Friday, August 27, 2010

A Diet For Real Weight Loss Does Not Mean Not Enjoying Food

By Bentley Loveday

There has been an interesting change in the foods we consume over the past century. The Industrial Revolution brought about faster mechanized ways of creating products and it was only a matter of time before this extended to food. This is not to say that all factory made food is bad, in fact there are many businesses that create their food products with minimal preservatives and ingredients. The issue of today is that many people are uneducated as to what goes into their food or how to feed themselves properly. The hidden danger to eating the copious amounts of ready made food is the increased sugar consumption. Sugar now comes in various forms be it high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, glucose, and many other pseudonyms. This increased consumption leads to weight gain and learning to recognize what is bad for you will lead you toward a diet for real weight loss.

Education will take you from your food ignorance into knowing what exactly you have been ingesting for, most likely, years. It is not your fault however because their are no comprehensive programs discussing what a healthy diet. The food pyramid? For most people it hardly makes any sense and many nutritionists would argue that the advice is outdated and relies too heavily on an over consumption of processed carbohydrates. Relearning to eat means relearning how to approach your grocery store.

The best thing for you to do in terms of your diet is to start rethinking the way that you shop for food. Staying to the outer peripheries of a store will put you in contact with the healthiest and most whole foods. Whole foods only mean that they are natural and untainted by processing.

This is not to say that all processing as bad, canned tomato sauce for instance does not contain many ingredients. A good rule of thumb of processed food is to see if you can recognize the ingredients. Eating something with only five ingredients is infinitely better than going for the food that contains over twenty and is unintelligible to those who are not food scientists.

These rules and incorporating more made foods will only come after a two week detox. Throw out any juices and sodas you have in your house and this includes diet soda. While it does not contain any calories, the fake sugar has been found to stimulate appetite. It also acts as a crutch to your system to never really get off of sugar.

With just water for your main source of liquid, increase your protein consumption in terms of eggs, chicken breasts, and lean beef. Eat as many vegetables as you like. There are no limits to something so natural, but don't ruin it by boiling them into sogginess or adding ranch dressing. Olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice can go a long way in terms of flavor.

Eating flavorful foods means playing with spices, learning how to bring new dimensions to your food through how you cook them. You can be surprised how well olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper can be in making your food taste delicious. This is not a veggie only week, you are allowed to eat proteins in the form of fish, eggs, poultry, and some lean meats. Just don't deep fry anything!

This is also not a carb free week, you can incorporate carbohydrates that are good for you, like the aforementioned whole grains. Potatoes are fine, but sweet potatoes are better and with these you will get some natural sugars. Your second week in, start bringing in some fruits and you will have a better appreciation for the taste of real sugar. This will make you a more conscious eater which is all part of a diet for real weight loss.

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