 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
||
|
||
 |
Cart Change Your Food Attitude
Get weight loss results that last with this simple satisfying eating plan By Chris Freytag with Alyssa Shaffer
Being active just one very important part of the healthy living equation, Equally important is your diet. For many of you, diet really has become a four-letter word. You’ve probably tried your fair share of weight loss plans over the years and had some success—at least at first. But most diets don’t offer a long—lasting solution because they don’t provide real opportunities to change. The 2—Week Turnaround eating plan is designed to be easy—and easily customized to meet your tastes. Start by taking a good look at your eating habits and then follow these simple tips to improve them.
Get into the habit of “clean” eating.
That’s about as easy as it sounds. To make your body healthier, you need to eliminate as many preservatives, additives, and processed sugars from your diet as possible. Clean eating means fresh fruits and vegetables, low—fat or fat-free dairy, and lean meats, poultry, or fish. It means whole grains or grain alternatives such as brown rice quinoa, and oats. It means avoiding most of the interior aisles at the grocery store, which are full of processed, boxed foods loaded with additives and artificial stuff, and hitting up the store’s perimeter, where you’ll find produce, meat, and dairy.
Stay Hydrated
To get the recommended 2 liters of water per day, down a glass with each meal or carry a water bottle to sip from periodically.
Keep three words in mind: plant, tree, animal
Your food should look like it came from something living and should be easily identifiable—broccoli that looks like broccoli, fish that looks like fish. Fill your grocery cart with colorful choices so that by the time you hit the inner aisles, your cart will already be pretty full.
Bring a shopping list to the store
Guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute show you can cut down on the time you spend cooking by using a shopping list and keeping your kitchen well stocked.
Be a label reader. Pay attention to both serving sizes and servings per container, and compare total calories in products, choosing the lower-calorie options where you can.
The Calorie Connection
Remember this weight loss equation: Calories in < calories out. There are no gimmicks, no fads, no secrets. It all comes down to basic arithmetic. If today you consume 2,000 calories and you burn 2,250, you are losing weight. (Burn more than you eat, and you lose weight. Eat more than you burn, and you gain weight.) This is, of course, a broad simplification of how body works.
Turnaround Food Choices. Each day you should eat:
- 4 Servings of Vegetables
- 2 Servings of Fruits
- 4 Servings of Grains / Starches
- 3 Servings of Dairy
- 3 Servings of Protein
- 3 Servings of Fat
Hormones, genetics, medications, and other complex biochemical processes all figure in. But the ration of calories taken in through what you eat to calories burned through how much you exercise is the weight loss bottom line.
The best way to shed pounds is to start consuming slightly fewer calories and start moving your body a little more. If you cut 500 calories from your diet each day, you’ll lose approximately 1 pond a week. Think of your cardio as your quick calorie burn—if you overindulge on the weekend, for example, you can make up for it by doing a little extra cardio on Monday. But remember that strength-training is your constant calorie burn—it keeps your body burning more calories all day long.
The Choice is Yours
Create balanced menus with foods you love. If you don’t like fish, for example, you’re going to be in big trouble if three of your weekly meals are tuna, salmon, and flounder. On the 2—Week Turnaround eating plan, you decide what to eat based on some simple rules. Follow this do—it—yourself guide to create a healthy, energizing diet—chock—full of foods that fit your tastes and your budget.
Let’s start with a few basic principles. Your meal plan should include.
- Meals with a sensible mix of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. There are no extreme highs or lows here, just healthy choices that will help you stay satisfied.
- A schedule that has you eating at regular intervals—five times a day—so you never go too long without food or allow yourself to get hungry.
- Delicious menus designed to mesh perfectly with the exercise you’ll be doing so your body will be fueled for activity each and every day.
Research has shown that following a diet like this—with slight calorie restrictions, moderate levels of carbohydrates and fat and higher levels of protein, and frequent eating—is ideal.
