In the last couple of articles we have given you information on the types of food you can eat and their benefits, so this time we thought we would look at some of the popular ideas that are out there about how you can plan to create your weight loss journey.<\/p>\n
1. Going vegan is a healthy way to lose weight.<\/strong> In the last couple of articles we have given you information on the types of food you can eat and their benefits, so this time we thought we would look at some of the popular ideas that are out there about how you can plan to create your weight loss journey. 1. Going vegan is<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhile various research shows that vegetarians and vegans, on average, consume fewer calories and less fat than omnivores (a 2009 Oxford study found that vegetarians weigh 3 to 20 percent less than their meat-eating counterparts, and a National Cancer Institute study found that subjects who consumed four ounces or more of red meat weekly were 30 percent more likely to die of any cause than those who ate less), these numbers may be misleading,\u201d says Rania Batayneh, MPH, a certified nutritionist and owner of Essential Nutrition for You.
\nGoing vegan solely for weight loss can backfire, big time. If you aren\u2019t vigilant with a vegan diet, it\u2019s easy to lack in vital nutrients, vitamins, and proteins, which give you energy and help keep your metabolism stoked. Many first-time vegans may also find themselves reaching for more processed foods like vegan cookies, chips, or even \u2018ice cream\u2019 more often with such a restricted diet, and many end up packing on the pounds instead.
\nIf you do decide to adopt a vegan diet, be sure to keep the \u2018treats\u2019 to a minimum and plan balanced meals. \u201cAim to get about 10 to 20 percent of your calories from protein (or about 1 gram per kilogram of body weight), replacing animal protein with healthy plant proteins, like those found in beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy products,\u201d Batayneh says. \u201cAnd, whether you are vegan or not, eating more green, leafy vegetables are great for your health and your waistline.\u201d
\n2. Cut all carbs to shed pounds.<\/strong>
\nYour body needs \u2018carbs\u2019 for energy, and many carbohydrate foods are rich in essential vitamins, nutrients, and dietary fibre that help you stay full and fuel your workouts. \u201cEliminating carbohydrates not only reduces whole grains, B vitamins, and a good source of fibre, but it also reduces your body\u2019s feel-good capacity (it\u2019s no wonder that most comfort foods are carbohydrate based),\u201d Batayneh says.
\nPlus, cutting out food groups may only make you crave them more, and you may find yourself finishing off an entire bag of chips in a moment of weakness. \u201cStarches and carbs are actually an important tool in weight management,\u201d Batayneh says. \u201cThey provide belly-filling fibre, complex carbohydrates to keep your engine running all day, and they stimulate the production of serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter that regulates mood.\u201d
\nStay healthy, full, and happy while dropping the lbs. by swapping out processed carbs for fibre- and nutrition-filled foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
\n3. Diet drinks are a good way to cut calories.<\/strong>
\nYou may think you\u2019re doing yourself a favour by sipping artificially sweetened drinks, but recent research says you may just be setting yourself up to crave sweets even more. \u2018Fake\u2019 sugar can trick our bodies, since we aren\u2019t actually providing it with any calories to back up the sweetness, causing a vicious cycle of cravings. \u201cArtificial sweeteners tend to trigger your appetite, making you want more and more sugar, but without actually satisfying a desire for sweets like normal sugar does,\u201d Batayneh says. \u201cDiet soda-drinkers may end up eating tons of sugary and fatty snacks in order to satisfy their cravings.\u201d
\nCase in point: One University of Texas study found that people who drink diet soda regularly (more than two per day) had a 70 percent greater waist circumference than those that don\u2019t. Not to mention, diet sodas are also often loaded with additives, including caramel colouring, which is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulphites, resulting in two compounds that have been found to cause lung, liver, and thyroid cancers in mice, Batayneh says.
\n4. Fat-free snacks are better for your waistline.<\/strong>
\n\u201cReduced-fat versions of snacks typically have been stripped of one quarter of their original healthy monounsaturated fats, and to replace that flavour, the brand adds in fillings, additives, and sugar \u2014 all for the same amount of calories,\u201d Batayneh says. \u201cPicking reduced-fat products may even end up hurting your waistline: in one study, average-weight participants ate 22 percent more calories if the food was labelled \u2018low fat\u2019 and overweight participants ate up to 50 percent more.\u201d
\nYour body needs fat to absorb vitamins, and it may also help you shed pounds \u2014 a recent Stanford University study found that people on a moderate-fat diet lost twice as much weight as subjects eating a low fat diet. So skip the highly processed, fat-free snacks that are basically empty calories and fill up on healthy, whole foods that will help you stay satisfied on a lower-calorie diet such as avocados, nuts, and coconuts.
