Foods That Help You Lose Weight

If you are trying to lose weight, either because you were pregnant or just plain overwhelmed from stress and not eating correctly, it is important to eat the right foods to lose weight.

\The idea that eating grapefruit can help you lose weight is NOT a myth. Grapefruit is a delicious and nutritious sweet-tart snack, breakfast side or salad topping. But researchers have also discovered that eating grapefruit or grapefruit juice daily can aid in weight loss, possibly due to a reduction in insulin levels.

Cucumbers are a weight loss food too. They are not that nutritious but they help bulk up a salad so you feel full and eat less.

Lentils are packed with fiber, folate and magnesium. His versatile fat-free legume can be a fabulous supporting player of a slimming healthy eating regimen. Lentils, prepared any number of ways, will have you feeling as if you’ve eaten a meaty, even creamy, dish minus the calories and saturated fat that come with eating meat.

Oats and oatmeal are high in fibre, which helps you feel full – and satisfied – longer. Plus consumption of whole grains has been shown to aid in weight loss. For the best benefits, fill up on oatmeal for breakfast – try steel-cut oats if you’ve got the time, or instant oatmeal if you prefer to eat at work (just try to pick the sugar-free kinds and add your own sweeteners).

Plentiful and versatile, apples can help you satisfy sugar cravings for less calories. Whether eaten fresh as a midafternoon snack in the office or baked for dessert, these nutritional powerhouses will help fill you up and keep you slim.

With an average of 72 calories, a hefty 6 grams of protein, and elements of almost every essential vitamin you need, eggs can be a nutritious (not to mention affordable) part of a healthy weight loss plan. Hard-boiled eggs are perfect for a post-work out snack; poached eggs can be a delicious, filling breakfast.

All nuts are healthy and loaded with good fats and other nutrients, but almonds are the one to go for when you’re trying to lose weight. They’re lower in calories than many of their cousins (that means you, macadamias) and the protein and fat content will help keep cravings at bay.

While not low in calories or in fat, dark chocolate still has two major things going for it. First, it’s very hard to eat large quantities of real, high-quality dark chocolate as compared to its milky sibling; and second, it’s very high in health-promoting antioxidants. It’s no diet food, but eating a few small squares to squelch a potentially much larger scaring of, say, a piece of chocolate cake with icing, is well worth the modest calorie intake.

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Myths About Nutrition

When it comes to nutrition lots of us grew up with bad advice or downright lies about was it is good for us. We also are misinformed quite regularly by information from the internet.

The first myth I want to address is that fat makes you fat. While fat itself doesn’t create fat, “Fat, whether its margarine, olive oil, or butter, is a concentrated source of calories. If you eat a lot of fat in your diet, you’re going to consume a lot of calories, and yes, that can make you gain weight.”

Before you axe fat from your diet, note that all fats aren’t bad. Unsaturated fats, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, are essential for optimum health, and omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. You should bet twenty to thirty per cent of their daily calories from healthy fats, so choose wisely. No better way to make sure you keep a trim waist, especially after pregnancy.

Another myth is that wine lowers blood pressure. We were told that drinking wine every day can lower it. However drinking MORE than two glasses of wine a day can actually boost it.

Most of us believe that it is carbohydrates that make you fat. This is not quite true. I f you eat more than you need, whether it’s fat, carbohydrates, protein, you’ll store those extra calories as body fat, period.” If you’re a carb lover, make friends with the gym; burning the extra calories with regular exercise is the best way to eat a diet high in carbohydrates without losing your waistline in the process.

Many of us grew up believing that brown eggs were more nutritious than white eggs. This is simply not true either. The nutritional content between brown eggs and white eggs is exactly the same; the difference is just the colour of the shell, and that’s only because the brown eggs are laid by a different breed of then.

The same goes for the old white sugar versus brown sugar debate. Brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added to it. It is not any more nutritious in any way.

Did you grow up believing that it is okay to eat whatever you want while you are pregnant? This is one of the biggest myths going! Calorie requirements only increase by 300 calories in trimesters two and three. Unfortunately y some moms take the idea of 'eating for two' much too literally.

In the next blog I will explore nutritional myths just like this.

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