For a healthy person weight loss is simple: burn more calories than you consume. Your healthiest weight is determine by height to weight ratio or Body Mass Index (BMI) and the amount of fat in your body. Unfortunately over 60% of the North American population are considered to be overweight according to the BMI index because of unhealthy diet with foods high in saturated fat and trans fat, causing many diseases and becoming a heavy burden to our national heath care system.
For many people losing weight is easy, but keeping that lost weight is the big problem. In fact if you have a permanent weight loss plan, you will have no problem maintaining that lost weight.
I) Tips to Trick your Body Into Losing Weight
For many people losing weight is easy, but keeping that lost weight is the big problem. In fact if you have a permanent weight loss plan, you will have no problem maintaining that lost weight.
Here are some tips that may help and you might want to keep them in mind in daily diets.
1.Replace high density with Low nutrition density foods
Low density food such as fruits and vegetables are bulky, filling and contains less calories meaning it can help you lose weight and control your hunger. By consuming fewer calories, you can lose weight over time and keep it off forever.
2. Fluff up your foods
Food with extra air whipped has fewer calories. Study shows that people drinking longer air whipped milkshake consume 28% less calories than normal milkshakes, because milkshake blended longer adds air and volume.
3. Foods to avoid
Avoid eating foods that are high in saturated and trans fat. Dip fried foods can contain high calories and any extra fat will be stored away for future use, causing weight gain. Also saturated fat and trans fat might cause arteries to clogg up with bad cholesterol, resulting in heart diseases.
4. Limit food variety
An overload of food will make you go beyond fullness just because you want to taste everything. Limit only a few selection of snacks in your house so you will eat less, because you will get tired of the same old foods.
5. Replace high calorie drink with low calorie beverages or water
Study shows that you can put on weight without realizing by drinking high calorie beverages, because high calories beverages go right through your stomach with out registering it. Therefore you might intake a lot of calories, but your stomach will still feel hungry.
II) Lose Weight With Foods Containing High Amount of Fiber
Since fiber improves large intestine function and keeps the muscles of the large intestine strong, it speeds up the transit time of food and increases the size of stool (fecal bulk), thereby helping prevent constipation and hemorrhoids. Foods that contain fiber are typically low in fat and therefore it is a very important component in weight control as well.
In this article we will discuss why foods containing high amounts of fiber can eventually make you lose weight.
1. Foods high in fiber offer more food per calories
Since most fiber can not be digested in your stomach, they have a negative calorie effect. Fiber also help to trick your stomach into feeling full with less calories than you would normally eat.
2. Prolong your meal
High fiber foods require lots of chewing and swallowing. Therefore it takes longer for you to finish your meal.
3. Fill up your stomach
Water soluble fiber absorbs water from your stomach and forms a kind of gel that swells up, causing receptors in your stomach to signal your brain that you are still full and no longer need to eat.
4. Stabilizes blood sugar
Foods containing high fiber such as whole grain, and dried bean release their sugar slowly into blood streams thus supporting blood glucose stability to help weight loss. Also a high fiber meal can affect blood sugar’s response to the next meal, keeping your blood sugar more stable throughout the day.
5. Boost your Hormones
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1, a small protein that is naturally produced in the human body and can slow the digestive process and giving a sense of fullness, causing you to lose weight.
6. Block some calories
Fiber blocks the absorption of calories and enhances your body’s absorption of nutrients. Study shows that a diet containing only 20 grams of fiber a day absorb 8% more calories than a diet containing 48 grams of fiber.
III. How to lose Weight with Foods Substitution
The healthiest weight is determine by height to weight ratio or Body Mass Index (BMI) and the amount of fat in your body. Unfortunately over 60% of the North American population is considered to be overweight, according to the BMI index. We also have discussed the negative weight loss in the article “Foods make you lose weight”. In this article we will to discuss how to lose weight with food substitutions in your diets.
1. Dip fried food is crunchy and tasty, but it contains lots of saturated fat that causes arteries to build up with cholesterol, heart disease and unhealthy weight gain. You can avoid these by steaming, stirring and consuming more cold water fish.