\n5. Fruit has too much sugar to be healthy for weight loss.<\/strong>
\nWith all the sugar that is added to processed foods, the sugar in fruit is the least of your worries. Getting rid of fruit means you are losing out on valuable vitamins and nutrients that your body absorbs easily since they\u2019re found in their natural, whole state.
\n\u201cEliminating fruit from your diet when trying to lose weight makes no sense,\u201d Batayneh says. You\u2019ll miss out on a whole lot of filling fibre, which studies have directly linked to long-term weight loss, and you may be more likely to reach for other processed, empty food items instead.
\n6. Protein shakes will help you lose weight.<\/strong>
\nDrinking protein shakes alone can\u2019t help you lose weight, but replacing a meal with them could. The trouble is, many would-be dieters make the mistake of adding in a shake to their current daily intake, which can pack on the pounds (this is why bodybuilders trying to gain size use them often). If you want to add protein shakes to your diet, look for a mix that is low in sugar and has a short ingredient list. Depending on the calorie count, and what you add to it (Batayneh recommends whey protein, milk, and fruit), you can substitute a shake for a snack or a meal to help move the scale down, not up.
\n7. A high-protein diet is the best way to shed fat.<\/strong>
\nWhile protein is important for weight loss, eliminating other food groups (like carbs) for the sake of eating more protein could be setting you up for a carbo-loading binge later. Plus, you may be missing out on the fibre, vitamins, and minerals found in unprocessed carbohydrates, and you run the risk of eating too much fat in your diet, which can lead to high cholesterol and triglycerides, Batayneh says.
\nSkip the yo-yo cycle and round out your meals with a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. \u201cWhen you have all three macro-nutrients in your diet, you are less likely to feel deprived and may experience less cravings.\u201d
\n8. Swear off all your favourite fattening foods to lose weight.<\/strong>
\nAnyone who has ever sworn off pizza, chocolate, or chips knows that as soon as you tell yourself you can\u2019t have them, you start dreaming of swimming in gooey, cheesy pizza or rich, dark chocolate cake. \u201cModeration is key. We tend to be in \u2018all or nothing\u2019 mode when we diet. And while you can\u2019t have pizza, french fries, and chocolate cake all in the same day, with careful planning, you can still enjoy them in moderation,\u201d Batayneh says. Have your cake, and eat it too \u2014 just share it with a friend or save the other half for another day.
\n9. Eating after 8 p.m. makes you fat.<\/strong>
\nEating after a certain hour won\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019ll pack on pounds, just as staying out after midnight won\u2019t turn you into a pumpkin. This Cinderella-esque fat fairy tale continues to exist, but the bottom line is that your metabolism doesn\u2019t know what time it is, Batayneh says.
\nSkip the mad rush to consume as much food as you can before the clock strikes 8:00.
\n\u201cCalories are calories, no matter when you eat them, but what does matter is what and how much of it you eat. Late-night snacking gets a bad rap because often the foods that are consumed late at night are calorie-dense foods (chips, ice cream, pizza, and other junk food) and may be in excess calories to your daily caloric needs, which translates to weight gain.\u201d
\n10. You\u2019ll burn more fat if you don\u2019t eat before a workout.<\/strong>
\nExercise normally burns away your glycogen (carbohydrate) reserves, and when you\u2019re done burning those, you\u2019ll start dipping into your fat stores for energy. It\u2019s true that when you\u2019re already running on empty, you burn fat right away, but you\u2019ll likely run out of steam before your workout is over or end up ravenous and grabbing whatever food you can find in an attempt to refuel afterwards, Batayneh says.
\n\u201cEnergy comes from calories. A study from the University of Birmingham compared two groups of cyclists \u2014 some ate before their workout and the others fasted. While the group who fasted did end up burning more fat, the group who ate cycled at a much higher intensity than the fasting group, and burned more calories. A person needs fuel to run, just like a car, so find the foods that give you the energy to work out at your hardest.\u201d
\n11. You can eat whatever you want on weekends.<\/strong>
\nIf you do the math, eating \u2018whatever you want\u2019 Friday-Sunday adds up to 12 days, or almost half of a 30-day month! Not exactly the recipe for weight loss success. \u201cWhen you throw caution to the wind on the weekends it can actually offset the consistency and success you had all week,\u201d Batayneh says. Instead of taking a no-holds-barred approach to your weekends, Batayneh recommends trying to scale back the little things that really add up like the bread basket and having a few extra glasses of wine during dinners out, along with mindless munching out of boredom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"