of these whole foods as the first or second in the list of ingredients on the package. Enriched grains, as those found in most prepared cereals, bring a host of other nutrients to your diet without increasing your caloric intake, such as folic acid, vitamin D and minerals such as thiamine, iron and riboflavin. In moderate amounts, these grains are a great supplement to your daily intake.
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