2. Adding one teaspoon of hot pepper and mustard to every meal will raise metabolic rate by as much as 25 percent.
3. Replace the cream in your recipe with low fat sour cream or low fat evaporated milk.
4. Don’t smother your baked potato with butter or sour cream. Replace it with salsa or low fat chili.
5. Use olive oil or canola oil instead of animal oils or vegetable oils.
6. Add nuts in your diet. Nuts tend to be high in fat and nutrition, so include them in your diet but do not overdo it.
7. Substitute mungbean paste for butter in peanut butter cookies to lower fat and increase fiber.
8. Serve meat or poultry with cranberry sauce, salsa and skip the gravy.
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9. If you don’t eat your foods while walking, driving or watching television, you will eat less and enjoy your foods
10. Put spinach on your sandwich instead of lettuce, since spinach is more nutritious.
IV. How to Lose Weight with Herbs
As we mentioned in the other articles, weight loss is simple: burn more calories than you consume. If you have a healthy diet plan that contains a lot of fruits, vegetables, less meat and dairy foods andare low in saturated and trans fat, it will help you to lose weight and keep it off longer. In this article, beside some other diet plans, we find that some herbs can help you to lose weight and keep it off forever:
1. Fennel seeds
Fennel is known to metabolize and throw off fatty substances through the urinary tract. It has a spicy smell and is rich in vitamin A that helps to improve eyesight. Fennel seeds also aid in digesting and promotes the functioning of the liver, kidneys, and spleen, thereby ensuring the healthy processing and elimination of dietary fat.
2. Cleavers
Cleavers is one of the most well known tonics available to assist the lymphatic system with the healthy clearing of waste and toxins and is an excellent detoxifying agent. Cleavers are not known to lesson the appetite but rather accelerate the fat metabolism.
3. Raspberry leaves
Red Raspberry leaves are very beneficial to the health of many people. Red Raspberry leaves can be used to treat a wide variety of problems. Beside having a reputation as a weight loss aid, raspberry leaf tea is said to help control diarrhea, nausea and help pregnancy, delivery and post delivery easier for the mother.
4. Japanese Green tea
Drinking 3 to 5 cups of green tea at each meal will help to boost your metabolism, which means burning more calories faster.
5. Burdock Roots
Burdock root helps to increase carbohydrate metabolism, and aid the healthy pituitary gland in the regulation of hormones and body weight because of its cleansing and detoxifying abilities.
6 Chickweed
Chickweed was commonly used as a wash for soothing sore eyes, while the leaves were used to ease cuts and sores. It contains high amounts of Vitamin C, protein, flavonoids, phytosterols and glycosides as well. Chickweed may be beneficial to weight loss when included in a healthy lifestyle, proper diet and exercise.
7. Chlorella
Chlorella helps to restore the natural balance of the body and aids any weight loss program by stimulating peristalsis in the intestines.
8. Royal Jelly
Royal jelly is a milky secretion from worker honey bees that’s fed to the queen bee to stimulate her growth and development. Royal Jelly has also been said to improve athletic and sexual performance, slowing down the aging process and promoting weight loss.
There are more herbs that have the same affects in losing weight such as cinnamon, etc.
V. How to Lose Weight with Common Sense Approach
Together with a healthy diet and consuming more of fruits, vegetables and meat and dairy foods that are low in saturated and trans fat would help you to lose weight and keep it off longer. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you would like to start any weight loss program.
Here are some common sense approaches that might help you to lose weight:
1. Don’t skip your breakfast
Skipping meals will only cause you to eat more in the next meal. After a long period of hunger, your stomach triggers the brain to release more chemicals that ask you to eat more (more than 2 meals combine) in the next meal.
2. Follow the BMI index
According to the National Institution of Health, the definition of healthy weight is a BMI of 24 or less. Men and Women with a BMI of 25-30 are considered to be overweight. BMI is reliable for people from 19-70 years of age. Study reveals that for people over 64 years of age, the risk of dying from heart disease does not go up with a BMI between 25-27. A BMI over 28 seems to increase risk of heart disease.
