Adopting a healthy diet will enable you to lower your BMI (Body Mass Index), as simply increasing your level of activity might not be enough to lose weight.
Calorie deficit
Reducing how many calories you eat will assist in your weight loss, as the calories in foods people eat can quickly add up.
Entering a calorie deficit, where you eat fewer calories than you burn in a day will prevent you consuming excess fat that serves to increase your BMI.
Starting to cook for yourself more can help you monitor your food portions and subsequent calorie intake.
Check food labels to be sure you are eating the smallest amount of saturated fat possible, and so you can avoid the fats that come from fried and baked foods.
Change your shopping list
Fruit and vegetables
Adding five servings of fruit and vegetables a day can add nutrition to your diet, which will also serve to fill you up.
Vegetables, especially, are packed with the nutrition our bodies need to feel satisfied and they’re generally low in calories.
Using dressings, herbs and spices can make vegetables more appealing if they do not normally make your shopping list on a regular basis.
Whole grain replacements
High sugar foods such as sweetened cereal, chocolate and pastries should be avoided, as well as sugary soda drinks.
Replace starchy version of foods such as bread, flour and rice with whole grain foods. Whole grain foods are less heavily processed than their white counterparts and contain significantly more fibre and natural nutrition.
Attack snacks
It can be quite tempting to buy snacks when shopping, but snacks such as crisps and chocolate can contain excess calories. Buy some chewing gum to replace these snacks when hunger strikes, while drinking a large glass of water can also fight off hunger pangs.
Change your diet
Ditch highly processed foods
Processed food should be avoided as part of your diet, with a generally reliable rule being the more processed a choice of food is, the worse it is for your health. Very processed foods tend to include:
- Highly refined carbohydrate – which sharply raise blood sugar levels
- Man made fats
- Added glucose, sugar and salt
- High levels of preservatives
- Very little fibre
Fibre intake
Increasing your fibre intake will not only give you more energy, but it will also help you regulate your body’s systems.
Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), which is the number of calories required to keep your body functioning at rest, will increase following enhanced fibre. This can also speed up your weight loss in the process.
Whole grain ingredients and products will also assist you in your fibre increase, while whole wheat flour and oatmeal are other good fibre sources.
Make use of protein
Protein has a number of distinct benefits because it provides fewer calories per gram than carbohydrate or fat and keeps you feeling full for long periods of time.
If you need to be strict on calorie content, opt for lean meat such as chicken breast and cuts of red meat with the fat trimmed off.
Eggs are a strong and versatile choice and beans are lentils are a great choice, particularly for people following vegetarian or vegan diets.
Lean meat
Eating lean meat can assist with weight loss as it contains significantly more protein and has less fat and carbohydrate content.
Chicken generally tends to be very lea, with the white of the meat containing less fat than the meat found on the thighs or wings.
Red meats such as beef and pork are also beneficial, with the leanest cuts available containing more beneficial materials such as vitamin B, iron and zinc.
