What Kinds Of Food Can Make You Lose Weight Fast?

Doctors discourage rapid weight loss because you may lose water weight and muscle mass instead of fat. Except for extreme cases where patients are medically supervised, Donald Hensrud, M.D., Mayo Clinic preventive medicine specialist, recommends slow, sustainable weight loss achieved by reducing calorie intake and exercising. Although there are no particular kinds of food that can make you lose weight fast, certain food choices can help speed up the process.

High-Fiber Foods

Hunger can undermine your progress when you are trying to lose weight. A key step in controlling your hunger is choosing foods that have low calorie counts for large servings. MayoClinic.com says that high-fiber foods, such as fresh, whole fruit, raw vegetables and whole-grain products, are sufficiently low in calories to allow you to eat enough to feel full. Because these kinds of high-fiber foods take longer to digest, you will feel full longer.

Low-Sugar Foods

Foods with high-sugar content are typically high in calories, and calories not burned by your body for energy are stored on your body as fat. To shed unwanted pounds, you will have to burn more calories than you consume. You can burn calories with exercise, but you can also reduce the number that require burning by choosing foods with fewer calories per serving. If you crave sweets, have a cup of blueberries instead of a candy bar. Naturally sweet, high in fiber and packed with vitamins A and C, blueberries are a calorie bargain at only 84 per cup.

Low-Fat Foods

High-fat foods are calorie dense. You can consume a large number of calories before you realize it if you are eating snack foods such as potato chips. Some foods start healthy and become unhealthy when they are cooked. Chicken, fish and potatoes are nutritious foods, but when they are fried, they lose their healthy properties and become high-fat foods that sabotage your weight-loss efforts.

Lean Protein

Lean protein can help ward off hunger while you are dieting. Heather Leidy, assistant professor in the University of Missouri Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, found that eating protein at breakfast makes you feel fuller and helps control hunger all day. An egg-white omelet or a slice of lean turkey or ham combined with high-fiber cereal or a whole-grain muffin will boost your energy and make it easier to resist snacking later on.