1. Eat 4-6 small meals day a day instead of the usual 2-3 large
meals. Eating frequently will help regulate and boost your metabolism
to burn more calories.
2. Consume whole foods that are high in fiber and low in sugar
such as lean protein (lean beef, chicken, fish, and whey protein),
fruits & vegetables (oranges, apples, strawberries, blueberries,
broccoli, peppers, asparagus, carrots, nuts (almonds, cashews, & walnuts),
and whole grains.
3. Eat low-glycemic carbohydrates such as vegetables, whole-wheat
products and oatmeal instead of refined processed carbohydrates
which usually come in a box or a bag.
4. Recommend consuming 25-35 grams of fiber per day. Since the
average diet contains only 14 grams we could all use more fiber.
Fiber will help satisfy hunger pangs as well as control insulin
and blood sugar levels which tend to promote fat storage when they
are elevated.
5. Eat some type of lean protein at each meal. Protein helps to
satisfy hunger and provide the necessary building blocks to maintain
lean body mass while losing body fat.
6. Consume adequate amounts of healthy fat foods such as olive
oil, walnuts, almonds, Omega-3 fortified eggs or other Omega-3
products. Healthy fats are great antioxidants as well as help with
brain function and many other essentials processes that take place
in the body on a daily basis. Essential Fatty acids also help prevent
certain diseases.
7. Recommend eating 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day
to meet your micronutrient needs. Vegetables also contain a good
amount of fiber and help to control appetites and curb hunger.
8. Consume Green Tea or Water instead of calorie filled drinks
such as soft drinks. Green Tea has many health benefits and should
be drinking 1ml of non-caffeinated fluid for every calorie that
you consume. This works out between (8-12) 8oz glasses of Green
Tea or Water a day.
9. Balance your fat intake for the day. 1/3 should come from saturated
fats, 1/3 from monounsaturated fats, and 1/3 from polyunsaturated
fats.
10. If you want to start building habits then you need to follow
a plan. Habits are formed by repetitively following a prescribed
plan. Therefore map out your meals every day and follow them. If
you follow your plan everyday for 2-3 weeks you will form habits
that become part of your daily routine and you won’t even
notice it. How do you think bad habits are formed? By repetitively
doing something over and over again.
11. Include what I call “Superfoods” into your meal
plan on a daily basis. These include but not entirely lean meat,
salmon, low fat plain yogurt, tomatoes, spinach, mixed berries,
whole oats, mixed nuts, olive oil, flax seeds(or flax meal), green
tea, and various beans. These are just some of the “Superfoods” who
should be incorporating into your daily meal plans.
12. Keep total fat intake under 30% for the day. This can be accomplished
by not adding too many extra fats such as butter, sour cream, mayonnaise,
etc. This doesn’t mean you have to completely eliminate these
items, but do not eat them as a regular food item every day.
13. EXERCISE!! You can lose weight by just following a nutrition
plan on its own but very few succeed at it and it takes much longer
than when you eat properly as well as exercise. I am not talking
about just getting on a treadmill for 30 minutes every other day.
Though you can lose weight this way it is not the most efficient
use of your time nor maximizing the ability to burn calories. The
most effective way to lose fat is by strength training or some
type of interval training utilizing strength training and cardiovascular
exercises. A properly designed program can burn more overall calories
in 20 minutes than 20 minutes on a treadmill. Also, the X factor
in all this is that you will burn more calories per minute hours
after you finished strength training because of the EPOC effect.
Static exercise on a treadmill doesn’t produce this X factor.
14. Record what you eat and drink. You will be amazed at what
you consume and not even realize you did it until you right it
down and reflect back on the day. Keeping a food log is critical
to your success because if modifications need to be made you need
something to be able to evaluate and analyze. If changes aren’t
happening like you had hoped the answer can usually be found in
the food and or exercise journal.
15. Follow the 90% rule. If you can follow your plan 90% of the
time then that is enough to have success with weight loss. If
you find yourself breaking the rules more than 90% of the time
then the chance of being successful with weight loss is not as
likely. Your chances of failing increase significantly. Lose
the all or nothing attitude and just take one day at a time.
Reflect on your day before you go to bed at night and instead
of getting down on yourself because you weren’t perfect
just set goals to accomplish next day that would eliminate those
errors.
About the Author: Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS, is a registered dietitian and fitness professional with more than 10 years of experience. He has worked
with 1000’s of individuals in achieving their ideal body
and has been published in numerous magazines. He is also co-creator
of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software.