What Do Healthy Diets That Support Fast Weight-loss Look Like?
If you aren’t new to the world of dieting, you’ve probably tried every scheme and weight-loss gimmick out there:
- Low calorie/starvation diets
- Protein only (no carbohydrate/low fat) diets
- The Atkins diet
- No fat diets
- The juice diet
- The protein shake/health bar diet
Why is it that none of these seem to work? Sure, you might have some initial success at losing weight but in almost every case, these diets are nearly impossible to maintain for the long term. Once the regular diet lifestyle and old habits are resumed, many end up packing the weight back on (sometimes even more than they started with). Also, many of these diets are NOT optimal for health. For instance, diets that have very low or no carbohydrates will leave you feeling fatigued and much more susceptible to stress. Low/no carbohydrate diets can also lead to digestive problems such as constipation (from the lack of dietary fiber) and nausea. Low calories diets, probably some of the worst, can have a very negative effect on hormones, slow your metabolism, reduce libido, cause mood swings and even lead to heart problems because of the lack of nutrition.
You might feel that dieting is a lost cause if none of these diets really work. The truth is, there are healthy diets to lose weight fast. You just have to know what to look for, because all healthy diets that support rather quick fat burning all have some common themes in them.
Whole Foods Are King
Who wants to diet on liquids or protein candy bars. These aren’t satisfying and they won’t keep you full. They also don’t provide your body with enough nutrition, vitamins and minerals. Whole foods are foods with basically no processing or additives. They are foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. Whole foods are packed with nutrition and they are a super-healthy way to lose weight fast. This is because they will be much lower in calories. When you think of whole foods, think of foods that are high in nutrition but low in calories. So what foods constitute whole foods? Here are some examples:
- Whole grains (avoid grains that are refined)
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Legumes (peas, beans and lentils)
- Nuts and seeds
- Meats and poultry that are organic or free range
- Dairy
- Seafood
Whole foods are not only a benefit for healthy and speedy weight loss but they have the potential to reduce your risk of cancer and disease. A typical day on a whole foods diet look might look something like this:
Breakfast: Natural oatmeal topped with cinnamon and cut up apples, sweetened with honey.
Mid-morning snack: An orange and three to four small cubes of low-fat cheese
Lunch: four ounces of boneless-skinless chicken breast, a baked sweet potato (no butter) and a palm sized serving of broccoli
Afternoon snack: one fourth cup of almonds and two cups of low-fat popcorn
Dinner: A salmon fillet with a dinner salad and black beans
Evening snack: A smoothie made from yogurt, some blueberries, honey and frozen bananas
Following a diet might seem a bit difficult at first, especially since so much of the food in today’s grocery stores are heavily processed, but the Internet is a great resource for looking up whole food ideas and recipes. Here are some specific reasons why you should utilize whole foods on a diet where health and fast weight loss are primary concerns:
Nutrients galore
Nearly a third of people in the U.S. get too little vitamin C in our diets and nearly half of us have too little vitamin A. This is according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Over 90% of us get too little fiber in our diets. According to the AICR or American Institute of Cancer Research, it is nutrients like this that will lower our cancer risks and major health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The way to correct these nutrient deficiencies quite easily is with whole foods.
Phytochemicals, they’ll grow on you
As recent as the last decade, studies are have discovered several plant-food compounds that are biologically active. They are being called phytochemicals and they are an anti-oxidant powerhouse. Some of these phytochemicals include lycopene (found in tomatoes), anthocyanins (found in berries) and pterostilbene. The last one, pterostilbene, seems to “flip a switch” in cells that breaks down cholesterol and fat and it is most often found in blueberries.
Good dietary fats
A diet that is comprised of whole foods has very little of the artery clogging bad fats which lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol (saturated and trans fats). Instead they offer a plethora of sources for good dietary fats which have mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats and Omega-3 fatty acids. These will help your body be an efficient and steady fat burner. The dietary fat is also crucial for health because fat helps maintain healthy hormone levels, protects our brain, organs and central nervous system and it helps absorb fat soluble vitamins (such as vitamin A).
No unnecessary add-ons
Whole foods are in the form that nature intended. There is no added sugar, fat or calories. This mean less calories and more fat burning. Can you say healthy and fast weight loss.
Get your fiber on
Little to no fiber exists in foods that are fried or processed. You won’t find fiber in junk foods either. You will find an abundance of fiber in whole foods, though. Especially the green leafy whole foods like broccoli. Foods that are rich in fiber are a superb when it comes to a healthy way to lose weight quickly. This is because fiber will make you full faster (less over-eating) and it helps control blood sugar. If your blood sugar is kept stable, your body is kept more or less out of fat storage mode. Fiber is also effective at keeping an optimum blood lipid profile and studies show it diets rich in fiber are helpful in reducing those areas of stubborn fat (stomach, love handles, hips, thighs and back of the legs). Oh, and fiber is great at aiding digestion and keeps you from getting constipated.
For a diet to effectively help you lose weight quickly and in a manner that is healthy (actually health optimizing) it should have enough calories, be in as natural a form as possible and be chock full of vitamins and minerals. Whole foods fit this bill and they are one of the simplest diet lifestyles that will give you amazing health and amazing weight loss fast.