When trying to lose weight through nutrition alone, you must look at the foods you currently eat and make better decisions about what you eat. The key is looking at the food groups that make up the foods you eat and making better choices. Look at the breads and grains, meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables, and swap out the unhealthy versions you are currently eating and replace them with healthier options.
Step 1
Look at your choice of beverages. Do not drink your calories. Replace any high-calorie, sugary drinks or sodas with water. When you consume your calories through drinks, your body does not get the same sense of satiety that it does when those calories are consumed as food. Bonnie Liebman says, in the October 2009 issue of Nutrition Action, that a study has shown that some people get nearly a fifth of their calories from their beverages.
Step 2
Examine your choices of breads and grains. Stay away from those labeled "white," "bleached" or "enriched." They have had their most nutritious aspects removed during their processing. Choose foods labeled "whole" or "brown." They still have their most nutritious aspects intact. Additionally, they also tend to have more fiber, which can play a key part in nutritional health.
Step 3
Check out what meats you currently consume. Eliminate higher-fat meats such as red meats and processed meats. Red meats tend to have high amounts of saturated fat, the bad kind of fat, while processed meats, such as lunch meats, can have high amounts of fat and sodium. Use leaner types of meat choices, such as chicken, turkey and fish. All three have lower amounts of fat, and fish have higher amounts of healthy fats, such as omega 3's.
Step 4
Consider the types of dairy you consume. When choosing dairy, use only "skim" or "fat free" versions of the items you consume. They have the same nutritional content as those versions labeled "whole" or "full-fat" without the high amounts of fat that are included in the latter versions. Limit the amount of butters and creams you use as they tend to be higher in fat as well.
Step 5
Look at the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat on an average day. Odds are, you do not consume enough of them. Stop using vegetables as a side dish. Plan your meals around them instead of the other way around. According to Bonnie Liebman and Jayne Hurley, in the January/February 2009 issue of Nutrition Action, most vegetables have only 10 to 50 calories per serving.
Tips and Warnings
- Stay away from processed foods. They tend to be higher in calories than making these same food from scratch. Stop frying your foods. Bake or broil instead. Stop eating until you feel full. Instead, eat until you are no longer hungry. Slow down the speed at which you eat. It takes the brain time to get the signal to your stomach that you are no longer hungry.
- Do not equate healthful eating with not eating at all. Starvation is not a safe way to lose weight. Make sure you choose your foods from a variety of different food choices to make sure you do not become deficient in an vitamins or minerals. Get your nutritional information form a registered dietitian as they are the true nutritional experts. Rapid weight loss can be as unhealthy as rapid weight gain. One and a half to two pounds per week is safe.
References
- Nutrition Action; "The Real Cost of Red Meat"; Bonnie Liebman; June 2009
- Nutrition Action; "Rating Rutabagas: Not All Vegetables Are Created The Same"; Bonnie Liebman and Jayne Hurley; January/February 2009
- Nutrition Action; "What Should I Eat?"; Bonnie Liebman; October 2009
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