Make weight loss easy by eating a wide variety of all natural foods. No magical pill or exclusion of a certain food is going to get you to your goal weight. The best diet for you is one that you can continue for the rest of your life. A diet rich in natural foods breaks the monotony of other diets, and provides a wealth of nutrition that others may lack.
Determine Caloric Needs
Weight loss is all about calories in, calories out. If you eat more calories than you use you will gain weight, but if you burn more than you eat you will lose weight. Use an online resource to help you determine how many calories you should eat per day. Nutriweb's online calorie calculator helps determine your caloric need based on weight, age and your activity level.
Healthy Carbohydrates
A healthy weight loss does not restrict the consumption of carbohydrates; rather it focuses your carbohydrate sources. Fruits and vegetables are preferred over easily digested carbs like bread, cereal and pasta. These processed carbs tend to interfere with weight loss and even promote weight gain. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Fiber helps you stay full between meals while aiding in digestive system regulation.
Healthy Fats
Even though many diets encourage a reduction or elimination of fat, fat is actually an important macronutrient for your body. In addition to aiding in normal growth and development, energy, absorbing vitamins and protecting organs, fat actually aids in healthy, sustained weight loss. Choose healthy fat sources, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, such as avocados, nuts, seeds and olive oil, over bad fat sources, trans and saturated, which are found in baked, fried and packaged goods.
Lean Protein
When losing weight, it is important to eat about 30 to 35 percent of your day's worth of calories from protein to reduce lean muscle loss and promote fat loss. Protein is also essential for growth, tissue repair and immune function. Choose lean protein sources such as skinless poultry and seafood over red meat, duck, goose, lamb and pork. The latter meats are high in saturated fat which raises bad cholesterol levels, reduces good cholesterol levels and increases your risk for heart disease.
Time Frame
Healthy weight loss is considered to be 1 to 2 lbs a week. Once you determine your caloric needs through the Nutriweb calculator, or another resource, you will need to reduce your caloric intake by 500 to 1,000 calories a day to lose up to 2 lbs a week. If a 1,000 calorie deficit seems too extreme, exercising burns calories, making getting to that deficit much more attainable.
Member Comments