Learning that your diet is nothing but various sugars and salt may surprise you, but if you are like most people who rely on convenience this is the price you pay. The consequence of this ease in food preparation can most likely be seen on your body, with excess fat and other health related issues. The old adage is true, we are what we eat, and what you are eating is most likely the culprit behind your weight issues. It isn’t just about increasing your exercise and watching your calories. If you are relying on prepackaged foods you are stuffing your system with chemical preservatives and all kinds of sugar. Sugar, you will discover, can be called by many different names. The number one alias that is prevalent in almost ALL of your foods is high fructose corn syrup, along with many other derivatives. Really starting a diet for real weight loss requires some education.
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 For most people it hardly makes any sense and many nutritionists would argue that the advice is outdated and relies too heavily on an over consumption of processed carbohydrates.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.
This means living and shopping on the fringe. Why? Think of what is within the perimeter of a grocery store – dairy products like milk, creams, and butter; the meat section, an in house bakery filled with freshly made items, and of course a produce section over flowing with fruits and vegetables. These are whole foods and that just means that they are natural and not overly processed.
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.
This of course is only something you should attempt after two weeks of clean eating. This also includes what you drink, so it is best to abstain from any alcohol as it contains sugars and definitely take out any sodas in your fridge, including diet sodas. Diet sodas may not have any calories, but they do contain a type of sugar substitute that has been implicated in the stimulation of appetite.
So outside of water what can you eat? Almost everything! Protein is key in keeping you full and this encapsulates pork, chicken, lean beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, and fish. Think of all the recipes you can make with these protein sources! For accompaniment the first week, eat as many vegetables as you want. There is no limit when it comes to vegetables.
This is not to say that you should bypass flavor. The best foods are full of flavor, but that comes from cooking technique, like roasting as well as any added spices. This is the time to see what you can do when you are not relying on something prepackaged.
Keep your carbohydrates whole grain. These will contain more fiber and keep your fuller longer. After one week you can incorporate fruits which contain natural sugars. Once your two weeks are over, you can ingest sugar but you will notice a difference in how much you can take. This is the best diet for real weight loss.
