Weight loss does not mean starving yourself or spending hours at the gym; weight loss diets should encompass characteristics that can be continued for the rest of your life. A healthy balanced diet combined with exercise and a monitoring of your caloric intake will lead to weight loss every time.
Good Carbs
Although where you get your calories from does not necessarily make a difference on weight loss, certain foods should be avoided, while others embraced since they will help you feel more satisfied at meal times, reducing the chances of over-eating. For instance, you should get your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables instead of from their processed counterparts -- bread, cereal and pasta. Fruits and veggies not only yield fewer calories per serving, but are also rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Fiber is an indigestible carbohydrate; it slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, provides a full feeling at meal times and binds onto fatty substances within the intestines and excretes them as waste.
Healthy Fats
Eat fat from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources like nuts, seeds, avocados and olive oil. These healthy fats have been linked with moderate and sustained weight loss. A moderate consumption of fat at every meal may also help you eat less since fat provides satiety to a meal, making you feel fuller from fewer calories. Avoid trans and saturated fat food sources like baked, fried, packaged and processed foods. These foods are not only high in calories but also increase your bad cholesterol and increase your risk for heart disease.
Importance of Protein
When losing weight, you most likely want the weight lost to be only fat -- not fat and muscle. A weight-loss diet low in or absent of protein will lead to muscle breakdown for energy before it does fat, and most of the weight loss will be muscle and fluid. Protein aids in preserving lean muscle mass as well as proper growth and development, immune system function and tissue repair. Intake of protein at every meal will also help keep you full throughout the day since protein takes longer to digest.
Caloric Intake
Even though you are choosing foods to promote weight loss, you should still monitor the amount of calories you consume throughout the day. Any excess amount of calories that goes unused will lead to weight gain, even if those excess calories are from fruits and vegetables. First you should determine your caloric needs to maintain your current weight. Use an online resource that takes into consideration your age, height, weight, gender and activity level such as the calculator provided by Nutriweb or Ask the Dietitian. Once you determine your caloric needs, you can begin to create a caloric deficit to lead to weight loss.
Time Frame
Healthy weight loss is considered to be 1 to 2 lbs. per week. For this kind of weight loss a daily calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories is in order. This can be achieved through diet alone or, even better, through diet and exercise. When you exercise you not only burn calories, but you also build lean mass. Lean muscle burns more calories than fat, even at rest. So the lower your body fat percentage, the more calories you burn than you did at a higher body fat.
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