As I've said before, there's no magic, quick fix for losing weight quickly and keeping it off, though diet industry giants would love for you to think so.
The Basics
So what to do? Look for the easiest possible ways to get nutritious, whole foods without detrimental "extras" like saturated fats or chemicals into your body. Four basic changes to start with, even one week or month at a time:
- Get enough protein (at least .7 grams/lb. of body weight for active people)
- Replace white flour with whole grains whenever possible
- Get plenty of fresh, intensely colored veggies and low-glycemic fruit (fiber is critical for digestion; always eat ANY meat with a veggie, for smoother digestion)
- Eat every three hours, at least a small snack (The more stable your blood sugar is, the more satisfied you feel, and the more likely you'll reach for something nutritious the next time you're hungry. Quick carbohydrates and high-sugar drinks -- fancy coffee drinks, energy drinks, soda -- are empty calories that leave you jittery and impair your judgement re: what to eat next.
Food and Your Brain
But there's another factor in nutritional balance and weight maintenance: satiety, or how satisfied you feel after a meal or snack. What certain foods do to your brain chemistry and blood sugar is key to maintaining a healthy "foodstyle." I.e., food should taste good, and it should make you feel good.
Food should have high pleasure:calorie and nutrient:calorie ratios. Are you getting BIG nutrients with smaller calorie counts? For example, a nonfat Greek-style yogurt has 120 calories, 16 grams of protein, and tons of calcium and live cultures (great for digestion). Plus, it's high in flavor and has a smooth, pleasurable texture. That's bang for your buck!
Just about every meal can be a FLAVOR experience, and leave you feeling just full enough, and mentally satisfied.
Have you ever had a fresh tomato from a farmer's market? It tastes nothing like the tomatoes in the grocery store! Eating the naturally grown tomato is a rush of perfectly sweet, almost sinful flavor that drives you to eat the whole tomato all by itself, and feel strangely great about it. Now imagine that all of your food was made with ingredients that fresh and flavorful. If you read a southern French cookbook, the recipes may sound plain; but those recipes weren't written based on the waxed, bland-tasting vegetables from the local Von's/Safeway.
White flour actually triggers a chemical in the brain that signals hunger to the body. Your body craves carbohydrates for quick energy, and you get into a cycle of overeat, crash, repeat. Why did people even start refining flour? --Because originally we didn't know that we were stripping all the nutrients out of the flour, and it was considered a "luxury." And, it created a whole new industry - big way for a few enterprising businessmen to make big money.
Whole grains, on the other hand, slightly suppress that hunger chemical. You're less likely to grab those extra cookies after a high-protein meal with brown rice or whole-grain bread.
Keep It Exciting
Novelty and variety are also key. Continually try new types of healthy food. If you've never had a certain Thai dish, try it now! You might love it...but even if you don't, the experience of trying it makes you feel more alive. The moments you remember are the ones that stand out from the rest - not the 1000th bowl of fruity flakes you had, but the time you tried a French "salad" and it turned out to be all kinds of unidentifiable animal parts on a thin bed of greens -- or when you discovered how deliciously ripe plantains blend with salty, grilled jumbo shrimp.
Powerful Foods
A few examples of foods with BIG bang for the buck, that leave you satisfied and full of "good" energy:
- Almonds (stabilize blood sugar and give you protein and unsaturated fat)
- Peanut butter
- Oats
- Yogurt, nonfat or lowfat
- Fish (salmon is more calorie-dense, but also high in EFA's that support the immune system; white fish like sole or yellowtail for high protein and low calories)
- Turkey sandwich on 100% whole-grain bread
- Avocados (yes, there's some fat, but it's the kind you need)
- Dark chocolate (in moderation, stimulates pleasure and satiety centers in the brain, which helps prevent unnecessary overeating later)
- Gelato, authentic Italian style (yes, there's some fat, but you get high protein, calcium, flavor and texture, and NO artificial stuff, in a creamy, satisfying dessert)
