There are thousands of weight loss books and gurus out there that will tell you exactly what to do to shed those extra pounds. While many of them are good, sorting through it all can be overwhelming. Our bodies are complex and there are lots of factors that influence how we gain or lose weight. There is no single plan that works for everyone, and sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. However, in choosing foods that help you stay full longer while targeting fat elimination, you’ll have a much higher chance of success in reaching your goals! Simply by incorporating the foods discussed in this article you will have made a great first step towards a healthier body.
Chia Seeds
Fiber, fiber, and more fiber! That is the key to feeling full and losing weight. One serving of chia seeds (2 tablespoons) contains about a quarter of your body’s daily fiber needs. They are easy to sprinkle over salads or incorporate into your yoghurt or oatmeal. And did you know that you can replace eggs with chia seeds when baking? For each egg that the recipe calls for, replace it with 1 tablespoon of chia seeds soaked for 15 minutes in 3 tablespoons of water. They work great in baked goods and are an easy way to decrease your meat/dairy consumption while increasing your fiber intake!
Beans
Adding more beans to your diet is a great way to lose weight, especially weight that is carried around the middle. Beans are loaded with soluble fiber, helping your digestive system stay healthy while minimizing or eliminating inflammation. They are also high in protein, helping you feel full while promoting heart health, aiding in diabetes prevention/management, and preventing cancer.
“Beans have dietary fiber and other polyphenols that activate our metabolism and unleash our inner metabolism. So your metabolism increases while your excess body fat shrinks.“
William Li, M.S.
Yoghurt
Per WebMD, a study showed that obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yoghurt a day lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than those who didn’t. This is in addition to the probiotics that yoghurt contains to help keep your gut healthy. Through another study, Michael Zemel, PhD and Professor of Nutrition at the University of Tennessee reported that “not only did yogurt help the study participants lose more weight, they were twice as effective at maintaining lean muscle mass.” The key here is to get the most bang for your buck while also keeping sugar low. Select plain yoghurt (add a little raw honey if you need a sweetener) and favor Greek Yoghurt where possible to take advantage of the higher amount of protein that it contains.
Edamame
Yes, edamame is a bean, but it deserves its own mention! Full of fiber, protein, and many nutrients, edamame helps you to feel full for a long time and is low in calories. In fact, one half cup of edamame contains only 95 calories. As an added benefit, studies have shown a link between soybeans and lower cardiovascular risk and they are also thought to prevent some forms of cancer. It’s a great addition to any meal or as a stand-alone snack, so eat up!
Fat
You heard me right – eat fat! Many think that they should eliminate fat when trying to lose weight. The trick is not to eliminate fats entirely, but to eat the right kind of fat. Saturated and trans fats (found in meat, dairy, and fried foods) will work against your weight loss goals, but eating monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats, like those found in nuts, seeds, and avocados, will actually help you to achieve your weight loss goals. These fats provide your body with energy, balance your blood sugar, help your body feel full, and are necessary for your metabolism, thus increasing the rate at which you burn fat. If you choose to eat meat or dairy, your best options are a fatty fish (like sardines, herring, or salmon), lean cuts of meat, eggs, and low-fat cheeses. Over time, try to reduce your fat intake from meat and dairy and increase your intake from nuts, seeds, and avocados. Of course, too much of anything is not healthy. It is recommended that 25-35% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats.
White, Brown and Beige Fat
It’s important to understand that there are three different types of fat cells in the body: white, brown, and beige. White fat is energy storing and can lead to weight around the middle, obesity, and other associated health issues. Brown fat (also called beneficial fat) burns calories by using fat molecules to create heat (thermogenesis) and helps to maintain body temperature. It also causes the body to burn more calories at rest, making it easier to drop excess body weight. When we activate brown fat, it begins to convert some of our white fat to brown via our beige fat. So how do we increase our brown fat while reducing our white fat? In addition to increasing our activity levels, spicy foods, coffee, resveratrol (found in nuts, grapes, blueberries, cranberries and dark chocolate), turmeric (curcumin), and green tea are all known to increase brown fat.
“When you eat nuts, you burn more of your own fat. Researchers have found that while conotrol-diet subjects were burning about 20 grams of fat within an 8-hour period, a group eating the same number of calories and fat, but with walnuts included in their diet, burned more – about 31 grams of fat.“
Michael Greger M.D.
Cruciferous Vegetables
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I am a huge fan of cruciferous vegetables. These foods, like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and arugula, are beneficial to our bodies in so many ways and even help with weight loss. They are high in fiber, helping us feel full, and contain a good amount of protein while still being relatively low in calories. Click here to learn more about the power of cruciferous vegetables.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a definite must when trying to lose weight. This is easily incorporated by drinking a mixture of 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with 8 oz of water once a day. Drinking it without diluting it first can be hard on your esophagus and hurt your tooth enamel, so don’t forget the water! Studies have shown that apple cider vinegar turns on fat metabolism, particularly abdominal fat, which is associated with chronic disease risks. It has also been linked to helping to reduce cholesterol and lowering blood sugar levels.
“Researchers have found that people who took two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per day for 12 weeks had a
PubMD
decrease in waist circumference and body fat percentage.“
Probiotics and Fermented Foods
If our gut is not healthy, it will wreak havoc across the rest of our body. However, a healthy gut with a balance of good bacteria in the intestinal tract may help promote fat burning (according to a 2020 study in Preventative Nutrition and Food Science). Good sources of probiotics are kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, and tempeh. You’ll also want to include prebiotic foods (which feed the good bacteria) into your diet, such as foods like bananas, asparagus, legumes, and onions.
Whole Grains
When we talk about grains, we are talking about ‘whole’ grains, not refined grains as found in white bread or many pastas. There is a huge difference in the quality of food, and while refined grains can cause us harm, whole grains can help our digestion and speed up our metabolism. When shopping, check the packaging for the symbol to the right to confirm that you are buying a whole grain product.
“In 2013, a grups oof researchers published the first double-blinded, randomized, placebbo-controlled trial of oatmeal in overweight men and women. Nearly 90% of the real-oatmeal-treated subjects had lost weight, compared with no weight loss, on average, among the control group.“
Michael Greger M.D.
And my favorite….
Dark Chocolate
A successful diet is one that you can maintain for the long term. Allowing yourself an occasional treat is a great way to do this. Not only does dark chocolate (72% or more cacao) serve that purpose, it can also benefit our heart, has anti-inflammatory properties, protects our brain, and helps to improve our mood. Of course, serving size is the key here, so stick to a square or two when trying to lose weight.
A discussion on weight loss would be incomplete without mentioning water. Our bodies are 60-70% water. When we are dehydrated, our bodies cannot operate optimally, and that includes metabolizing stored fat. Water also helps us to feel full, increases the rate at which we burn calories, and reduces our need for other less healthy liquids like soda or juice. The general recommendation is to drink around eight glasses of water per day. Try starting your day with a glass of water and drinking a glass 20 minutes before each meal. This will help you get closer to your water intake goal while reducing your hunger when you sit down to eat.
When you simplify it, losing weight all comes down to the number of calories you ingest compared to the number you burn through your daily activities and exercising. You can make the process of losing weight as simple or as in-depth as you prefer. Where some people like to count macros (protein, carbohydrates, and fats), others like to calculate calories, and then there are those who prefer to focus on exercise and the amount of energy burned. Whatever your approach, it is my hope that by incorporating the foods above, you find your weight loss goals easier to achieve, have a healthier body overall, and can do more of things in life that make you happy!
Healthy Happy Eating!