Ideas for Healthy Weight Loss

“What can I do to lose weight?” is the most common question I get as a nutritionist. For some people losing weight comes easy and for others it might require the involvement of a team of health professionals. Whatever your case may be, below are some easy to implement, common sense tips that anyone can use for healthy weight loss.

• Drink plenty of water. Multiple studies show that while dehydration can show lower numbers on the scale immediately, on the long term it is heavily associated with being overweight.
  
• Eat slowly and chew thoroughly so your body has the chance to properly digest foods.
  
• Balance your blood sugars by properly combining healthy fats, protein, and complex carbohydrates. When your body experiences very high or very low blood sugars, or both, it will be in stress mode which is associated with weight gain.
  
• Eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates. These turn into glucose in the blood stream and as a defense mechanism the liver will convert them into fat. The fat conversion is especially pronounced with high fructose foods like agave or corn syrup. Some fruits also contain extremely high amounts of fructose therefore it’s best to reduce the consumption of bananas, grapes, watermelon, and pineapple.
  
• Emphasize non-starchy vegetables. Replace starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, yams, parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas with non-starchy vegetables and consume non-starchy vegetables liberally. Non-starchy vegetables include: artichokes, asparagus, green beans, sprouts, broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, onions, kohlrabi, mushrooms, radish, green peas, peppers, summer squash, tomatoes, zucchini, and leafy greens such as kale, spinach, collard, and chard.
  
• If you eat meat, you can choose to replace grains with non-starchy vegetables. So instead a serving of meat, rice, and a vegetable; you can choose a meat and two non-starchy vegetables. The same way, replacing grain-based foods like breads and pastas with vegetables can go a long way.
  
• Inflammation causes weight gain. Anything that reduces inflammation may provide to be helpful in losing weight. These include fish oil, turmeric, green tea, etc.
  
• Eat raw vegetables. Raw vegetables are very high in fiber and as such they improve digestion, aid in elimination of toxins, and they feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut. They are also lower in calories and can give you a sense of fullness.
  
• Avoid artificial zero calorie sweeteners. These include diet sodas. Artificial sweeteners have been shown to increase weight gain because of their effect on blood sugar metabolism.
  
• Exercise! The benefits of moderate exercise are endless. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity, can make us relaxed, and can tone our bodies. Please note that while exercise might help you wear smaller size clothes and look better, it will not cause the numbers on your scale to go down because muscle weighs more than fat.
  
• Manage your stress. It has been proven over and over again that a stressful lifestyle will directly cause weight gain.
  
• Get plenty of sleep. Sleep deprivation is associated with weight gain because it stresses the system the same way as stress does.
  

Source

Kate Pfeiffer, MNT

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