If you're desperately wanting to shed some poundage --- so desperate, in fact, that you'd prefer weight loss to professional success --- you certainly aren't alone. In a survey by Nutrisystem, Inc., more respondents preferred to lose 10 to 20 lbs. than receive a promotion at work, if choosing between the two. The good news: you don't have to make such sacrifices in order to lose weight. But you do need to know what the best and worst foods are to eat while trying to drop pounds.
Low-Calorie Foods
The golden rule of losing weight: take in fewer calories than you expend. The average American adult should be ingesting somewhere in between 2,000 and 2,400 calories, though these numbers can vary depending on how much energy you expend. Pay close attention to the calories listed on the nutritional labels on the foods you're eating. Unless it's your biggest meal of the day, limit your intake of any foods containing 100 to 200 calories. Vegetables generally have few calories, as do eggs and the less sugary fruits.
Foods Light in Fat
Naturally, if you're trying to lose fat, you shouldn't be eating lots of it. Low-fat foods should comprise much of your dietary routine. You can easily substitute low-calorie items for some of the more high foods you may be eating. The Food and Drug Administration, for instance, suggests replacing whole milk with skim milk, ice cream with sherbet and donuts with English muffins. For most of your favorite foods, there are alternatives with less fat content.
Complex Carbohydrates Are Good
Foods high in complex carbohydrates are essential in losing weight. This is because your body digests such foods at a significantly slower rate than other foods, which provides longer-lasting energy and decreases --- or, at least delays --- feelings of hunger. This means less snacking in between meals, which is often a primary cause of weight gain. Oatmeal, lentils, bran, cornmeal and dill pickles are just a few examples of foods high on complex carbs.
Simple Carbs Are Not
You might think that foods containing carbs in general can't be much different in terms of losing weight, but you'd be wrong. Foods with simple carbs are loaded with starches and sugar, which often have more calories than other foods. They also enter your bloodstream and are digested faster than their complex counterparts, providing your body less satiety --- the feeling of being full and content with what you've eaten. You don't need to cut them out altogether, but simple-carb foods like potatoes, white bread and traditional white pastas should be limited.
Worst Foods to Eat
Some of the worst foods to eat when you're trying to lose weight are those high in saturated fat. The FDA recommends that you ingest no more than 20 g of saturated fat daily. Saturated fat is commonly found in non-lean and highly processed meats and sweets such as donuts and chocolate. Most fast food restaurant items are loaded with saturated fat as well. A study conducted by Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School concluded that consumption of normal monosaturated fats don't have a strong correlation with weight gain, but saturated fats do indeed correlate with weight gain.
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