Confronted with a plethora of fad diets and food packaging designed to advertise rather than inform, you may have difficulty understanding what you should and shouldn't eat if you're trying to lose weight. You may also think you have to restrict yourself to certain food groups or avoid some foods entirely, making dieting seem like an onerous chore. Fortunately, by making healthy dietary choices, you can lose weight and still eat a little bit of everything.
Empty Calories
According to MayoClinic.com, cutting calories is more effective than exercise for losing weight, making reduction of your intake of empty calories an important step in reaching your weight-loss goals. High-calorie snacks and beverages, such as chips and soda, greatly increase your daily caloric intake while offering almost no nutritional value. Replace empty-calorie snacks with nuts, sugar-free fruit juice, low-fat yogurt or whole-grain crackers to replace empty calories, saturated fats and salt with essential vitamins, minerals and proteins.
Processed Foods
Processed foods tend to be significantly higher in calories, saturated and trans fats, sugar, sodium and refined carbohydrates, making them much more fattening than non-processed foods, notes BBC News. Eating homemade foods instead can help you reduce calories and avoid unhealthy fats that can be damaging to your cardiovascular health. For example, a broiled hamburger on a whole-wheat bun with a baked side of fries is lower in calories and much healthier than the same meal at a fast-food restaurant, where foods are deep-fried in saturated fats and have added trans fats to increase shelf life.
Portion Size
You don't have to stop eating your favorite foods if you're trying to lose weight, as long as you eat them in moderation. People tend to fall into an unconscious habit of eating larger portions than they need, warns the Weight-Control Information Network, which leads to unnecessary calories and weight gain. Practice reducing portions by eating slowly to savor the food and give your stomach a chance to let you know when it is full. In addition, fill up on larger portions of vegetables to prevent overeating high-calorie entrees or desserts.
Additional Considerations
Making smart dietary choices can help you maintain your ideal weight over the long term, as well as protect your health. However, forcing yourself to entirely avoid foods you enjoy can feel like punishment, making weight loss hard to sustain. By moderating your caloric intake, engaging in plenty of physical activity and finding healthy ways to prepare your favorite foods, you can develop lifestyle changes that will help you lose weight, and keep it off, while protecting your health.
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