It's time to emphasize WHAT you should be eating. And it may surprise some of you, but a large part of your results will come from what you eat, so eat clean! Most of your food should be purchased from the perimeter of your grocery store. Try to avoid over-processed food and eat lean protein, complex carbs, and good-for-you fats.
Avoid over-processed foods such as chips, some cereals, boxed dinners, some soups, packaged snacks, and even frozen veggies that contain sauces. There's almost an endless list of over-processed food surrounding the grocery store. Beware of anything that says "low-fat" or "fat-free." These often contain extra sodium, sugar, or other chemicals that your body doesn't like. Read your labels. If there's too many ingredients you cannot pronounce, then it's probably not something you want to feed your body. Also take a look around the organic and natural food sections of your grocery store.
Stick to lean proteins such as fish, chicken breast, turkey breast, egg whites, beans, tofu, soy or skim cow's milk, nonfat plain yogurt, veggie and soy products, and nonfat cottage cheese. Human bodies were never really meant to successfully and efficiently process animal protein, but these lean options are much easier for your body to handle.
Choose carbs such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal, kale, celery, broccoli, bran, beans, asparagus, artichokes, apples with the skin, prunes, peppers, brown rice, raspberries, strawberries, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, romaine lettuce (or green or red leaf), cucumbers, cherries, citrus fruits, brussel sprouts, etc.
And finally eat healthy fats such as avocados, fish, olives, olive oil, raw nuts, flaxseed, hummus, and beans.
I recommend eating 5-6 times a day , every 2-3 hours. This will cause your metabolism to stay up and give you energy to get through your day. I also recommend finishing your last meal 3 hours before you go to bed. This will allow your body to finish digesting and focus on fat burning while you sleep.
WATER!!!! Guzzle it! Water is important in flushing your system and helps you lose weight as well as curb your appetite until your next meal. Try and drink half your body weight in ounces a day! Also take into account the calories you're consuming from beverages! Most people don't think that beverages count as food, but they DO! I would stay away from any fruit juice. They contain a lot of extra calories compared to whole fruit and have added sugar. (Soda)... I recommend staying away from ANY kind of soda...yes, this includes diet! Soda is EXTREMELY acidic and will kill your efforts to lose weight (I'll blog about this later). Coffee? Stick to one serving a day and avoid those crazy concoctions and try to drink regular or decaf coffee with skim milk and stevia (this I am still working on myself...lol). Green tea is actually very good for you, so go ahead and have 1-2 cups a day, but make sure it's hot and avoid those bottled varieties...stick to the tea bags. My best advice to you is to drink water whenever you can. Get a bottle and carry it with you EVERYWHERE! I know plain water is kind of boring and lacks flavor, but try adding a slice of lemon or lime, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries.! I know I would rather consume my daily calories with food and not waste them on drinks that don't satisfy my hunger.
I'll now give you an example of what a schedule might look like for someone eatting approximately 1800 calories:
3 servings of protein (3-4 oz. at 100 calories), 2 servings of fruit (1 medium piece at 100 calories), 2 servings of veggies (1 c. at 50 calories), 2 servings of carbs (200 calories), 1 fat serving (100-120 calories), 1 dairy serving (100-120 calories), and 3 snacks (100-200 calories).
7:00am, breakfast:
1 protein, 1 carb, 1 fruit
10:00am, lunch:
1 protein, 1 carb, 1 veggie
1:00pm, snack:
1 snack serving, 1 fruit
4:00pm, dinner:
1 protein, 1 veggie, 1 fat, 1 dairy
7:00pm, snack:
2 snack servings
