Do you know what it is like to be on a diet rollercoaster – you try one diet after another, losing weight, and gain it right back. It is time to stop dieting forever if you really serious about losing weight. Why? This is because diets only change what you eat, they do not change your habits that help you losing weight and keep it off forever.
When you eat less than 1000 calories or below your BMR level per day, your body will think you are under starving and slower your metabolism accordingly to conserve your body fat. As consequences, your body weight will be bounced back, even heavier than before when you take back normal consumption of food. As such, you will not get optimal losing weight results in the program for weight loss.
Losing weight through diet is not working in the long run in any program for weight loss. Lean muscle tissue is so important for people who want to have good results in losing weight as lean muscle burns 16 times more calories than body fat. However, our lean muscle tissue will decrease as we age, and thus diminish our metabolism. When you diet, it might turn out you lose more lean muscle tissue and worsen the condition. Please have further information of benefits of strength training if you want to preserve your lean muscle tissue.
So, if you are serious about losing weight, the first thing to do is change your eating habits– when, where, why and how you eat. In a healthy weight loss program, change your old eating habits and then substitute with new one if you want to lose weight effectively.
Besides, eating smart is also very important in losing weight or any program for weight loss. Please refer below table as a guideline how to choose a healthy diet. When you choose a variety foods from those listed in the far right column, you will be eating foods that are low in sugar, fats and salt with high fiber. This will definitely help you in losing weight as recommended as a healthy weight loss program.
| Types of food | High fat, salt, cholesterol, and/or low fiber | Moderate fat, salt, cholesterol, and/or fiber | Low fat, salt, cholesterol,and/or high fiber |
| Animal Protein | Fatty beef, lamb, pork, luncheon meats/ hotdogs, fried chicken, lobster, liver, kidney |
Lean beef and pork cuts, tuna in oil, poultry, salmon, halibut, shrimp, eggs |
Tuna in water, poultry (skinless), white meat, egg white |
| Dairy | Whole milk cheese (cheddar, muenster), whole milk, sour cream, ice cream, cream |
Low-fat cheese (swiss, provolone, feta), low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat milk |
Part-skim mozzarella, part-skim ricotta, plain yogurt, non-fat milk |
| Vegetable Protein | Salted and oil processed nuts and seeds | Raw or dry roasted nuts and seeds, peanut and other nuts butter (moderate amount) |
Dried beans and peas (kidney, lima, soy beans, lentils, split peas etc), tofu |
| Vegetables | Vegetables in cream or butter sauces, fried vegetables, sauerkraut, pickles |
Canned vegetables, canned tomato or vegetables juice, overcooked vegetables |
Raw and fresh vegetables, fresh or frozen , slightly cooked vegetables |
| Fruits | Fruit flavored beverages, canned fruit packed in syrup, avocados, olives, durian |
Canned fruit packed in juice, fruit juices, dried fruit, frozen fruit |
Fresh, raw fruits |
| Grain Products | Cookies, cakes, pies, sweetened cereals, tortilla chips, donuts, snacks |
Refined cereals, enriched white bread, refined pastas, white rice, granolas |
Shredded wheat, whole grain cereals, whole grain breads, brown rice, bran |
| Others | Non-dairy creamer, alcohol, lard, bacon, salt pork, added fats (salad dressings, mayonnaise, butter) |
In fact, you need to include a right weight loss exercise in a healthy weight loss program. And always remember, losing weight is not equal to losing body fat. If you would like to enjoy lasting losing weight results, you need to take care of your diet habit and exercise at the same time.
