Nature’s Foods: What To Eat To Lose Weight Quickly
You’ve tried all different types of diets to no avail. You just can’t seem to shake the excess fat and weight. The problem is, most diets are too impossible to live by and are only a setup for failure. What you want is a nutrition plan you can live by, a nutrition lifestyle rather than a diet. You want to know what to eat to lose weight quickly, correctly and tastily.
Low/No Carbohydrates, Low/No Fat, Low Calories …. NO, NO, NO!
When it comes to losing weight quickly, knowing what to eat is crucial. First, let’s touch on what you should avoid in terms of lifestyle, diet and setting yourself up for success when it comes to effectively and safely losing weight.
Avoid nutrition plans that call for:
Very low to no carbohydrates (Atkins diet is an example)
Very low to no fat
Very low/restricted calories
All of these can help reduce your weight initially but they aren’t optimal for your health or any long-term weight reduction success. For example, diets that are very low in carbohydrates will zap your energy. You’ll be tired much of the time and have a major lack of concentration. Also, diets low in carbs can increase your cholesterol levels, leach calcium from bones and teeth and make you nauseous and constipated when done long term. You are also very likely to have a carbohydrate binge once you stop the diet.
A diet that has little to no dietary fat is just as bad if not worse than a low-carbohydrate diet. Fats are essential for many of the body’s systems to function properly. Without enough dietary fat, our risk of cancer can increase, levels of good cholesterol come down and our mood can be negatively affected (think more outbursts of anger and depression). Also, not consuming enough dietary fat will lead to vitamin deficiencies (many vitamins are fat-soluble) and nutrient imbalances (consuming too many carbs and protein to make up for lack of fats).
The worst diet of all is the low/restricted calorie diet. You simply can’t get all the nutrients your body needs, you feel dog-tired all the time, your metabolism slows down, your hormones get all out of whack and you get major mood swings. With jacked up hormones and a slower metabolism, a restricted-calorie diet will only put your body in “fat storage” mode, once you stop the diet.
This is the kicker:
All of these diets can only be maintained for so long. Your body wants nothing to do with them because you are starving it of vital nutrients that it needs!
Eat Balanced, Eat Smart, Eat Tasty Foods …. Yes, Yes Yes!
You can have tasty food and eat healthy, nutritious food that has a balance of what your body needs and still lose weight. It comes down to knowing what to eat to lose weight quickly while maintaining optimum health. Let’s take a look at what this means.
Eat Some Protein With Every Meal
The first thing that you should include in any meal where you are interested in losing weight quickly, getting more fit and feeling great is a portion of protein (4oz to 6oz or about the size of your palm). Why protein, you ask? Protein is the building block that our body uses to repair, maintain and build new tissues such as lean muscle. Protein also helps you feel full, so you are less likely to overeat. Here are some of my favorites and how I prepare them:
Chicken: boneless and skinless and baked with salsa, spaghetti sauce or a mix of curry powder, garlic, onions and chili powder
Fish: Salmon is one of my favorites. I’ll marinade it with some olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. It is a great source of protein, good fats and Omega-3 fatty acids. Tuna is another staple for me. I love mixing it with salsa and a little cottage cheese.
Lean Red Meat: I love me some steak. Choose a lean cut such as eye round roast, top round steak or mock tender steak. Keep servings to once or twice a week.
Lean Ground Turkey (93% or 99%): The 99% will be drier, so I like the 93% lean ground turkey. I like to whip up some meat loaf, meat balls or just fry up the turkey and add some cottage cheese and mix it with some spaghetti sauce and simmer it until the cottage cheese is melted and the sauce is creamy.
Low-Fat Dairy: Some dairy can be loaded with sugar, so be careful. My favorites to eat are Greek yogurt (great probiotic) and cottage cheese. I like to mix cottage cheese with some fresh fruit like peaches and blueberries.
The key to take away is that protein should be eaten with every meal! Keep total protein intake each day to about 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. So if you weigh 150 pounds, then consume at least 150 grams of protein each day.
Don’t Cut The Healthy Fats
Dietary fats are crucial to optimum health and they will help you lose weight quickly. The trick is to eat the right kinds of fat and eat them in moderation.
“The trick is to eat the right kinds of fat and eat them in moderation!”
The right kinds of fat are those that are mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated. These fats will help make your body an efficient fat burner. They also help your nervous system function properly, keep hormone levels stable and help protect your organs and brain. They are also great for your heart’s health. This is because they reduce the bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise the good cholesterol (HDL). Some also have Omega-3 fatty acids which are also great for the health of your brain, heart and nervous system. So make sure and eat some healthy fats with each meal. Some of my favorites are:
- 2 Tbsp of natural peanut butter (tastes great alone, on celery or on whole wheat bread)
- A serving of nuts (almonds, walnuts and peanuts are my favorites)
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil, canola oil or flaxseed oil added to a dish or sauce
- Salmon (get your protein and good fats together!)
- Sardines and anchovies (taste great grilled or baked with tomato sauce)
Even some saturated fat is okay. Look to get most of your saturated fat intake from the proteins you eat such as lean red meat. Keep servings to once or twice a week.
The key take away when it comes to fats is that there are good fats (talked about above) and bad fats (such as saturated and trans fats). Stay away from trans fats as much as possible when it comes to the desire to lose weight as fast as possible. Trans fats will be found in processed foods, fried foods, fast foods and in most junk foods. Keep total fat intake to about 30% of your calories. I like to stay at about 70 grams to 100 grams of fat per day when I want to lose weight.
Don’t Be Shy of Carbohydrates Either
Like protein and fats, carbohydrates are essential to keeping your body at optimal health and they will aid you in your journey to lose fat and excess weight as quick as possible. The key is to consume the right carb sources. The right carbs will be lower in sugar which will keep your blood-sugar (insulin response) more stable. This, in-turn, will keep your body fueled throughout the day but the stable blood sugar will help keep your body from storing tons of fat. These types of carbs will have a lower GI (Glycemic Index), meaning they will be digested more slowly and not cause huge spikes to your blood sugar. My favorite carbohydrates to eat when I want to lose weight fast are:
- Green leafy vegetables (broccoli, asparagus and spinach are my favorites)
- Fruit (lower GI fruits like apples, grapefruit, strawberries and bananas)
- Beans (kidney, chickpeas, and black beans are examples).
- Oatmeal
- Whole wheat pasta
- Brown rice
The beans are also great with lean ground turkey or beef (protein) when made into chili.
The key to take away when it comes to carbohydrates, is to stay away from high-sugar carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are often in foods that are high in calories but low in nutrition. Foods like donuts, cake, cookies or anything that is processed. The foods above are whole foods or foods that nature gives us with little or no processing involved.
What you will find with all the foods listed above is that they are nature’s foods. This is what you should eat to lose weight quickly. Foods that are good sources of protein, dietary fats and slow-digesting, blood sugar-stable carbohydrates. The Internet is a great resource for looking up other healthy whole foods and getting tasty recipes.
Our bodies were intended to eat foods that are high quality with very little in the way of processing. If you can live a food lifestyle like this, you will be assured that the fat will melt away and you look and feel the best you’ve ever felt.