3. Slowly and Surely
Change your lifestyle habits slowly. Each day replace some of the saturated and trans fat foods
with healthier foods.
Start Exercising gradually. Walk 10 minutes a day for a few days then 15 minutes, 30 minutes. Keep going until you work your way up to doing a supervised exercise program. Be happy if you lose 2 to 3 Lbs a week.
4. Stay Moderately active
Sitting in front of the computer or television all day will increase the risk of arthritis, type II diabetes, obesity, heart diseases, and depression.
5. Shopping parking
Parking your car at the far end of the parking lot will help you to burn more calories. If you calculate the calories which you burn from all the trips that you take such as mall shopping, grocery shopping, working, picking up the kid from school, you will be surprised. Each mile will burn somewhere around 125 calories.
6. Moderate intake of alcohol
Moderate drinking of alcohol beverages containing no fat, no cholesterol, and very little sodium and is often associated with weight loss in women. Moderate consumption of alcohol is associated with better health and longer life. Drinking a cup of red wine for women and two cups for men daily will help increase blood circulation and decrease risk of heart attack.
7. Study shows that eating chicken soup with rice and drinking water together before meal will help to curb your appetite.
VI. How to Lose Weight with Mediterranean diet
As we mentioned in the other articles, for a healthy person weight loss is simple: burn more calories than you consume. The healthiest weight is determine by height to weight ratio or Body Mass Index (BMI) and the amount of fat in your body. Unfortunately over 60% of the North American population is considered to be overweight, according to the BMI index. There must be something wrong with our diet. In faraway places such as Southern Italy and Greek, most people live longer than us because their diet contains lots of fruits and vegetables. The People in Southern Italy and Greek only eat fish and poultry a few times a week and meat a few times a month. Their diet is high in carbohydrates and only containing 8% of saturated fat.
You can find some very good traditional Greek foods in you local restaurants.
Here are some meals that I found very different than our diet:
1. Savor souvlaki
Also known as shish kebob, it contains a large amount of vegetables and a small amount of meat. This is a meal with an average of about 300 calories and only 10 grams of fat with 1/5 of fat being saturated.
2. Pita Bread sandwich
Pita bread sandwich includes hefty raw vegetable, some meat, feta cheese and cucumber sauce. It contains roughly 800 calories with 45 grams of total fat and half of that are saturated.
Unfortunately, under the influence of western diet, some of the meals that we found is no longer really Greek foods. They are high in meat and saturated fat, therefore please do not assume that all Greek restaurant are original Mediterranean diet.
Here are 2 recipes of original Mediterranean diet that not only helps you to lose weight but also reduces your high blood pressure and bad cholesterol level in result of lowering risk of heart diseases and strokes.
1.Sauce of yoghurt with dill ( Sources from Ellaia)
* Sauce of yoghurt with dill
* 300 gm. yoghurt with low water content
* 1 spoonful dry dill
* 1 clove garlic, salt, pepper
* 2 spoonfuls olive oil ELLAIA
* 1 spoonful lemon juice.
* We pulp the garlic in a mortar with little salt.
In a deep bowl we strike yogurt with garlic, the dill and the pepper and we continue with the olive oil and the lemon until they are mixed well. We maintain the mixture in the refrigerator. Accompanies vegetables and green salad.
2. Meat with plums ( Sources from Ellaia)
* 1,5 kg meat (pork, lamb, beef or even chicken)
* 1 onion
* salt, pepper, nutmeg
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 5-6 clovesjuice of 2 lemons
* 2-3 spoonfuls olive oil ELLAIA
* Half kg plums
* 1 cup almonds
* 2 spoonfuls sugar or honey
* Wash the meat and cut it in portions. We put it in a basin and throw on the onion in big particles, salt, pepper, the cinnamon, cloves, the nutmeg and the juice of lemon. We leave the meat to be marinated for 2-3 hours and meanwhile we wet the plums in water in order to absorb water and also the almonds in order to be peeled easily. We put the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the meat. We douse with the marinade liquid, we add 1-2 glasses hot water and we boil the meat in low temperature, until it gets soft. We put inside also the plums, the almonds and the honey or the sugar and we leave them to boil for a few minutes.
