Choosing foods to lose weight provides you with long-term benefits when you include the foods in your regular eating patterns. By turning a nutritious food program into your daily routine, you maintain a healthy weight and avoid health problems associated with high-fat diets, such as high cholesterol and heart disease. Including physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day also burns calories for weight loss.
Identify Fat and Calories
Lower your fat and calorie intake by reading information on food labels and learning about the healthy foods that help you lose weight. Your body needs a certain amount of fat for energy, but excess fat and calories from high-fat foods can add pounds. Adults need about 25 to 35 percent of their total daily calories from fat, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Increase fresh, whole foods in your meals and eat fewer processed foods that usually contain more fat. Consuming low-fat or fat-free packaged foods in moderation may help reduce weight, but even those products contain calories. The body converts extra calories into fat for storage when you eat too much.
Fiber Foods
Including more fruits, vegetables and whole grains in your meals provides a feeling of fullness without the negative effects of weight gain from high-fat foods. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain high-fiber and low-fat content. Increase the amount of these foods in your meals while decreasing meat portions to reduce fat. Choose fresh fruit or canned and frozen fruit without added sugar or syrup. Enjoy raw or steamed vegetables instead of fried or creamy style vegetables.
Meat, Fish and Dairy Products
Limit your daily consumption of meat, poultry and fish to 5 oz. or less, the National Cholesterol Education Program advises. Select the leanest meats and buy chicken or turkey without skin or remove skin before preparing to reduce the saturated fat in these foods. Bake, grill or broil meat, poultry and fish so fat drips off. Avoid frying these foods. You can also use protein-rich dry peas and beans as meat substitutes on occasion. Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy items instead of whole-milk products.
Healthy Substitutes
Use egg whites and egg substitutes to replace whole eggs as much as possible. Prepare foods with such additives as low-fat dressings, light or nonfat mayonnaise and margarine made with unsaturated liquid vegetable oil. Replace high-fat butter with olive or canola oils, which contain monounsaturated fats. Eat fruits, nuts, and carrot or celery sticks for snacks. Consume nonfat candies instead of fatty chocolate and low-fat or fat-free cookies and cakes once in a while to satisfy sweet urges. Healthy sweets include angel food cake topped with fresh fruit slices, graham crackers and gelatin.
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