When it comes to eating and losing weight, some foods are more ideal than others. What you eat and what you do not eat can affect your weight loss efforts.
To have an effective weight loss diet, choose foods which contain a lot of nutrients in their calories. Do not base your diet around any single ingredient. When trying to lose weight, it is recommended that you eat a healthy variety of foods to make sure that you get all the essential nutrients that you require.
Below is a list of foods that will help you lose weight:
1. Bread (Whole Grain)
While other sources may claim that avoid carbs are the best diet strategy, unfortunately, this is not true. The truth is, staying away from carbs could be dangerous to your health. What you actually need to do is to reduce your carbs intake to a healthy portion. Most doctors would agree that this would fall within 50% to 60% of your total daily calorie intake. This means that if you are on a diet of 1,000 calories per day, then 500 to 600 calories should be from grains, fruits and vegetables.
Whole grain breads include a lot of nutritional value. If you substitute two slices of white toast with a half cup of oatmeal or whole grain cereal, you will be getting three times the vitamins, amino acids and fiber that your body requires for the same amount of calories. And because you have given your body something to work on that will take some time to digest, you will feel full longer too. Thus, helping you avoid taking in that extra chocolate chip cookie in between meals. This is probably the reason why the Bible refers to bread as ‘the staff of life.’
2. Fish
Major medical associations recommend that we consume at least three servings of fish per week. Fish is good because it is low in fat and high in protein just like red meat. Moreover, fish provides Omega 3 fatty acids which most proteins do not provide.
Omega 3 is one of our cell’s main building blocks. The lack of Omega 3 will cause our body to build cells from other fatty acids which may not be as flexible. On the other hand, providing sufficient Omega 3 for your body will help you heal the damage done through years of poor diet.
Also remember that in general, fish has fewer calories than most meat. This means that you will be saving on some calories when you choose to eat fish. Just keep in mind that you are substituting your portions of meat with fish. You are not adding them to the meat you are eating. Rather, you are replacing meat with fish.
3. Spinach
Spinach can be consumed in a wide variety of ways. It can be eaten steamed, sauteed or even raw in salads. Any way you choose is fine. Any way you eat it will still give you all the nutritional benefits it provides.
Each serving gives you vitamin C, vitamin K, folic acid, manganese, magnesium, beta-carotene, protein and lutein (a potent anti-oxidant). Every two cups chopped raw spinach gives you 13 calories and 2 grams of carbohydrates. This is definitely one of the lowest cost sources of nutrition you can give your body.
4. Olive Oil
Among other things, olive oil contains antioxidants, flavonoids, beta-carotene and vitamin E. While one tablespoon contains 125 calories, drizzling it on a 13 calorie spinach salad will provide you with a meal that contains less than 150 calories. This will give your body sufficient energy.
Also know that a little fat is needed by the body to process and consume vitamins. Such being the case, olive oil, which is a mono-unsaturated fat, would be your best option.
5. Pink Grapefruit
Aside from being tasty, grapefruits also provide you with a lot of the nutrients you need. A half grapefruit only contains 40 calories and it provides you with 45 mg of vitamin C, lycopene, pectin, beta-carotene and potassium. So, go ahead. Eat it for breakfast or toss it into a salad with spinach for an extra nutritional value.
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