Saturday, January 6, 2007

What To Eat To Lose Weight

When it comes to losing weight, we try to find ways to do it with little pain or discomfort. There is really an easy way to do it. Sure we can opt for the latest diet program or visit the gym or we can simply choose to find out what to eat to lose weight.

Keeping a healthy diet is really one of the wisest decisions you could ever make to keep that weight off. This means eating food that contains a wide variety of foods which includes protein, carbohydrate and fat, as well as vitamins and minerals.

The needs of your body do not change just because you decide to lose weight. So eat sensibly and you can do this by planning your meals ahead of time. As with everything else in life, eat in moderation and according to your body needs, which can be determined according to your gender, age and metabolism. What is key is to be mindful of your calories intake from each type of food.

You do need to consume carbohydrate as it is a valuable source of energy. There are two types of carbohydrates - simple and complex. Complex carbo can be found in cereals, rice, potatoes, pasta and bread and this will serve us better than simple carbo which is found in sugar, chocolate, biscuits, ice cream and soft drinks. So consume your carbohydrate to maintain healthy digestive system and some may even lower cholesterol levels in the blood.

Another essential food is protein, which is useful for the growth, repair and maintenance of cells. Protein can be found in meat, eggs, beans, nuts, milk, fish and dairy products.

Good news is even if you are dieting, fats are still needed to balance your diet. Fats help to insulate and protect the body. What you need to look out for is unsaturated fats to derive this concentrated source of energy. What to eat to lose weight is to consume fats from olive oil, polyunsaturated spreads, oily fish and sunflower oil for your fats. This helps to reduce risk of increased cholesterol level in the blood which could lead to coronary heart disease.

Drink plenty of water at all times as it is vital for your body to function properly and contains no calories.

What you need to eat to lose weight is to set a realistic target and forget about eating just one type of food to acelerate weight loss, like excessive grapefruit as an example.

Eat small portions throughout the day rather than using up your calorie quota for the day in one large meal. This lessens your hunger pangs and eventually will help you to lose weight.

Replace high-fat snacks with low-fat snacks like apple, banana, carrots, chestnuts, cottage cheese, yoghurt, oranges, celery and crispbread. Avoid almonds, brazil nuts, cream cheese, milk chocolate, peanuts, cheddar cheese and chocolate biscuits.

Eat less meat but more potatoes and vegetables. Use skimmed milk instead of full-fat milk. If you need to use cream, use use single cream rather than double cream. Always use the leanest cut of meat and trim off the fat.

In order to lose weight effectively, you do not need to starve yourself or to go for boring foods. Just be mindful of the need for a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrate and fat as well as minerals and vitamins. Then you choose wisely what to eat from each type of food.