Finally we will provide you with a Mediterranean diet food list. It contains cheese, eggs, fish and sea food, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, olive oil, red wine, vegetables and yogurt.
On the top of the pyramid contains meat, poultry and on the lower broader base, there are dairy products, oils, fruits and vegetables.
VII. How to Lose Weight With Fiber
Fiber is the portion of plant material that humans are not able to digest. There are two kinds of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble. Both are important for proper bowel function. Soluble fiber dissolves in water, forming a gel in the intestines. Insoluble fiber passes through the digestive system almost intact, adding bulk to the stool and acting as a sponge to absorb water. If you have gone through all kinds of diet plans or programs such as diet pills and supplements, and despite all your efforts you can’t seem to lose weight, then you might be not eating enough fiber.
Study shows that people eat as much as 60% of fiber everyday, 85% are in ideal weight. In the US they only average about 15% of fiber being consumed per person, this may be the the cause of obesity of 60% of adults.
Here are some foods that are high in fiber:
1. Dried Bean
Dried bean is high in fiber and contains proteins. Fiber-rich dried beans like some other complex carbohydrates make you more likely to feel full sooner. Therefore, it is an ideal food for weight loss. Also a diet high in fiber can reduce the risk of colon cancer, as well as cholesterol levels that we know may cause heart diseases.
2. Acai Berry
Acai Berry is filled with vitamins and minerals that can aid in weight loss, building muscle and increasing overall energy. Acai berry helps to increase your calorie consumption rate such as burning more calories doing the regular chores and exercises. This increased metabolism rate leads to substantial weight loss.
3. Whole Grain Products
Whole grain cereals are very nutritional as they are a good source of vitamins, phytochemicals, and minerals that are needed in your day-to-day life. Whole grain products generally take a longer time to digest, and thus gives a feeling of fullness that discourages a person under a weight loss program from overeating. This is how it basically helps in weight loss.
4. Broccoli
Broccoli not only has low calories, but is also inexpensive. Broccoli is one of the tastiest and healthiest vegetables, and it’s readily available year-round. Broccoli helps you lose weight because they are high in fiber and water, so you get a lot of food for a few calories.
5. Celery
Celery has a high concentration of calcium that ignites your endocrine system. The hormones help to break up the accumulation of fat build up, resulting in weight loss.
6. Spinach
Spinach is a dart green, negative calories vegetable. It is an excellent source of powerful disease fighting antioxidants and a good source of iron, vitamins and minerals. Spinach is loaded with fiber and one cup of steamed spinach has only 42 calories.
7. Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are high in protein, nutrients and fiber. It contains lots of Omega fatty acids which means nuts and seeds can get you to feel more full and keep you from overeating in result of weight loss.
All of the above are the foods we eat daily, and contain high amounts of fiber that help to improve bowel function and transition time as well as weight loss.
VIII. Negative Calorie Foods
These foods causes you to lose weight because they contains such a small amount of calories that it takes more calories to digest them, then the food itself contains. An example would be a food that contains 25 calories, but takes 50 calories for you body to break down and digest.
Celery
First if you’ve ever eaten celery you know it takes some work to chew, and with 1 stalk containing just 5 calories the chewing alone will probably burn more calories then the celery contains
Ice Water
Ice water is significantly cooler than your normal body temperature so drinking ice water instead of regular tap water will cause your body to burn extra calories in order to bring its temperature back to normal.
Tangerines
A medium sized tangerine is a sparse 37 calories.
Kumquat fruit
Each kumquat fruit is 13 calories
Lettuce
Iceberg lettuce is just 6 calories per 1 cup serving.
Romaine lettuce is 10 calories per 1 cup serving.
Spinach
1 cup of Spinach contains 7 calories
Cherry Tomato
3 Cherry Tomatoes contain 6 calories.
Mushrooms
1 cup of mushrooms is 15 calories